No Shit Sherlock … Keep diggin, Watson!

Posted by :David Manly On : November 19, 2008
3

Category: birthday, cab driver, direction, lost

Nothing too interesting has happened to me these past few days. That was, until, last night.

Yesterday was someone in the program’s birthday, and she wanted to go out to celebrate, so, most of us obliged. We all met up at her apartment and, after spending some time there, we went to a bar. We stayed at the bar until closing and all parted ways. It was a good time.

Now, here is where it gets interesting.

For those of you who know me, this will seem like old news, but for those who don’t, here’s an insight into David.

I have little to no sense of direction…. seriously. It’s a miracle I make it anywhere. Usually, I use Google Maps and public transit, and I sort of figure out my way. But, I get turned around quite often, and often end up walking in the wrong direction.

Back to last night, I was walking with a few people back home, and I mentioned about how I have no idea where I am and that I was just following someone who lives in the same direction as me. Ben, one of the guys from the program, turned and said, “You know your house is behind us right?”

“Really? Are you sure?” I said.

“Yeah, you’re going the wrong way,” said Ben.

“GODAMN IT!” I screamed in the cold and dark silence. After I wished my friends goodbye I turned around and walked in the CORRECT direction.

After abut 5 minutes, I saw a cab and flagged it down.

I got in, told him my closest intersection, and sat back.

About 5 minutes in, the cab lurched forward, stopped, lurched, stopped and then just died. The cabbie banged his hand on the dash to no avail, before turning to face me and said in a thick, thick accent, “Uh oh.”

“What now?” I said, looking around the cab. The entire dashboard was dead … except, magically, the money counter, which kept increasing by $0.16 every 20-ish seconds or so. Just my luck.

Finally, I ask the cabbie what to do now, and he said that he is going to call the cab company and they will send a replacement taxi. So, he calls them and speaks in a language I did not understand at all. Meanwhile, the time kept ticking away and I could actually feel my wallet getting lighter.

FINALLY, after about 7 minutes of awkward silence, another cab comes and we just switch taxis. The driver, before leaving, jotted something down on a piece of paper, but I paid it no mind, I was just happy to get back on the road so I could go to sleep!

We got in the new cab, he started up the distance-money thing and starting driving me home.

When we were about 3 minutes away from my house, I heard the driver yell something and then the car jump (as if over a speed-bump)…twice. The cab then skidded to a stop, turned behind and said, “Did I just hit something?”

Let me properly set the scene for you. It is now approximately 3am on a Tuesday night (or Wednesday morning, if you wanna be a stickler for time) and I was sitting in a smelly cab with a man who hardly spoke English I could understand, in my second cab of the night, on a dark stretch of road by my place and the driver may have just hit something. At this point, normal people would have probably lost their mind, gotten out of the car, yelled some obscenities and walked home. However, I am not normal.

“DID YOU SEE ANYTHING DASH OUT IN FRONT OF THE CAR?” I told the cabbie, enunciating every syllable so he could understand me. He shook his head. Then, I said, “Go outside and check if you hit anything.”

He left the cab, while it was still running, and found what he had hit: A now busted up Blue Box and a large bag of leaves. There were little and big pieces of blue, strewn among the leaves on the street. It looked as if someone killed a Smurf in autumn.

“Ok, enough is enough, he could have killed someone or something. Time to get out and walk the 8-10 minutes home,” I thought to myself.

I grabbed all my stuff, and told the driver that I was going to leave. He then stopped the time (which was still running!), took out the little piece of paper and said that I owed him the the first fee PLUS this one. I don’t remember the exact amount, but it was INSANE.

I then proceeded to get into a verbal disagreement with the guy, debating about how much I should pay for this terrible and way over-priced taxi ride. Eventually, after about 15 minutes, he relented and I only had to pay the second fee. I gave him the cash, with basically no tip, and grabbed the door handle.

I pushed and nothing happened. I pulled it back and the handle CAME OFF. I turned to the cabbie, held up the handle and said, “Get…me…out…of…this…cab.”

He left the cab, opened the door and went back to the driver’s seat. I then proceeded to exit the cab and closed the door.

