Elmwood-East Kildonan residents: WHY?

I live in Elmwood-East Kildonan and I had a chance to witness the reaction of candidate Shaneen Robinson during last night's civic election. As the final clock counts down to 8:00 p.m. People crowded around the 36" flat screen tv at Robinson's campaign headquarters, anxiously looking for the results to appear. It was a while before the final scores came in at 9:15 p.m.

The winner for the Elmwood-East Kildonan ward? Ex Winnipeg Jet, Thomas Steen.

I was disappointed. I was hoping either Shaneen Robinson or Rod Giesbrecht would take the seat as Elmwood-East Kildonan's city councillor.

At Robinson's headquarters, family, friends and supporters were also disappointed but the support for her still continued. Her campaign headquarters on 251 Henderson Hwy was filled with applauses and cheers even after the loss. Steen received 3,921 votes while Robinson scored 3,705 votes. It was a close race between the two candidates and at one point, Robinson was only 2 votes behind Steen.

From my first impression of Thomas Steen, to put it bluntly, I really didn't like him. On Oct.20 when the city council forum was held at the Elmwood-East Kildonan Seniors Centre. Thomas Steen just didn't seem to care. In my opinion, he didn't seem that in tune with the residents and the area. When residents asked him questions he would give vague answers. He even answered a yes or no question with 'yo'.
It was chuckle worthy, but I didn't like how he didn't have a definite concrete answer. He seemed a little sketchy to me. Maybe I'm just weird. But he didn't give me the reassurance that he would make a change in Elmwood-East Kildonan and I would really love to see changes being made. I walk to a lot of places and I would like to see sidewalks along Molson Street that doesn't flood when it rains.

Way to go Elmwood-East Kildonan for electing someone that probably has no real ties to the area.Thomas Steen you better start learning about this community fast. Or we Elmwood-East Kildonan kids will come and hunt you down. (Oh no! There goes an increase in crime)

I don't know, but whatever the case may be I shall not be closed minded and see what Thomas Steen has to offer to Elmwood-East Kildonan.

Anyone up for the Swedish Chef from The Muppet Show? Does he remind you of Thomas Steen?

I'll give the web a piece of me, myself and I

Amother rant. Yes, another rant.

I had a yucky Sunday night. I didn't get enough sleep and in the morning I looked like a panda. O_o;;

Sunday night, I had some personal issues that resulted in me feeling like my heart was being cut a gazillion times with a machete. No, no it wasn't a breakup if you are wondering. But I slept the night away, hoping the next day will be better.

Monday wasn't any better, but it wasn't any worse. I was greeted with a tiny dilemma in the morning, but nothing too incomprehensible. I guess, something negative should be expected after a previous negative situation.

Another thing to add to my worries.

I think for most of my life I've been living with a box over my head. Or an invisible bubble if you will. That's the truth. I keep to myself, I don't speak a word to anyone unless I really have to. I'm that character. I find it difficult to bond with people because I keep to myself so much.

Ironically I'm blogging about it. Strange.

I am afraid of opening myself up to people because I'm afraid of being hurt. Or afraid that people will reject me if I do something they don't like. I end up sticking behind the scenes and hiding away. It's not that I want to be quiet and not that I like being tucked away in a corner, it just that I seem to assume that role naturally.

Maybe because of how I was brought up in my household. I learned it was always better to be quiet than to speak out.

The Facebook Movie: The Social Network

I grabbed a friend and we went on a journey as we smuggled ourselves into the Famous Players movie theatre in St. Vital. We had arrived 15 minutes early and the theatre was still packed, there was a congestion of people everywhere! I hoped I wouldn't get lost in the mob of people towering over me because I'm vertically challenged. My friend and I ended up getting front row seats which resulted in a stiff neck by the end of the movie. Oh, how I hate that.

The Social Network shows the story of how Facebook got started, why it started, what the creators had to go through to make it the Facebook we know today. The movie gave outsider's an idea of how the life of college student, Mark Zuckerberg, before he launched the life of Facebook. And before he became the Co-founder, president and CEO of Facebook and before he became one of the youngest billionares in the world.

When I watched the movie, I didn't feel that the movie potrayed any negative light nor any positive light on Zuckerberg. Instead, I think it showed a smart, and collective way of deciding what to do to help ourselves in negative situations. So maybe he didn't act so rationally when his girlfriend broke up with him but feelings are hard to control. But that is beside the point. I think the movie covered most aspects of human nature. There was growth, betrayal, and trust displayed between the characters in the movie.

If I was in Mark Zuckerberg's position, I would expect the film to educate viewers about how much money was actually in Facebook. But I wouldn't think it would hurt or help the website because being as popular as it is. I don't think it would grab any more attention than Facebook already has.



Jesse Eisenberg sporting pj's in The Social Network who plays Mark Zuckerberg.



Band #4: Take Me To The Pilot

I realized I haven't posted anything recently about any local Winnipeg bands. My bad!

Take Me To The Pilot (their band name comes from an Elton John song) is a pop rock group from Winnipeg, Manitoba. The band has established a well developed fan base on Facebook of well over a 1000 fans.

The band is also trying to get themselves featured on an episode of disBand, a Canadian reality show that is produced by MuchMusic. There has not been a Winnipeg band featured in an episode in the history of the show.

Right now there is a voting process happening on the MuchMusic disBand/Discovered page, and it is down to TMTTP and 5 other bands to get the final spot. If they win, they get to be on an episode!

