C'est L'Halloween!

A busy...yet...somewhat satisfying weekend.

Friday: Dinner with the McAllister
Saturday: Halloween Party avec WCC crew
Sunday: Apartment Sterilization (the weekly cleaning)

As of Friday, I made a small trip out to Versoix to have dinner with Higgins and his wifey. Nothing too elaborate, but it was nice evening after a busy work week.

Saturday, began with an early start of running work errands, and then actually going to the office to finish up the last bit of IT work for (hopefully) a long while. Afterwards, it was all a matter of getting ready for the Halloween party. Now the important thing to remember is that this is Geneva. Geneva is in Europe. Europeans don't celebrate the same holidays as North Americans do. Thus, a Halloween party, or better yet, Halloween in Geneva is a rare and practically non-existent event.

And as a result, halloween supplies are an equally rare find. My best buy for halloween makeup was a pack of 5 small makeup crayons for 8 CHF. Incredible.

Anyway, if you must know, my choice of costume for this year was perhaps the scariest costume of all. I'm more terrifying to teenagers and young adults, than a cheesy-lame-assed-hollywood-teen-movie. That's right, you guessed it, I'm a Broken Condom.

The 'BROKEN CONDOM' costume:

Materials:
1 clear plastic garbage bag
white makeup cream

Instructions:
1. Cut a hole at the base of the garbage (large enough to fit head through, arm holes are optional)
2. Pull garbage bag over head and pull head through cut-hole.
3. Apply makeup to entire face.

It's incredible how a measly intern's stipend can get those creative juices flowing. And yes, it's a far cry from my Halloween costume from last year.

And I fit right in with the rest of the crew:

Gitte/Sarah - 2/3 of the Charlie's Angels (Susie Lee bailed on them...BOO-URNS)
Uncle Tom Yonker - Bosley or Charlie (whichever you prefer)
Ben - (and this is a quote) "...a Sleazy Guy..." (now did he really need to dress up for that one?)
Lukasz - Traditional Polish Attire
Iren/Naveen - Paskistani Saris
Natalie - Some sort of underwearing superhero? (she didn't have a name yet, and she had a whip that she'd use to "whip the shit out of people")
Vicky - Hugh Hefner
Gustavo - President of the WC (that's right folks, he does toilets)
Friedrich - a Ghoul
Jose - Latin Lover (which, in my opinion, is an everyday costume)

...and apologies to everyone else I missed. I either can't remember, or didn't really have a clue as to what you were.



Needless to say, it was a fantastic time. I can't believe that I actually won a prize for being in the top 3 for scariest costume. Apparently, I'm not the only one that agrees that a broken condom is an extremely scary thing.

There are more pictures, but I think Ben has them on his camera. I want those pictures! Not because they have me in compromising positions, but because of the memories!

Anyway, that's pretty much it...except for one last thing.

The unimaginable has happened...

My laptop has become disabled.

I suspect it is as a result of my power adapter. As my laptop will no longer charge when plugged in. And since there's no way to truly tell what is the problem until I can get another power adapter, I'll be computer less for a while. It'll be office computer usage for the time being.

So if anyone has any advice or knows of a place that has Toshiba laptop computers in stock, contact me ASAP!

I'll cook for you!
I'll clean for you as well!
But I draw the line at underwear skid marks!

My Substitute U2 Concert Experience

Okay, most people who know me, know that I'm a huge U2 fan. (Just like the how the Donald says it, "He's 'UGE!") And so when I found out that I had to sell my U2 Vertigo Tour tickets because I was going to Geneva, that was a bit of a let down. Not only that, but in July, U2 was playing in Zurich, Switzerland, but again I had to forfeit that plan because of the dinner I had to attend that same evening.

Now I have seen U2 in concert 4 times. Twice during the 'Popmart Tour' in 1997, and twice again during the 'Elevation Tour' in 2001. And each show was incredible and unique from the next. And as it was turning out, this year would be the first time that I have missed their tour (since I've had the opportunity to see them).