“HEY!” he shouted, “Why you slam door?”
“I did NOT slam the door,” I replied, calmly
“Why you slam door?” he asked, again.
“I did NOT slam the door,” I replied….again
“Why you slam door?”
“Maybe your door hates you,” I replied with a smirk and walked away.

Suffice to say, I got home much later than I wanted to and slept through my alarm.

Luckily I have no classes on Wednesday.

A Biological Lament and a Realization of Thought

Posted by :David Manly On : November 15, 2008
3

Category: alcohol, Biology, Journalism, Life Change, Potluck

A few words will sum up the end of my week nicely:

Pot-luck. Professor’s house. Alcohol. David. Talking.

As you can imagine, some of these ingredient’s do not bode well together and cause a rather volatile mixture. The potentiality of disaster just increased exponentially with every passing minute, as I was constantly in conversation while I kept imbibing alcohol.

Some stuff was taken out of context of what I meant, and that is all. I explained it to those who got worked up, and I believe all is well in the world. Let’s just chock it up on the list of “Embarrassing things David has done.”

Now, on to the true purpose of this post.

The first term is almost done, and it has been an interesting, intriguing, stress-filled and whirlwind of an experience.

In the last term of my undergraduate degree, I decided to change everything. I stepped back from the world of Biology/Zoology, and took a clear look at myself.

I LOVE Biology, I really and truly do. I felt that I was put on this planet to learn, study and teach it to others. I also love animals, as they are a constant source of amazement and inspiration to me. They are something I enjoy immensely to learn about, as anyone who knows me well can attest to.

I miss Biology and Zoology. I miss it very much. I miss the lab work, the experiments, the thrill of a test working out properly, of understanding a difficult biological concept … all of it.

I loved learning about the subjects that interested me. Biology, Zoology, Ecology, Microbiology, Physiology, and many more. Not many people know the excitement of getting a slide JUST right, perfecting an enzymatic assay and getting results that show something you cannot explain and having to solve that puzzle.

I don’t miss a few things, but we all look into the past with slightly rose-tinted glasses.

And yet, I decided to pursue a different path. One that was drastically different from anything I have ever done before. It was, and still is, a drastic life change.

It is not an easy thing to do, to change the direction you thought you were going to head in life. Believe me, it is harder than you think.

A recent conversation with another person in my program really highlighted this for me. I had not thought about it too recently, as I had delegated it to the back of my mind, until she brought it up. This conversation made me think about the changes that I have made in my life, and if I still would make them.

Science is what I love, it’s the field that I believe I was born to work in. Writing is a past-time, something that I have enjoyed doing since I picked up a pencil and started creating my own stories. The mixture of these two concepts into a possible career path, into scientific journalism, was a revelation, and the closest thing to an epiphany that I have had in my life so far. I want to do this, I am going to do this. This is what I want, this is what I am going to do and I am going to do EVERYTHING I can to make this a reality.

So, to the person I had this conversation with … thank you.

It made me really think about the vastness that I, and everyone else in the program have accomplished in the short time we have been here. We should all be very proud and excited for what happens next.

To the future…. and come what may.

Below is a picture I took from one of my slides when I worked with frogs. This is a cross-section of a kidney. The blue stain represents DNA, the green is an ion pump and the red is for the proteins that glue cells together. Not many people have seen this, and I thought it would share it. I did everything to make that slide what it is, and I know it is not the best that it could be, but I’m very proud of it, as it was one of the last things I did.

That Which Does Not Kill You, Makes You Stronger

Posted by :David Manly On : November 11, 2008
1

Category: cold, environment, Journalism, Remembrance Day, Veterans

*PHEW*

It has been a busy few days over here! Let me catch you up.

I had a 3,000 word essay due on Monday about the Species at Risk Act (or SARA) in Canada. I was very, very, very worried about it. I mean, I had all my research and everything, it’s just that I don’t know the first thing about environmental politics, and I’ve been in the course for a few months!

