Pumpkins!!

I went to a coffee house with Lu (International Student I mentor) and then she came back to our house to carve pumpkins. Lu & Gareth had never done it before so it was fun. Now we have yummy pumpkin seeds.

It's close to midnight and something evil's lurking in the dark
Under the moonlight, you see a sight that almost stops your heart
You try to scream but terror takes the sound before you make it
You start to freeze as horror looks you right between the eyes
You're paralyzed

-- Michael Jackson

Thanksgiving '10

Jess & I tried to hitch hike to Coldbrook, Nova Scotia. We got stuck around Kennetcook, in the dark so Forbes and his mom had to come pick us up. It was a nice 10+ km walk though, with a beautiful view sprinkled with rain.

Forbes had to work that night so we hung out with his mom and then got up early to go to the Market. I love farmer's markets! We also went to a used book store and spent more than we had planned.

That night Forbes friends came over, they were a lot of fun and we got along well. The next day we went for a long walk with his dogs in the woods & orchard. It was a gorgeous sunny day and we got a lot of good pictures.

We had thanksgiving dinner that night and it was so delicious. 22lb turkey, mashed patatoes out our ears, squash etc etc.

We also played "He who falls asleep first, gets tortured most"...

Lazy Saturday

I went to see The Other Guys with a friend Friday night, it was really funny. Saturday was our lazy adventure day because Jess decided last minute to go to PEI. The house slept in, then made pancakes together and read the Bro Code.
Next weekend is a Rocky Horror Picture Show party at the local movie theater and then a friends Halloween party. Should be fun! Pictures will be posted!

Humans vs Zombies

At school we have a group called Zombie Apocalypse Prevention Society (ZAPS), they only started last year but they're getting popular. This year they decided to host the ever-growing game Humans vs  Zombies. We had to sign waivers and there are a lot of rules about playing on campus but we're playing.

All my friends are in the game, so far only one became a zombie and then she died because she didn't feed. We get missions that we have to complete with our task force (other humans). There is actually a whole plot line to the game and we get new bits of the story every now and then. Bascially Sackville is one of the last safe places on earth, they're building a bubble to shield the town from the zombies and we have ZAPS to protect the inhabitants. Because of this they ahve sent the lasst living scientiest here to find a cure. Our mission the other night, through riddles was to find ten vials of medicine around campus (glow sticks). We didn't really succeed but that was because people took the glow sticks.

We use socks and nerf guns as weapons, but we're not allowed to play at all in academic buildings. Humans have to wear an orange band on their arm and zombies can wear it on their leg or head. They randomly selected one player who had signed up to be the 'original zombie' who does not have to wear a band. He got 10 people within the first few days because nobody had any clue who he was.

Here's us all set to go on our first mission:

Adventures

Jess and I have decided to have an adventure every Saturday this year! Keep checking this for updates, and feel free to give us ideas!

Saturday September 11 - Bike out to Bay of Fundy 

~ We were going to bike to Woodpoint but got distracted by a dirt road. The dirt road took us out through some farmers fields and then the Bay of Fundy. The mud just looked too fun to not play in. So we spent an hour or so frolicking in the mud, throwing it and swimming a little.

Saturday September 18 - Party at Cubbin Cove

~ We hitch hiked to Halifax (first time for both of us) and then had the most amazing weekend ever!

Look out world 

She ain't afraid

running round barefoot

hair up in braids

but man does she look good 

A little tom-boy

but ain't she beautiful

She's a Country Girl

-- Paul Brandt

Dreadies

They still need some work to get rid of all the frizzieness but they're looking good :)

Monsanto

I first heard about Monsanto and Genetically Modified Organisms back in High School, and at first I didn't realize how bad it could be. Once I found out that a company had designed seeds that were resilient to pesticide and could only be used once I started to see how this could be a problem. After watching Food Inc. last week I felt I needed to share this with others.

Monsanto has patented their seeds and practically owns the market. Their seeds are supposedly "the best possible germplasm, [with] improved genetics, for a higher yield"  but this forces farmers to use Monsanto seeds and buy new ones every year. Many people are opposed to having to buy needs seeds every year because it is expensive, and they want to keep "conventional and organically grown seeds free of genetically modified organisms". Monsanto is actually going to the point of suing people who save seeds (even some who aren't using their patented seed) because they want all the money they can get. Their defense is that Monsanto "invests more than $2.6 million per day in research and development that ultimately benefits farmers and consumers" so farmers should buy new seeds every year to support that. If you watch the video (below) you will see that Monsanto is using it's money to sue people and pay people off. Maybe if they were not doing that they would have more money to put toward their research. 

