I'm going to need friends.

Ottawa Day 4: Parliament

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I've finally slain this video beast! It's Ottawa Day 4: The Parliament Buildings!

I once said:

"This video is like a Jenga Tower. I can't edit any more or it will collapse!" - Michael Tyas

My friend on TV

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I spotted my friend Christof on television last night.  Here is a tribute to him.

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov)

Boobs, Poop, and now: Snot

I'm reading Dooce.com to my mom and she's laughing so hard that snot just dripped from her nose.

And then I said

Comedy through font. I never thought that was possible!

Fashion Alert!

I'm so glad that I know my good friend Mehrnoosh. Mehrnoosh graciously said she would help me update my wardrobe, which sadly has remined in stasis since 2002. Today I retired my brown zipper sweater and took to the strip malls of Orangeville in a blaze of vlogging glory.

My oldest shirt in the dresser was from 1999. It was an Aquire the Fire tee. My oh my, how the times have changed.

Shawn and Kayla's Wedding

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This is a wedding video that I created for my friends Shawn and Kayla Brenton! I really like making wedding videos because I get to hover around all the action, but can steer clear of the wedding stresses entierly! Watch this video and be transported behind the scenes of a Christian wedding. Experience the wedding carriage decoration(isaster), the groom grooming, nailpolish drama and a condensed ceremony!

Best of luck, Shawn and Kayla, in your Newfoundland life together!

Higher quality video available in Quicktime, below.

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov), Flash Video (.flv)

Dirty, Stinky!

http://radio3.cbc.ca/play/band/FLASHLIGHT-BROWN/On-and-On/

This just about sums up what's going through my head. Video to follow soon.

Stank!

Chewy was sprayed by a skunk this evening. I heard him growl and some bushes rustle, and then smelled a pungent sticky goo pouring from the vent above my computer. Did the animal skunk the air intake to the whole freaking house?!?! There are few theories topping that one.

Shit.

I spoke in French for the first time in my life.

In a dream!  And I was fluent! 

This is exciting.

Jetlag

I shall take this moment to remind you all how much I despise daylight savings time.

The Letter

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Today I received a letter from the University of Manitoba, one of the institutions I applied to for environmental studies.

Formats available: Windows Media (.wmv)

Skating on the Rideau Canal

It's a videoblog on ice! The Rideau Canal in winter is the longest skating rink in the world. Lawrence and I experience a sparkling sensation on ice, risking life and limb in this daring-doo potentially lying-in-wait catastrophy!

Update! It's no longer the longest trail in the world! That title belongs to Winnipeg in 2008.

Formats available: Windows Media (.wmv)

Ottawa the end, part 2

Flash backwards to Thursday evening, to when I step wearily off the train in Oshawa, wind and sleet pelting my puny existence. I give Jen and Derrick a call, and they are on their way. I do not realize that I left my wallet on top of the phone booth, in the middle of a refugee camp resembling throng of agitated travelers with nowhere to go.

Six minutes later, I get paged by the station to come to the Via desk. Someone returned my wallet, and there was still money in it! I hadn't even realized that it was stolen! Everything was there, credit cards, identity, everything! Upon closer examination, I realize that $10 was taken* (I suppose the kind soul wanted compensation) but I was just happy to have my wallet back. I would have been so screwed without it.

So fast forward now to 11 AM. I'm in a strange city and a strange situation. I take a cab to the Go Station and begin collecting my luggage from the taxi trunk. The station still looks like a refugee camp. There's now no waiting room in the ticket hut, and there's a long cue of people waiting for the taxi. A woman approaches my cab driver and asks if he will take her to North York. I ask her how the train situation is, and she says, "No trains until 4 PM."

WHaT! In an instant split decision, I say that I will split the fare with her, so long as I can get dropped off at the TTC. She agrees, and within moments I'm on the 401. I likened it to warping in Mario Bros.

Sounds sweet, doesn't it? It was even sweeter when the lady says that her company will pay for the taxi, and so I don't have to worry about the fare! Saved me $40 in an instant! And to think that if we got there one minute before or after, I would be stuck at the Go Station until 4!

All this to say, that despite the major delays and derailments, I got home safe and sound and blessed.




*The next day, I tried to use one of my Tim Hortons 'Roll Up The Rim' free coffee coupon, but that was snatched too. WHO DOES THAT!

Beavertails!

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It's Canada. It's Beavers! It's deep fried batter, OH MY! I have a taste of the quintessential Canadian experience on the Rideau Canal.

Formats available: Windows Media (.wmv)

Getting home update

If things can't get any worse! I get a message from my brother that he's only 20 minutes away. I look out the window of the restaurant, and can't see anything for the blowing heavy wet snow. Will I ever get home!

Lawrence and I

Lawrence and I
Originally uploaded by Michael Tyas.

Taken in front of the Parliament Buildings.

Ottawa the end, part 1

There's still more videos to come, trust me. It's just a matter of time. But it is important for me to break the chronological order of things to discuss the ordeal I have been through to get where I am right now, which is a Casey's in the Yorkdale Mall. It's 2:31 PM and my work shift started at 2. It has been nearly 22 hours since I stepped onto the train in Ottawa.

I was SUPPOSED to arrive downtown Toronto at 8:55, and then take the subway to the Yorkdale Mall where my brother would pick me up. As a man of limited means, this theory would hold that I would be relatively comfortable and connected and home at a reasonable time. I don't have a cell phone, but the train had Wi-Fi, which is freaking cool! In fact, the only reason that I took the train was because I could connect to the internet the entire trip, a decision that I now realize could happen no other way.

At noon yesterday, a train derailment sliced the rail access from Oshawa to Toronto. Six hours later the area was buried under 20 centimeters of wet snow, followed by 70 kph gusting winds, followed by freezing rain being whipped into the faces of those foolish enough to venture outside. At 7PM, the city of Toronto was at a standstill. Jared refused to come and get me.

Thanks to being on the train with Wi-Fi, I was able to let everyone know what was going on and secured a place to stay for the night with my friend's Jen and Derrick. Had I tried flying, which was my original plan, I would still be in Ottawa.

I slept fitfully at my friend's house. So fitfully in fact that I woke up at 11 AM. My only option then was to take the GO Rail Transit from Oshawa to Toronto, and then to meet up with my brother somewhere around 3:30.

Train derailment, Delays

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Formats available: Windows Media (.wmv)