Category: MBA

Things I realized today

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  • Quickest way to make friends with the neighbourhood homeless guys: take pictures outside at night. Like moths to a flame.
  • I can write a 4-page marketing assignment in one day if I need to, even if I couldn’t possibly care any less about it.
  • Enough people listen to the request show on my old home town’s community access radio show via the web that the server was choppy. Also: requesting Nicole Atkins and The Thermals will probably confuse the locals; they did come hot on the heels of a request for “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” by Poison. Thanks for playing them anyway, Andrew.
  • Seeing the Canadiens finish first in their conference is surreal. The last time this happened was 1989, and I wasn’t even that into hockey yet (it hit me two years later), so it didn’t mean that much. Now, after watching them struggle for so long, it’s just…weird. Nice, but weird. Come Wednesday (or Thursday?) I’ll be so amped up I won’t care about my next marketing assignment.
  • I’d pay somebody $100 if I didn’t have to go to work tomorrow.
  • It may have been 11 degrees somewhere in the city, but down here by the waterfront, t’wasn’t.

[tags]parrsboro, nicole atkins, thermals, canadiens, toronto weather[/tags]

Get your finger off the comm button

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Big sports night tonight: the Habs close out the season against the Leafs. The Raptors try to reverse their recent slide. Toronto FC is hoping to score a goal. And the Final Four semifinals are played, giving me at least an indication of whether I’ll have a 50-50 shot at some pool money come Monday evening.

The NHL sprint into the playoffs is high drama; Washington’s playing just to get in (and I hope they do) while Montreal’s playing for top spot in the conference. Depending on how they do tonight and how Pittsburgh does tomorrow, Montreal will end up against either Philadelphia or Ottawa in the first round; obviously I’d prefer Philly; though the Canadians have throttled the Sens in their last two matchups, Ottawa seems like a more dangerous opponent.

Not that I’ll be able to pay a lot of attention tonight. I have a marketing assignment to write.

[UPDATE: the Habs beat the Leafs, finish first in the east and will play the Bruins in the first round, which is good, since Montreal was 8-0 against them this year. The Washington Capitals won and they’re in…in fact, they’re 3rd in the conference. Stupid southeast division. The Raptors continue to suck it hard. Ditto Toronto FC. Kansas won but UCLA lost, meaning I’m out of the money, but Nellie still has a shot at 2nd if Kansas wins.]

.:.

Battlestar Galactica started off pretty strong in last night’s season kickoff (I think Nellie was right when she said they blew their special effects budget in the first ten minutes) but drifted a little. I’m so very tired of Baltar.

[tags]nhl playoffs, montreal canadiens, toronto raptors, toronto fc, battlestar galactica[/tags]

Including the phone call where they pretend the band has broken up?

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I’m now more than 90% of the way through my MBA program. To tell you the truth I haven’t been thinking about it much lately. I haven’t worked on it — no reading, no writing, no ‘rithmetic-ing — for about a month, but I have an assignment due six days from now, so I think I know where my weekend is headed.

.:.

Man, would I love to go to Summercase in Spain this July. I have no desire to see an outdoor music festival, but Sweet Screaming Jesus would I ever love to see Mogwai play the entire Young Team album live.

.:.

This Richard Florida blog post contains three things that shock me:

  1. there are 17 large American urban school systems which have an expected high school graduation rate of below 50%;
  2. the average for the fifty largest American cities is 51.8%;
  3. the Detroit city school district — worst in the country — projects that less than one student in four will graduate.

Toronto, by comparison, runs about 75%.

[tags]mba, mogwai, young team, summercase, richard florida, american school system[/tags]

Today

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Today is St. Patrick’s Day. I do not care about this so much since I’m about as Irish as pineapple, and my tolerance for drinking cheap draft in crowded bars is pretty much down to nil. However, a shocking number of people (many of whom I know for a fact are not Irish in any way, shape or form) are wearing green today, so maybe this is a bigger deal than I thought. Having grown up in a place named New Scotland, in a non-drinking family, the importance of March 17 may have been lost on me.