A bunch of my friends in Ottawa were going out on Friday night, but, I wanted to stay home and do work.
“Come on,” they said. “Leave the work for the weekend,” they PLEADED.
I was stoic and firm… I said, “I’m going to stay home and do work, no matter how much I’d rather go out.”

SO, I did. I stayed home and starting writing the essay. It took me a long time to get my thoughts organizes and I had only written about 600 words before my mind shut off at like 10 p.m. In hindsight, I could have gone out… and MAN, do I wish I did. I like having fun with my Ottawa friends. And besides, the essay is unbelievably boring, long and I pity anyone who has to read it 😛

Saturday was also spent on the essay, and at about 5 p.m., I finished it! It was over 3,500 words, but it was DONE! I took the night off and caught up on some of the TV I had been missing.

Then, Sunday, I re-read it and made changes. THEN, because I had to present it on Monday as well, I made a handout and drafted my presentation outline.

My brain was essentially all tapped out, but, because I am a glutton for punishment, guess what I did next?

I did a READING CRITIQUE for a different class! I read 2 articles, and then responded to them in 4 pages. I didn’t understand them at all, and this is the conversation I had with my brain:
David – “Let’s do this! It’s our last one! We would have done 6/6, and can relax the rest of the term”
Brain – “Are you INSANE! You JUST finished a really long paper, and you want to do more work?”
David – “I wanna be productive!”
Brain – “YOU ARE CRAZIER THAN A MAN WHO WEARS SHOES ON HIS HANDS, SALUTES AND CALLS EVERYONE GOVNA!”
David – “I wanna do work”
Brain – “I hate you. I’ll get you for this!”
David – “What are you gonna do? Think me to death? What a loser.”
Brain – “I’ll think of something”
David – “Hahahaha, brain made a pun. Get it….. think… and he’s a brain?”
Brain – “You’re an idiot”
David – “Owwwww, my head hurts”
Brain – “Told you I’d get ya, you bastard”

And that is why, I believe, I have had a headache since Sunday.

My presentation went fine, and then I came home on Monday and fixed my essay.

Now, Tuesday was Remembrance Day, and we were told to write an article about something going on. So, a bunch of us went to the National War Memorial and saw the service. Stephen Harper was there, as well was the Governor General and Jack Layton. It was a nice ceremony, but it was COLD! Like, wear a jacket, hat, scarf, gloves weather so you don;t get hypothermia kinda cold.

Now, I don’t know if any of you have tried this, but try writing in a small notebook while wearing bulky gloves. Frankly my friends, it just ain’t happening. SO, I abandoned my gloves so I could interview some veterans. They were all really, really nice and were more than willing to talk about their service history.

As soon as I got home, I wrote the article, and it only took me about an hour. It was really quick. Either I’m getting better or I just suck even more and only think I am getting better.

And now, here I am, after being home for about 5 hours, and my fingers are STILL cold. I guess you have to sacrifice things to be a journalist … just never thought it would be my fingers.

Next time, I’m gonna conduct interviews in Hawaii! Think Universities cover that sorta thing? Oh well, maybe just in a heated room with hot chocolate 🙂

I have a personal issues with the saying that’s the title, “That Which Does Not Kill You, Makes You Stronger.” Does anyone actually believe that?

Maybe for like emotional and psychological issues, and small injuries. I mean, I don’t get tears in my eye when I scrape my knee like when I was a kid, I hardly even react now. My issue is with the BIG things.

What if I were to hypothetically jump off the CN Tower and survive? Firstly, it would be a miracle that I wasn’t liquefied on IMPACT and survived. But, I would most definitely break almost every bone in my body. HOW would that make me physically stronger? Anyone care to comment and defend it in this specific scenario?

David the Hero, Karma the Saviour and Sara Palin

Posted by :David Manly On : November 7, 2008
1

Category: essay, Hero, karma, mental health, pay it forward, photocopy, Sara Palin

So, I got quite the response from my last blog post. Apparently, it even freaked a few people out!