If you're interested and want to help them get featured on an episode, visit their Facebook page here.
It has all the information you need to know about making your vote count!

They have to win this thing! Peg City needs to represent!

Members are:
Guitar and Vocals - Mike Bilenki
Guitar - Eric Grabowecky
Bass - Adam Brown
Drums - Richard Eliuk

Take Me To The Pilot- You Belong to Me (Taylor Swift Cover)

Late night, early morning post.

Another rant, you know what else I hate?

Closing the electronics department at night and about 15 minutes till closing, 10 people rush in to print pictures or look at batteries. It's so frustrating. Then I get out late.

Battle of the garbage bags: Which bag will reign supreme?

Buyer beware folks! Buyer beware!



A close friend of mine told me that one big flaw in every garbage bag that he has ever encountered was that it had a big hole in it.

"Unacceptable," he said simply.

In advertising class, we had to do a buyer beware project. Our group decided to investigate the strength, the puncture capability and the seepage of garbage bags. We wanted to see how 'heavy duty' these garbage bags claim to be.

Since almost everyone is going green these days. We decided to find out if biodegradable garbage bags are as good to use as regular plastic bags for putting up with peoples' everyday trash. Although we didn't go dumpster diving or garbage collecting we did use some other alternatives to test out our choice of selected garbage bags.

The brands we tested were:
RONA ECO Compostable and 100% Biodegradable Bags for Garden Waste
Great Value Ty-Up Flaps Regular Outdoor Bags
GLAD ForceFlex Stretchable Strength Easy-Tie Bags
Husky Garbage Bags
RONA ECO Recycled Plastic Garbage Bags

For the strength test, we used a starting weight of 30 pounds and added additional exercise weights until the bag broke.

For the puncture test, we gathered branches and twigs and put them in each bag to see how resistant it was to pointy objects.

Finally for the seepage test, we filled the garbage bags with water and threw the bag around to see if it leaked.

After putting the garbage bags through torture, the only bag to win in all the tested categories was the RONA ECO Recycled Plastic Garbage Bags. It had reigned supreme in all our tests that we had conducted. The price for these garbage bags aren't bad either $4.99 for 40 bags sold at RONA Home and Garden.

It was an overall interesting experiment as we all made contributions into making this experiment a memorable one. Not to mention Brea, who tried attacking me with branches and tried stabbing my 'video' eye out.:)

For the results of how well each bag fared. Check out Michelle's blog entry here.

Tests conducted by:  David Driedger, Chadd Cawson, Brea Perrelli, Michelle Palansky and yours truly, Sharon Mak.

No garbage bags were harmed in this experiment...er did I use the word torture? *shifty eyes* No no! I didn't!

Here's a clip of an experiment we did with the garbage bags:

You know what I hate?

Rude people!

My encounter with a rude person this morning on the bus was epic.

The bus was crowded with people. We were being squished together like a can of sardines and I was holding onto those hand grips hanging from the metal bars of the bus. An elderly passenger gets off at her stop and opens up a seat almost right next to me. As I moved toward the seat and was about to sit down...

A man about a foot and a half taller than me shoves his way passed me, and nearly pummels me down to the floor of the bus (well I felt like I was being pummeled). I looked at him, or wait, more like stared him down for attempting to hurt a short little defenseless innocent girl like me (maybe not defenseless, but you gotta feel my pain here). He snorts and plops his big butt on the seat and hugs his dirty duffle bag and looks up at me as if he won a game of "Race to Find a Bus Seat". Wait a sec, was he sneering at me?

Argh, I wanted to kick him in the face for stealing 'my' seat. I mean, it was quite obvious I was going to sit down after that seat had opened up. It was almost right beside me. To put it in perspective, I was the closest 'standing' person to that seat.

If I had known about another person fighting me for bus seat. I would have practiced my ninja skills.

Next time, I guess I'll quickly stick my butt out and claim the bus seat before someone shoves me over for it. I mean, it's no big deal, a bus seat is just a bus seat. I have no problem standing. But when someone actually fights me for one? That's going a little over the top.

Mayoral Forum @ RRC. Now this is: Epic nonsense

I just received my voters notice in the mail today. I was actually excited as it is going to be my first time voting. Not to mention about 12 hours ago, I also witnessed a yelling match in the cafeteria of Red River College.

The competitors: Sam Katz Versus Judy Wasylycia-Leis *ding ding*

Oh wait a second, it was a a mayoral debate, not a yelling match...or was it?
The debate reminded me of how my parents are like when they argue: They're competing for loudness.

This morning, Sam Katz and Judy Wasylycia-Leis heated things off with the hot topic: crime in Winnipeg. Both support the idea of putting more police officers on the streets, but other than that it was dispute after dispute. No wonder there are little changes being seen in the city. Candidates are too busy yelling at each other than bringing the action forward. Isn't that how it works in the House of Commons too? No order what-so-ever.

Richard Cloutier of CJOB did a fine job of moderating the event, providing the audience and listeners with good laughs and humour. Cloutier also repeatingly asked Sam Katz and Judy Wasylycia-Leis if they supported a curfew for youths. Both candidates did not support the idea.

Neither would I. I think youths would probably rebel more if the city had a youth curfew. I mean, if I was still a youth. I would. (I can still pass as a youth...just maybe)

As to who gets my vote, I am still undecided.