One thing that really annoyed be is that they quote Ghandi on their Philanthropic activities. Monsanto Fund is supposed to bridge the gap between people's needs and resources. Hmm, anyone else notice that by forcing people to buy new seeds every year they are creating a gap between people and resources? It makes me angry that at the bottom of the page it says "we must be the change we wish to make in this world" because that is not the world I want this to be (and many others agree). Do we really want the industry owned by one company who has the sole goal of making money?

The biggest issue to me is not the money, it's the health effects. They don't have to label anything as a GMO, leaving us in the dark about what we are consuming. As also seen in the video, the bovine growth hormone that is used by Monsanto could be cancer causing. However, Monsanto has the FDA in their pocket and the dangers of this hormone are not told to the public as it should be. More studies need to be done to see how dangerous this really is to our health. Europe (and thankfully Canada) was smart to ban American milk and they did it because of rBGH (Genetically-engineered bovine growth hormone), don't believe me? Click here. However, if America were to ban it then Monsanto would lose millions, probably billions so they sell it unlabelled to keep people from protesting it. You may also want to read this article about a Monsanto employee who realized how dangers their products were, and quit because no one would listen to him. 

I advise you to do some more research about what you're eating, thanks to Monsanto companies don't have to label it.

For more info you can watch The World According to Monsanto.

Risk

Now that Mom, Dad & The Bestie know about my tattoo I will post it here.
The Symbolism:
I believe in taking chances, I think that life should be lived to the fullest and you need to take risks. It also ties in with the Paul Brandt song Risk.

Bears, Buses & Forest Fires

Bears:
- We've had more than one come in to camp and wander around. They like our garbage and it wasn't always emptied when it should be. They are usually chased off by the dogs though.
- Adam, Blythe, Morgan and I went to the sand pit which is only about a two minute walk from camp. We were sitting up on the highest dune talking when we saw something at the entrance. We realized it was a bear so we all stood up and started yelling at it. Rather then run away it stood and stared at us for about 15 minutes. It started coming towards us and Amigo (dog) started barking at it. This distracted it for a few minutes but it still didn't leave. It was blocking the entrance so we were cornered. It was also getting dark out and the people at camp couldn't hear us because of the generators. Amigo chased it down the road a bit and we managed to sneak along the edge and get down the road. Once on the road it came towards us again so Amigo stayed there barking at it. As soon as we got back to camp we told the crew bosses and head boss and they got their guns.
When they went to see it, it was coming closer to camp and couldn't be scared off so they killed it. Sad but probably for the best.

Buses:
- They really break down a lot but we got a new one :) It's all painted green and white but it has electrical issues.

Forest Fires:
Last week there was a forest fire at the water shed which is only 48 kilometers from us. They were debating evacuating us but wanted to contact MNR first. However, lightening struck a tree less than a km from us. We were all loaded on the buses ready to leave if they couldn't get the fire under control. Luckily they were able to put it out and we got to stay in camp. I walked to where the close fire was and it's kinda scary how close it was to us.

A bad day in the life of a tree planter

6:00 am -Wake up
- Eat
- Get dressed
- Board bus

7:00 am - Depart
- 2 hour + drive
- walk 15 minutes to your land with all your gear
- plant

6:00 pm - Stop planting
- Walk back to the bus
- Board bus

7:00 pm - One of three buses has a tire blow
- Everyone from that bus splits onto the other two

8:00 pm- Stop at Watershed for gas

8:30 pm - Your bus tire goes
- Other bus drives back to camp

10:00 - Bus comes back for you
- DInner

11:30 pm- Bed

6:00 am - Wake Up

A day in the life of a tree planter

6:00 am - Wake up
- Breakfast
- Get dressed
- Make lunch
-Board bus

7:00 am - Depart
- about hour drive to block
- plant

6:00 pm - stop planting
- gather gear
- walk to bus
- drive home
- eat dinner

8:30 - Bed

Repeat