Therefore, this an official statement. I AM NOT DEAD! MY HEAD DID NOT EXPLODE, I AM PERFECTLY OK. I thought you all should know 😉

The reason behind it was, I had a VERY bad and stress-filled Monday. So, on the walk home, I thought, “My head hurts because of all the stress. I wonder if my head could explode? Huh, there’s an idea for a blog post.” And that’s it.

The rest of this week has been pretty blah, except for a few interesting tidbits.

On Wednesday, I went to the library to do some photocopying and reading for an essay. While I was photocopying, this very pretty woman beside me was having trouble with a computer terminal. She turned to me and said, “Do you know anything about computers? I’m having a terrible time here.”

I crookedly smiled, and said, “I can fiddle.”

She then, she explained to me her problem downloading an attachment and printing it off. I spent a minute and found her document. She looked at me with this huge look of admiration and said, “Thank you SOOO much! You literally saved my life. I don’t know what I would have done.”

She then smiled, a very pretty smile, gave me a hug and whispered, “You’re my hero. I’m Ariel. Thank you.” And then she left.

Weird, huh?

The next interesting thing was today, when I went to the library to do some more photocopying. I had forgotten my photocopy card, so I was out of luck. And then, for some reason, a girl behind me offered me her photocopy card.

“Really? I cannot believe that you would give this to a total stranger. I’ll give it back as soon as I’m done,” I said. I then ran to do my copying, and came back where she was.

“Thank you once again,” I said.

“It’s good karma,” she said. “Just remember, pay it forward.” And then she winked and walked away.

Well what do you know, good people do exist! They’re just exceedingly RARE.

For those of you who do not know, Pay It Forward was a movie about a child, played by Haley Joel Osment, who got the idea to do something good for someone. There is no catch, just that you must “Pay the good deed forward” to 3 other people.

And lastly, I was watching the Daily Show with John Stewart, where he lovingly discussed the ever-entertaining Sarah Palin.
Apparently, certain facts about her were off-the-record until the election was over. For example:
– Sarah Palin was not aware of certain civic liberties in the U.S.
– She would have tantrums about her press-clippings
– And lastly, she had difficulty accepting the fact that Africa was a continent, and NOT A COUNTRY.

Ohhh, I hope she doesn’t disappear from the news, as she is very, very entertaining.

This upcoming weekend is going to be very, very stressful. I have a 3,000 word essay and it’s respective presentation due on Monday. The topic is very complicated and highly confusing to someone who doesn’t know anything about Political Science.

Wish me luck, wish me speed, wish me coherency and lastly, wish me good mental health. Cause if this keeps happening, my wall is going to have a very significant David’s-head-sized dent.

Impending work load causes student’s brain to explode

Posted by :David Manly On : November 3, 2008
1

Category: Uncategorized

A Carleton University student has suffered what doctor’s are calling a bizarre case of sudden brain explosion.

David Manly, 24, was a first year student in Carleton’s prestigious Master’s of Journalism course. He was one of only 20 other students accepted this past September.

Friends cannot believe that David died so suddenly and without warning. “I’m shocked,” said best friend Nicole Willman. “I cannot believe he is gone, and I never got to say goodbye!” she said, her voice cracking with emotion.

Natalie Stechyson, a fellow journalism student was so broken up, that her words were completely unintelligible. In between the sobs and the gasps for air, only one sentence was audible, “Who will I talk to about gossip now?”

According to the medical examiner, “David’s ever increasing stress levels and workload caused a change in his brain. He was a ticking time bomb,” Dr. Ron Albert said. “I would advise ALL students to relax immediately and de-stress. For their own safety,” he said.

David’s Monday began like any other, as he went to class at 8:30 a.m. and attended his class. One of his fellow students, Colin Zak, sat beside him and said that, “He looked a little stressed, but he said that it was a bad morning. He seemed to relax after a little bit,” said Zak.

Following that, he went to his afternoon class with fellow student Chloe Fedio. “We had presentations all day today, and it wasn’t that bad of a class,” she said.

“After class, on the way to the bus, he did seem a little stressed. But I didn’t pay it much attention,” said Fedio.

At 7pm, his body was found by Officer John Johnson on a routine patrol of an old woodlot, where he takes as a shortcut home.