But earlier this week, I had started to listen to alot of online radio, specifically speaking, Edge 102, and heard that 'Late Night with Conan O'Brien' was going to dedicate their entire October 6th show to U2. I swear I almost crapped my pants. (Okay, not almost, maybe a little bit leaked out) But yeah, you get the idea!

I swear, if I had known much earlier, I would've given half my tongue, my left testicle, and all but 4 of my toes, to have gotten tickets to see that show in the flesh. Yes, I know...not pretty (even though I never was) but you can understand the desparation and dedication.



Man oh man, my 2 favourite celebrities on television at the same time, on the same channel. TV is so freakin' sweet. I miss TV.

So yep, you guessed it, I downloaded. It finished last night in time for me to watch it this morning and it was brilliant.

They played 4 songs:

• All Because of You
  
• Original of the Species
  
• Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of
  
• Vertigo

That's 2 more songs than musical guests play on Saturday Night Live! And apparently it's the fist time that an NBC show has ever devoted itself entirely to a musical guest!

They even did a "In the Year 2000" (The Edge Edition) sketch!



But what really made it a concert substitute is that at U2 shows, they always play a song differently from their album. It's always like an extra guitar solo, or a new verse, or something else more prominent. And it happened in their performance of "Original of the Species"! Edge's guitar was way more prominent and accented the song much better than in the album version!

Damn, I am a certified U2 geek.

You can check out all the pics on the 'Late Night with Conan O'Brien' website.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Playing Catch-Up

Okay, this isn't a current post...but it's something you haven't seen yet, so in a way it's still new...

Anyway, a while back, I had gone to the Swiss National Circus, "KNIE".

Now I'm sure you're already asking youselves, "What's the big deal about going to the circus?" But I'll tell you this, a European circus is much different from a North American circus. Primarily because it's not a modern day circus that temporarily takes over some concrete monstronsity of an arena. It's an old fashioned kind of circus. The type that contructs a big-top tent, with a centre ring from which to conduct all the festivities.





But yes, essentially it's the same premise as with any circus. The show is meant for kids. But surprisingly, the majority of the audience consisted of adults, and it was much more entertaining than I had initially expected. I guess a circus can still surprise you by bringing out the kid in you.



As cheesy as it still may seem, I really am glad that I opted to skip out on whatever else it was that other people were planning to do that night, and to go see the circus instead. It was a fantastic experience, and I'd still go again, even when I'm old and gray and in my 20s.

That's right. 20s.

Journey to the Center of the Dry-Heave

So I finally did it. My first wilderness adventure trek in Switzerland. And it was crazy right from the get-go.

Essentially, there was a conflict of events. And the clash was between the Geneva Intern Network (GIN) Party (scheduled for the night before), and the Hiking Trip to Zermatt. Primarily because alcohol would be served and drank at the party, and because the train for Zermatt was leaving Geneva at 6:35am. Not exactly a smooth transition from one event to another.

And that's exactly what went down. When I opted to join the pre-drink party (which I enjoyed referring to as 'Yonky-Tonk', even though it didn't catch on), I never took into consideration that I hadn't eaten anything for dinner, so instead of just feeling buzzed and going home to get a half-decent night's sleep, I pretty much got tanked, was on the verge of dry-heaving, and got 2 hours of crappy crappy sleep. I know Chris McAllister took pictures of the party, so I'll post my drunken highlights at some point this week. Like right now, cuz I just got the pics from McAllinski himself!!

I am such an ass. Look at me very quickly getting retarded.

And before I continue, I'd just like to point out that the first picture of me seated in the centre, with my hand up by my face and the faint light highlighting me was pure coincidence and completely natural. Higgins, I don't know how that happened, but I'm happy with the result! And the next following pics look as though I've just been shot in the shoulder with a high-calibre rifle... but then, who's to say that didn't happen?!?



Lesson of the Evening: Never drink Gin straight up. There's a reason as to why Gin is always mixed (ie. Gin & Tonic, Gin & Coke, etc). I swear it's like drinking polyethylene.

