So much snowboarding...

I'm sitting here in my bedroom, the sun is shining outside, the hunger in my belly is growing, but I thought I'd hold on for another few minutes to write my blog, which I have been neglecting recently... So the end of term is nearing, only another week or so of classes, then two weeks of exams, then it is all over, red rover! So what have I been up to? Well, that is a good question... Basically I realised a few weeks back that since just before Christmas I'd not had a weekend where I had spent the whole two days in Vancouver. I have been going snowboarding at various different mountains all over BC, with different mates and the crazy and awesome rabble from the UBC Ski and Board Club. This club organises four trips per year to different mountains around BC, and 50-odd 'kids' jump on a bus, drink out way to the mountain, party it up, stumble onto the hill the next day and fly down way-too-steep hills, back to the bar, more partying (maybe with a hot-tub thrown in there for good measure), and then do it all again the next day, jumping back on the bus and arriving back in Van late Sunday night, tired but in a good way! Over 'reading break' (a week-long break in the middle of term) they organise a big trip, which this year was to the Rockies, and was perfectly amazing! A really nice bunch of 30-odd people, two amazing mountains Kicking Horse and Panorama, lots of fluffy white stuff, and a good good time... See my flickr site www.flickr.com/photos/licksflicks/ for pics of that trip, and other randoms from other mountains... Yes I apologise, there are rather a lot of pictures of snowy mountains up there, but that is kinda symptomatic of what I've been doing this term!

Last weekend my mate Sim and I went to Vegas, both for a bit of respite from the Vancouver rain, and also as a form of pilgrimage to see the Dave Matthews Band... It was a great weekend, awesome to get away and not, for one moment, think about schoolwork, wander around in shorts and t-shirts, gamble a little, drink a little, eat a lot, and get blown away by two awesome nights of music. I really have been lucky to have seen some incredible music on this trip. From now 6 nights of DMB, to Gomez, Jurassic 5, The Cat Empire, Johnny Lang, Maceo Parker, Ray LaMontagne, The Fray, and local Van Bands like Hey Ocean and 5 Alarm Funk (check out their myspace sites, Hey Ocean particularly are great)... Live music has rocked my world, but I've also had a great time at some DJ's like Kid Koala (like a symphony orchestra with turntables!), Krafty Kuts, and Shy-FX... Good times.

I'm starting to get my life organised for the summer, I think I have a house sorted through a girl who is in the Ski and Board club, pretty cheap and in a good spot. Hilariously it looks like Sim has hooked up a house in the same block as me, totally randomly and unintentionally! I can't wait for summer, to get a job, and just live in this city for a while, instead of being stuck out on campus the whole time.

Well right now I need to get to class, and get out into the sun for a while! Just quickly, any of you who (like me) are a bit tired of the media representations of the Iraq War, and are interested in checking out a different perspective, head over here and have a read. "Riverbend" is a 24-year old Iraqi woman who writes on how it is to actually be an Iraqi woman in occupied Baghdad. It is fascinating reading, and I would strongly recommend back-reading the archives. Other than that, I'm also reading a book called 'Fugitive Pieces' by Anne Michaels for my course on Holocaust Literature, and it is a beautifully written book. Again one I'd recommend seeking out. More on that next time. I'm listening to the new Gomez album, 'How We Operate' and it is great. Also loving Jose Gonzales, his album Veneer is really chilled... OK it's 10.30, I have class in 30 mins and I need breaky and a coffee before then! Hope all is well in your worlds, I'm really going to try and do this more regularly from now on... Take care wherever in the world you are, and stay in touch!