“I have never seen anything like it,” said Johnson. “He looked perfectly normal, just laying there, like he was asleep.”

“I expected him to be in class tomorrow,” said Claire Brownell, a fellow Master’s student. “He will be greatly missed,” she said.

His family has declined comment, wishing for privacy in their grief.

“Students are experiencing an exponential increase in workload and stress as the term comes to an end,” said Dr. Albert.

“Do something that relaxes you, anything! So that David’s death not need be in vain,” said Dr. Albert.

C’est l’Halloween

Posted by :David Manly On : October 31, 2008
1

Category: Bram Stoker, costumes, Dracula, evil, good, Halloween, Saw, Supernatural

Well, Halloween is coming. It’s always been a favourite holiday of mine, as the concept and mythology behind it is so intriguing. It started my life-long fascination with that which cannot be explained. Being a trained scientist, I look for answers based on observations. However, the supernatural defies explanation. The mythology surrounding Halloween and demons and angels is utterly fascinating. Just look at the TV show Supernatural, it is just great.

Now, one of my favourite books, is Dracula by Bram Stoker. This book has enraptured me since the very first time I read it. I read it maybe once or twice a year, it is THAT good.

It deals with the archetypes of good vs. evil, and yet the evil is not quite defined. The evil, in Count Dracula, can be looked at in many different ways. Some see him as the personification of evil, others see him as a pure male, or a female/male hybrid, or even, the expression of wants and needs.

And once, in an essay back in fourth year, I compared Dracula to a blood-dwelling virus, like HIV. What can I say? I’m a Biology major, through and thorough.

One of the biggest dilemma’s about Halloween, is that of what to be. What do you dress up as? Something fun? Something evil? Or, do you dress up as what you wish to be?

I’ve dressed up as everything from Superman, to Captain Hook, to an escaped mental patient.

And plus the MOVIES! Horror movies are a morbid hobby of mine. Try to scare me, I dare ya! I haven’t been scared in a long time, as I have become desensitized to violence and gore, just something that happens when you have seen as much blood, guts and dissections as I have. I cannot remember the last movie or TV show that I was scared during, other than the Exorcist when I was a kid.

One thing which always gets me though, is that of a SURPRISE ENDING. Give me something unique, something original, something I have NOT seen before.

The best example is that of the movie SAW. The first one, the ending basically dropped my jaw. I had to watch the ending AGAIN… twice. And then, as soon as I could, I went to my brother and told him to WATCH IT.

David – Daniel, watch this NOW!
Daniel – Why? I don’t want to.
David – Daniel. Seriously. I was left speechless
Daniel – Really?
David – GO. WATCH. NOW. TELL ME WHEN YOU ARE DONE.
*After the movie is done*
Daniel – *SILENT*
David – And?
Daniel – WOW
David – I KNOW
Daniel – That was great, amazing, awesome.
David – The best ending I have ever seen!

If you have NOT seen it, PLEASE do. It’s not overtly bloody or violent, it is a psychological thriller and horror movie. And I implore you, do not seek out spoilers about the ending, it will ruin the experience.

Lastly, I was thinking about Halloween and I came up with this. I hope you enjoy it!

And lo and behold, there was darkness brought upon the world.
As the sacred night reared it’s ugly head,
the veil between that which is real and that which is imaginary, was at its weakest.
It is the day where darkest dreams become reality,
fear becomes hope, identities are shrouded in mystery.
That who we are becomes shrouded by masks, revealing that which we wish to be.
What is your dream? What is your nightmare?
Can one be reconciled without the other?
Their existences are intertwined, one cannot exist without the other.
Good. Evil. Dark. Light.
One shall triumph, but the victory is short-lived.
The sun will beat back the rampant darkness, but, like all things,
the sun must set.
The darkness will rise again, only for the circle to repeat itself once more.
Ka (or destiny) is a wheel, it’s purpose is to turn.

Thanky-sai

Why is this night different from all other nights?

Posted by :David Manly On : October 25, 2008
3

Category: Chinatown, club, Haloween, Ottawa, pumpkins, rave, Vet hospital

That’ll be one for the books!

