Good job Iggy

Michael Ignatieff did exactly what was necessary yesterday. He effectively put a stop to all the Conservative B.S. by putting the government on parole. He did exactly what the opposition party should do with a minority government. Make sure that the government does what is best for the country, not just what is right for their party. The even better part of Ignatieff's plan is that it helps his party out to. Not only does he give a moderately good budget a chance, he also gives his party a chance to recover from last year's election. Personnaly I think that Iggy's plan is to take some time before taking down the government. He will allow the tories to keep power until they act recklessly again. Once they make a mistake or stop acting for the good of the country, there will three further chances to take them out of power. Once in March, once in June, and once in December.

40th Canadian parliament

Yesterday, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced the long awaited budget. The topic of what would be in the budget and how the Liberal Party would react to it have been in debate since Governor General Michaëlle Jean prorogued parliament last December. With the economy still sinking slowly into a constantly deepening abyss, the question on the minds of Canadians is what is Michael Ignatieff is going to do with the budget that King Stephen has handed him. Before I get into his options I'll just go into some of the details surrounding the budget.

Does anyone else think that Jim Flaherty's budget sounded well, very liberal? They did not balance their books to create a surplus.They actually presented a budget that made sense (well except for the tax cuts). They went against every instinct that the conservatives have shown over the years (again except for the tax cuts) and have a budget that looks like the one a liberal government would present.

The one thing that this budget is above all else is political. The Tories know that the NDP and BQ will vote against the budget because they have lost confidence in the house of commons. They also know that if the liberals decide to vote against them they would lose power to the coalition or force an election.

Because of these two important facts the Tories know that the Canadian public would be turned off by a regular Tory budget in these hard economic times because they had a chance to listen to the opposition and didn't. So instead of making a true Tory budget, they went with a budget that would please everyone (or almost everyone). This way they would have a better chance of staying in power.

So right now Michael Ignatieff has a couple of options. He can support the budget and give the liberal party a chance to recover before an election. He can vote the Torries down and hope that the canadian public will understand why he did it during an election. He can go to the Governor General and ask her to give the Coalition a chance to govern. Or he can ask the Tories to make some ammendmants to their budget before giving support. All of these options could pay off big for the liberals, but they could also send Iggy's popularity down the toilet. All i can hope for is that this whole game of poiltical football ends so we can get down to the buisness of helping Canadiens.

Oscar Reality

Best Picture Nominees 4/5
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Reader instead of the Dark Knight
Milk
Slumdog Milionaire
Frost/Nixon

Best Actor Nominees
Mickey Rourke for the Wrestler
Sean Penn for Milk
Richard Jenkins for The Visitor instead of Leo Dicaprio
Brad Pitt for Benjamin Button
Frank Langella for Frost/Nixon

Best Actress Nominees
Meryl Streep for Doubt
Angelina Jolie for Changeling
Anne Hathaway for Rachel Getting Married
Melissa Leo for Frozen River
Kate Winslet for The Reader

Best Supporting Actor
Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight
Philip Seymour Hoffman for Doubt
Josh Brolin for Milk
Robert Downey Jr for Tropic Thunder
Michael Shannon for Revolutionary Road

Best Supporting Actress
Penelope Cruz for Vicky Christina Barcelona
Viola Davis for Doubt
Amy Adams for Doubt
Marissa Tomei for The Wrestler
Taraji P Henson for Benjamin Button

Best Director Nominations
Gus Van Sant for Milk
Stephen Daldry for The Reader
Dan Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire
Ron Howard for Frost/Nixon
David Fincher for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Oscar Noms Tommorow

Tomorrow the Academy Award Nominations come out and I'm waiting intently for them. I made my early picks for the "best" films and now I'm going to make my final picks.