Today I am 89% of the way through my MBA. I have 157 days left. If the entire program were put on the timeline of a single day, it would be about 9:22 PM. I am officially phoning it in at this point.

Today my brother is in town again. He was here just last weekend; I guess he really missed the place. Anyway, we had a bite and a couple of pints at Smokeless Joe last night (I believe we have now taken pretty much everyone we know there) and he’s off to meetings today and tomorrow. Soon he’ll know the city better than we do.

Today’s it’s cold again, which is deflating after the semi-warm day we had on Saturday. Supposed to be above freezing & rainy tomorrow and Wednesday, which bodes well for removing some snow.

Today I’d like to be working for VanCity, like my friend* William Azaroff.  He got to meet Muhummad Yunus and he does some cool stuff at work.

Today is gonna be the day that they’re gonna throw it back to you. By now you should’ve somehow realized what you gotta do. I don’t believe that anybody feels the way I do about you now.

* It feels odd to call him that, since I’ve never met him in person, but rather have communicated only a few times over email and phone. Still, blogs & Facebook & Twitter give a strange sense of familiarity. Hmmmm…there’s a whole other blog post simmering there…

[tags]st. patrick’s day, mba, smokeless joe, toronto weather, william azaroff, vancity, muhummad yunus, oasis, wonderwall[/tags]

A confederacy of dunces

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Had dinner and a quick drink with CBGB last night at Volo. I needed to unwind after a long week at work (which isn’t done yet…see below) and a quiet, snowy evening with some friends and tasty beer was a proper way to do it.

.:.

Before I sacrifice what’s left of this weekend on the altar of work and the MBA, I thought I’d throw up a couple of thoughts. It may be the last you hear from me for a few days.

  • This just in: Toronto city councilor Rob Ford is a screaming idiot. Not just for this latest nonsense, which shows that his approach to debate is roughly that of a six year old. The man is in the hall of fame for terrible elected officials. It’s embarrassing to live in a city where people continually vote for him.
  • Holy crap…my Canadiens are leading their division! Meanwhile, here in the land of altered reality, people are still talking about the Leafs making the playoffs.
  • I find this map of religious majorities in America very interesting. Anyone know of a Canadian version? [via Richard Florida]
  • I’d used Bloomex a few times for flower delivery and thought they were ok, but they messed up my most recent order — and the customer service followup — something fierce. Luckily Nellie’s an understanding wife who doesn’t demand flowers on/near Valentine’s Day, and so she just laughed it off. I won’t bother going through all the details; I’ll just leave it at this: do not, under any circumstances, use Bloomex. The service they gave me was truly one of the worst customer experiences of my life, and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. It didn’t cause me harm or anguish or anything…it was just staggeringly, monumentally incompetent. Avoid them at all costs. Warn your friends.

.:.

Guns scare me. Texas has adopted the “castle doctrine,” which means you’re now justified in shooting someone if you feel threatened in your home; there’s no longer much expectation that you take reasonable measures to avoid the threat. You can just shoot it. Some have gone vigilante and extended this to their neighbourhood, like this guy who shot two men in the back because they robbed the house next door, despite the imminent arrival of police and the pleas of a 911 dispatcher.

Militarism scares me. When the Chief of Defence Staff says democratic debate on Canada’s involvement in Afghanistan is emboldening the terrorists to attack our troops, it reeks of the same low scare tactics we’ve heard from the United States in recent years. As POGGE put it when this story came out last week, “I think we’ve just been told to shut up and salute.”

American military integration scares me. While a recent deal struck between Canada and the US is intended to let troops from either country cross the border in case of a civil emergency, the potential ramifications of misuse are staggering. There was also no debate on the topic — the deal was signed a week before the story broke — which strikes me as unusual and troubling. This could be a very big help in an actual emergency, or a very ugly tool used for political/military purposes.