But, let’s start at the beginning. And the names have been changed to protect the innocent … and the guilty.

One of the people in the program, Bangs, came up with an idea to carve pumpkins on Friday. I was actually excited for that, as I was gonna bring out the dissection kit (complete with scalpel, forceps, the works) and impress everyone with my mad skillz. You ALL know I got ’em!

Then, a good friend of mine in the program, Starbuck, came up with an apparently brilliant idea. She went to a ‘funk’ party last month, and it was “AMAZING!” So, we all agreed to meet up at Bangs’ house for a bit and head on over to this place.

So, when I arrive, a whole bunch of people were already there, and we just sat and talked. Finally, Starbuck came with Buffy (another girl in our program) and sat for a bit before we decided to leave. When the time came, Starbuck called for some cabs.

Now, there were 10 of us and two cabs. Now, since cabs can only legally fit four, you think that it would go: four, three, three. Ohh, no no. We’re MASTERS students. It went four and seven! Bangs said it best, “It cost us $8 for the cab ride, and $10 for the extra two people. I got no change back from the $20. How does that make sense?”

We arrived at the intersection, and walked to the club. I should have known something was wrong, as there was a total lack of wildlife and the smell of sulphur. Little did I know we had entered Dante’s unknown 10th circle of Hell, Ottawa’s Chinatown district.

There were people outside the club dressed in Halloween costumes, and, I’ll be honest, it was a little weird. But, I figured they had just come from a party. Then, we walk upstiars and the distinct smell of bleach wafted through.
“Right. Starbuck mentioned that below this place was a Veterinary Hospital” … the weirdness has just begun.

Taking cover, behind two cauldrons filled with candy was a witch. Behind her was the angel of death, and some sort of pagan woman sitting beside her. I pay my $7, and walk in to the room blasting with music.

“Ohhhh, WOW,” was my first thought. Followed exceptionally quickly by, “WTF are we doing here?” It was a rave, and not just any rave, a Halloween rave, and not just any Halloween rave, A BAD Halloween rave.

Suffice it to say, everyone looked ridiculous dressed, no matter how you were dressed. You either didn’t dress up and looked stupid, or you were dressed up and looked really stupid.

And then, Starbuck walked in. The look on her face was something I’ll never forget. It was like some sort of perverted mix between horror, illness, shock, embarrassment and some shame thrown in for fun. She was NOT happy, and apologized profusely to everyone. She looked so sad and embarrassed, that quite a few of us gave her a hug and told her it was ok. Despite a mountain of evidence to the contrary.

Eventually, one of Starbuck’s friends came and told us that they were going to another place. By then, a few of us were at a table talking and making the best of our predicament. “I want my $7 worth” said Bangs. I agreed, as did a few others. So, Starbuck and Buffy left to escape the new found discovered level of hell, while we all stayed and played “Never have I ever”. For those not aware of how to play, someone makes a statement “Never have I ever… shoplifted”, and if you HAVE done it, you take a drink. Fun game, with some interesting tidbits that were shared, none of which will be described here (in breach of our implied confidentiality agreements)…lol

Eventually, we all decided to leave to get some food. Now, I’ll eat a lot of stuff, or at least try anything once. The only exception is fish, in which I am allergic too. So, wouldn’t you know it, we ended up at a Vietnamese restaurant. The only thing that DIDN’T have fish was the water, and I still stayed away from that to be safe! Ever person around me ordered something with fish or shrimp in it, which made me uncomfortable and slightly nauseous.

The conversation was quite random, but more interesting things were discussed. I learned that Bangs HATES cats, and that another girl in the program, Shark, LOVED the movie Sharkwater (hence the nickname) because I recommended it!

After food, we all decided to head on hoe and I went for a walk with Shark and another girl from the program, Golbal, to their places and then I would catch a cab. We had a nice conversation about life, liberty and the night in general. After we got to Global’s place, it was just Shark and I. And, during our walk, we discovered a beer bottle sitting upright.

“I really want to hit it,” I said. “Go for it, but hit it against the wall” said Shark.