Best Picture Nominees
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Milk
Slumdog Milionaire
Frost/Nixon

Best Actor Nominees
Mickey Rourke for the Wrestler
Sean Penn for Milk
Leonardo Dicaprio for Revolutionary Road
Brad Pitt for Benjamin Button
Frank Langella for Frost/Nixon

Best Actress Nominees
Meryl Streep for Doubt
Angelina Jolie for Changeling
Anne Hathaway for Rachel Getting Married
Sally Hawkins for Happy Go Lucky
Kate Winslet for Revolutionary Road

Best Supporting Actor
Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight
Philip Seymour Hoffman for Doubt
Josh Brolin for Milk
Robert Downey Jr for Tropic Thunder
James Franco for Milk

Best Supporting Actress
Penelope Cruz for Vicky Christina Barcelona
Viola Davis for Doubt
Amy Adams for Doubt
Kate Winslet for The Reader
Marissa Tomei for The Wrestler

Best Director Nominations
Gus Van Sant for Milk
Christopher Nolan for The Dark Knight
Dan Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire
Ron Howard for Frost/Nixon
David Fincher for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

So I hope that my picks are right but most of time they are not so.....

Exciting News (It's a bit sporadic so watch out)

Okay, first thing I'd like to say is that in the past week there have been 32 hits on the site and the first intercontinental hit from someone in south Africa so thank you.

Next thing is 24 IS BACK I'm very happy that 24 has finally returned to TV and is better than ever. Tony, Bill, Jack, the whole crew is back and has compelling as ever.

Next thing is that tomorrow is the inauguration of Barack Obama the 44th (correct me if I'm wrong) President of the United States. Finally someone who has a hope of changing things in this world.

Next up is the crisis in Gaza. Now before you condemn me for saying this, hear me out. I think that Israel was completely justified in their invasion. Hamas has been unjustly attacking Isreal for months so the invasion was justified. So now for the news, there is a cease fire to give Gaza a chance to stop their rocket attacks. Hopefuly it will end but if it dosent Israel will be 100% justified in whatever there next actions are.

So thats the end of my little Exciting News segment. Hopefully you will be as excited as I am.

Exams

Being in high school obviously means that first semester exams are coming up right around the corner (this week coming up for me). They make us teenagers stressed to our limits and for the first time grade nines. Ooh, it is insane how nervous I am right now. I am extremely lucky with my exams because only one of them is formal so I get a couple days off during exam week. But I can't imagine what some of the people with 3 or even 4 formal exams must be feeling right now. I know that I should really be studying right now but Blogging calms me so I can study later on.

Well now that that's over with, how about some tips. Sure parents will always give the "study-hard-and-don't-wait-until-the-last-minute" speech but I don't think that entirely the right way to go. I think whats better is to evenly spread out your time. If you have 3 exams like I do, you should take the time you have which for me is 2 days for 2 exams and then 3 days for the last one, and spread your study time out. So say you have a french exam first. When you wake up on the Saturday morning before the exam you should; listen to music, play video games, eat before noon. Make sure you have had a good lunch and around 12:30 start to study. Go hard for two and a half hours then take a break. Do an hour of something you like. Have fun and then go back and continue. It will seriously lower your stress level.

Next tip should be listen to music while studying. I do not know if it helps everyone the same way it helps. i just know that listening to my favorite music while studying blocks out all outside stimuli and lets me concentrate on the task at hand. Plus it adds enjoyment in to the pain in the ass that studying is.

Then comes exam day. Here are my tips for that dreadful day.
1. The best tip is not to panic. It will let you keep your head clear.
2. Think every answer through.
3. When doing multiple choice questions, GO WITH YOUR GUT. Thinking things there is bad.
4. Do not under any circumstances doubt your self. You are smart and your brain likes getting things right so doubting yourself is equal to confusing your self.
5.Make sure you read the entire question. 50% of all mistakes come from people who read half the question and do it wrong.

So, hopefully these will help you all out.

Im dissapointed

Not that I don't like typing to myself but its always nice to get comments or results in a poll I put up. I'm actually very happy that there are people that read this blog that don't know me personally. It's satisfying that some people like my writing style and respect my opinions. So all I'm saying is that comments on what you would like to hear about or things you do and dont like would be very nice.

So since I don't like leaving things unfinished I'm going to post my list of the top 20 drummers in my order. Hopefully you will comment and leave your favorites.