[tags]bar volo, rob ford, montreal canadiens, toronto maple leafs, bloomex, castle doctrine, joe horn, rick hillier, american military integration[/tags]

So I says to Mabel, I says…

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It sucks seeing your weekend disappear before it even arrives. I’ve been working too late every night this week to get anything done on my marketing assignment, which is due Monday, and that means I’ll have to knock the whole thing off this weekend. I hope it’s not long. Or difficult. Or worth much.

.:.

For the second game in the row the Canadiens came back from a big deficit, even taking the lead in the third period, but they gave up two quick goals and lost to the Penguins. What they are doing is not good for my heart, people.

.:.

All these wacky hours is also hurting my music-listenin’. Right now this is what I have waiting in the music inbox:

  • annuals . be he me
  • devotchka . little miss sunshine soundtrack
  • duke spirit . neptune
  • ladyhawk . shots
  • rebekah higgs . rebekah higgs
  • siberian . with me
  • sigur ros . hvarf-heim
  • sigur ros . svarf
  • silver mt zion . 13 blues for thirteen moons
  • sons and daughters . this gift

[tags]canadiens, penguins, annuals, devotchka, duke spirit, ladyhawk, rebekah higgs, siberian, sigur ros, silver mt zion, sons and daughters[/tags]

Villa Del Refugio

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Turns out I have 1,150 pages of marketing to read by the end of April. Not counting Fridays (which I refuse to sacrifice to school) and vacation days (but including holidays), and assuming I only take five days to complete each of the four assignments I’ll have to read about 25 pages a day, every day, between now and May 3.

199 days to go. Must…warp…time…with…power…of…mind…guh.

.:.

I just listened to the self-titled album by This Will Destroy You. It’s like Mogwai + Explosions In The Sky…which some would say already sound alike, but nuts to them/some. It’s the post-rock social event of the season. Thanks to Jeph Jacques for the tip.

[tags]mba, marketing, this will destroy you, mogwai, explosions in the sky[/tags]

Coming down(town)

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Another one down. I finished the exam a little after 11 and got out soon after. Apart from the slippery cab ride home (it’s a little snowy here today) it’s been a nice relaxing afternoon. The cats seem happy to see me, I seem happy to see my couch, and Nellie’s off somewhere enjoying a spa with her mother. All is well…until Monday, at least, when it’s back to work and I have to start reading 800 pages of marketing textbooks.

[tags]mba[/tags]

83.764%

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

A review of Meet The Spartans in Slate contains what may be the best line of the year so far:

This was the worst movie I’ve ever seen, so bad that I hesitate to label it a “movie” and thus reflect shame upon the entire medium of film. [Directors] Friedberg and Seltzer do not practice the same craft as P.T. Anderson, David Cronenberg, Michael Bay, Kevin Costner, the Zucker Brothers, the Wayans Brothers, Uwe Boll, any dad who takes shaky home movies on a camping trip, or a bear who turns on a video camera by accident while trying to eat it.

.:.

Well, this is certainly an Afghanistan worth fighting for:

Last week, a court in Balkh province sentenced Perwiz Kambakhsh, 23, to death for distributing articles downloaded from the Internet that were said to question the Koran and the role of women in Islam.

[via Torontoist]

.:.

Every time we come here for a course a few of us have a tradition on Thursday. Because we can’t bear the thought of another meal here, we order pizza, drink a few beers and relax a bit before heading off to study for tomorrow’s exam. As such the evening has become known as Pizza Thursday.

Pizza Thursday will commence a few hours from now, and we’ll be about 86% of the way through our week*. However, as we sit and enjoy our pie we’ll also just happen to be about 86% of the way through the entire program. Usually Pizza Thursday signals the turning of the final corner of each week we spend here; tonight, though, it signals the rounding of the final corner of the entire four years. After tomorrow morning’s exam we really will be in the home stretch…provided we don’t stumble in that final turn.

Wish me luck.

*I have a javascript that tells me these numbers, obviously, lest you think I’m sitting down and calculating it each time I post something. That’d be silly.

[tags]meet the spartans, afghanistan, mba[/tags]