So, I kicked it, HARD, and it hit the wall, bounced, landed and only the neck of it was broken! So, we decided to do it again, and I hit it even harder, and it bounced off the wall, hit the pavement and shattered. “I love the sound of breaking glass,” said Shark. Honestly, WHO doesn’t?

And, I took a cab from Shark’s place and got home at a totally unreasonable hour, but with memories that will last a LONG time.

Thank you Starbuck, for a night that, in all its ridiculousness, will live in the memories of all us who attended. Although, sadly, I don;t think you will ever, EVER live it down!

Braveheart madman

Posted by :David Manly On : October 23, 2008
0

Category: Uncategorized

GREATEST MOVIE AND CHARACTER EVER!

A court is a court, of course of course, unless that court is a court of course, unless that court is the famous Ottawa Court!

Posted by :David Manly On : October 23, 2008
2

Category: Big Bang Theory, Canada, Courthouse, murder, Ottawa

So, wanna hear what I did this week?

I FINALLY had my day in court!

It wasn’t for anything I did (not for lack of trying), but the whole program went to the Ottawa courthouse to learn how to be a court reporter. Fun stuff, right? WRONG!

We went there last Friday, and got a tour and had the opportunity to observe some live trails. I gotta admit, that was sorta cool.

The first trial was the Mental Health Court, in which a man was being sent for two months in a psychiatric hospital. Apparently, he suffered from schizophrenia and had delusions that he was an inventor that was about to inherit some money.
While the trial was interesting, it was also a bit sad. It was nice to see someone getting the help they need, and I wish I could see the follow-up two months from now to see if he has improved.

The second trial was a second-degree murder trial, where witnesses were being questioned. I thought this would be exciting, but I guess in my life, I should have known better!
Here is a sample of what happened.

Crown: So, when you intervened during this ‘incident’…
Witness: I didn’t intervene then yo, I broke up the fight latah!
Crown: Ok, so, when you intervened during the first incident…
Witness: I didn’t intervene. I didn’t do nuthin then.
Crown: Thank you. So, during the first incident, when you intervened.
Witness: *Stares at the Crown* I..did…not…intervene
Crown: While you were intervening, did you see anything?

HONESTLY, it was about 2 hours of this. The Crown just kept asking the same questions over adn over and over again. It’s like when a record skips, it’s entertaining for a bit, but then it starts to grade your nerves. So, I did what any student would do, I started falling asleep … IN A MURDER TRIAL!

Now, this week, we had to go to court on our own to investigate another trial and report on it. A few of us went into a domestic violence court, where there were 2 mini-trials occurring. I thought that it should be interesting to see a whole trial through to its conclusion. But, remember, what is the moral of the story? What I think will be interesting, is NOT. Trial 1 was adjourned because the Crown wasn’t there … the LAWYER WASN’T THERE! Honestly people, not very impressive.
Trial 2 was adjourned because the main witness could not be found. So, within a span of 2 minutes, I learned that the Canadian Justice System is kinda lazy, like me when I’ve eaten too much. “I could do it, but let’s wait and see what happens in a bit.”

Then, a friend of mine came up with an idea to go to the Criminal Courts to go see a marijuana growth operation trial. To be honest, it wasn’t that bad. The Crown was a little over-zelaous at points with his expert witness and had to be reigned in, but it was ok. And, never forget, the company was great.
Nothing like having lunch surrounded by four pretty girls and being the only guy 😉

As for the rest of my Ottawa adventure, everything is still the same. My grades hover in the realm of mediocrity, my food choices are slim, the climate is approaching what I like to call the next ice age, my money is sinking faster than the Loonie and my workload is so dense that if it was stacked upon one another, it would have it’s own gravity!

*Sigh* At least I have TV to keep me company… and with that, EVERYONE should watch the funniest show on TV right now. It’s called, The Big Bang Theory, and it is on Monday nights at 8p.m. on CBS.

Here are a few clips below 🙂

Sheldon is Batman (The Big Bang Theory)

Posted by :David Manly On : October 23, 2008
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Category: Uncategorized