1. Neil Peart of Rush
2. John Bonham of Led Zeppelin
3. Keith Moon of The Who
4. Phil Collins of Genesis
5. Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers
6. Stuart Copeland of The Police
7. Tommy Lee of Motley Crue
8. Travis Barker of Blink 182
9. Dave Grohl of Nirvana
10. Joey Jordison of Slipknot
11. Rick Allen of Def Leppard
12. Carl Palmer of Emerson Lake and Palmer
13. Ginger Baker of Cream
14. Alex Van Halen of Van Halen
15. Bill Ward of Black Sabbath
16. Roger Taylor of Queen
17. Nick Menza Megadeath
18. Lars Ulrich of Metallica
19. Moe Carlson of Protest the Hero
20. John Dolmayan of System of a Down

Top 20 rock Drummers list

As I promised I have my list of the top twenty Rock Drummers of all time. This list was created by My friend Ry and I and if you dont know a name from the list then Google him.

So here we go. (This list is in no particular order.... yet)

Neil Peart of Rush
John Bonham of Led Zeppelin
Keith Moon of The Who
Travis Barker of Blink 182
Joey Jordison of Slipknot
Phil Collins of Genesis
Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers
Stuart Copeland of The Police
Tommy Lee of Motley Crue
Dave Grohl of Nirvana
Moe Carlson of Protest the Hero
Rick Allen of Def Leppard
John Dolmayan of System of a Down
Carl Palmer Emerson Lake and Palmer
Ginger Baker of Cream
Bill Ward of Black Sabbath
Roger Taylor of Queen
Nick Menza Megadeath
Lars Ulrich of Metallica
Alex Van Halen of Van Halen

So that is that and now I'm going to post the first poll.
Joey Jordison/Slipknot
Phil Collins/Genesis
Ginger Baker/Cream
Dave Grohl/Nirvana
And Remember to vote

Pre-Weekend Update

This weekend coming up, I will be starting a new feature of the blog. It will be the Top 20 section. Every couple of weeks i will post a top 20 of something and in groups of four i will post them into surveys. Starting Sunday I will have the top 20 drummers list.

P.S Just a little note. My birthday is this Sunday so.....

Guilty Pleasures

Guilty Pleasures - Something that would ruin us if our friends knew about it.

Despite my best interests I thought it would be fun for my few faithful readers to hear some things that few people know about me. Despite my knowledge of the mode of the people at any one time I still fall victim to the popular influence. There are some horrible songs I still enjoy listening to. There are some movies that if my friends saw me watching Id probably die of embarrassment.
So here is a short list of things I am embarrassed of.

I enjoy good romantic comedies like When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, and the American President. I listen to and sometimes dance to songs like Yeah! by Usher or Low by Flo Rida. I enjoy the show the OC. I think its funny (and the girls are total babes(not to sound too objectifying)). I like old Disney movies like Hercules, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid and so forth. They are good movies.

So those are most of the things that almost no one knows about me. They may be laugh worthy and totally embarassing but they are things that I do and enjoy.

Happy New Year

Ok since it's finally 2009 I can finally relax. That year was stressful like hell. The elections, the economy, ugh it was not the greatest year on record. but great news is coming our way. Barack Obama is going to be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States. The one hope I have for this ray of sunshine is that his administration works. I hope they can pass the legislation that will bring this world out of it's economic crisis. Hopefully Barack Obama will be the beginning of a long line of democratic presidents.

Next up I want to talk about what's going to happen on the 26th of January. Canadian parliament will be unprorogued and Jim Flarehty will present the federal budget. If the conservative party decides to ignore the other parties recomendations then we may be heading for our 4th federal election in 5 years. No matter how much I'd like to see Stephen Harper out of power I think and hope he will listen to this bleeding world and provide a budget to help it out. If not let me be the first one to kick King Stephen off his throne and hand overthe crown to Michael Ignatieff.

So with all that in mind I'm hoping that 2009 is a good year and that this economic crisis will see its end by the end of it.