Anyway...so by the time I made the 40 minute trek back to the apartment, it was already a little past 3am. And by the time I finished packing everything I needed for the hike, and threw my ass into bed, it was close to 4am. In fact I wouldn't even call my rest, "sleep". I swear, it felt as though I had just woken up as soon as my head hit the pillow.

So in my hungover stupor, I hauled my on-the-verge-of-dry-heaving body out the door and onto the tram and made my way over to the train station. When I got there, I didn't see anyone around so I just figure that I was early. Little did know that Gustavo, Tom, and Ben, had de-evolved into a trio of pansies overnight and opted to bail on the hike, and sleep in. Which was probably something I should've done too, but I was too stupid and too hungover to know any better.

Anyway, after running up to the train platform (twice, because I thought maybe I might've missed them) and near the practically ready to pass out at the station, Sarah and Naveen, show up with just 5 minutes left to spare before the train is scheduled to depart. And since they didn't know what was going, we made the decision to just go anyway, with just a minute to spare. Exciting stuff, isn't it!!

The next 2 hours were just painful. I essentially passed out in the train car and attempted to regain control of my bodily functions.

By the time we reached Zermatt, it was smooth sailing... well, at least when we finally began our trek up the mountain. After consulting the tourist info station as to which trail to follow, we opted for the "medium" difficulty as we didn't feel like spending the cash to take the cable car up to the top of the longest trail, and because we're not a trio of Japanese tourists who are looking for an easy brisk walk.

So off we went, and just like that, believe it or not (the Ripley's kind!) my head cleared of all the drunken-hung-over fogginess and we were hiking up the base of the mountain!




Now since this is a hike, there really isn't THAT much to tell. I mean, c'mon, we're basically walking up the side of a mountain. How spellbinding could that possibly be? Okay I exaggerate... although it was a lengthy and exhausting climb, it was an incredible experience. The view was amazing, and it was an entirely different world the higher we hiked up into the mountains.



At the base of the mountain, it's sunny, warm, and comfortable. And as you move higher and higher up into the mountains, it gets darker, colder, misty, and even rainy. I swear if it wasn't for all the construction on the new skilift, some parts of the area could be comparable to some environments of 'The Lord of the Rings'.



But aside from the breathtaking views of mountains, and there were a ton (essentially everytime I wasn't focusing on the ground to keep from falling off the trail and into the gourge), the most amazing experience was the silence that can be heard (does that even make sense?) Yes, that's right, the silence that can be heard when you're up in the mountains.






And I know I've said it many times to people already, but I'm from a small city called 'Hamilton', and even when it's the dead of night, like 3:30am, and there's no traffic along my street, or even in the area. When there's no airplanes, or vehicles in the sky, not even a peep from the birds, it still wasn't even nearly as quiet as it was when you're up in the mountains. And to be completely honest, the feeling was almost eerie and surreal. It's like nothing you've ever experienced. I could whisper to Naveen twenty metres away, and she'd still be able to hear everything that I say, as if I were right beside her. Incredibly peaceful. Spirituality at its finest. Now I know why all ninjas in the movies live out in the woods for a part of their lives.

But I'll move it along by saying that by the time it was all over, and we had hiked close to 2.8 vertical kilometers, and completed the hiking trail in 6 hours. And when reached the last rest station, we were treated to trio of Swiss Alphorn players. That's it, go ahead and say it. RIIIIIII-CO-LAAAAAAAAAAA!



Anyway, from that point on, there isn't a whole heck of alot to tell except that we took the underground cable car back down to the base...



...and feasted on delicious pizzas (can you guess which one was mine??) at this extremely cozy italian restaurant before heading back to Geneva.




I couldn't say for sure as to whether I'd do another crazy mountain hike again in the near future, but I definitely would give it some serious thought. It was perfect time to go, as all the surrounding vegetation was just changing colour.

But one thing is for sure, is that the next time I go, I'm definitely staying dry the night before. It just isn't worth the dry-heave. And especially the flat-faced lying, in which I said I wouldn't touch a drink for at least a week.

Damn, I'm an alcoholic. Curse you, european culture, and your cheap booze and wine!!