Drunken Ramblings: Photo of the day - December 22, 2010

Drunken Ramblings: Photo of the day - December 22, 2010: "Footprints in the glistening snow, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.Photo of the day for December 22, 2010 - 'Footprints in the glisteni..."

Photo of the day - December 22, 2010

Footprints in the glistening snow, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

Photo of the day for December 22, 2010 - "Footprints in the glistening snow"

http://www.flickr.com/photos/codyrl/5281177887

Last year and half

The last year and half has been the worst year and half of my life. For the first time in my life, I've had regular anxiety attacks, stress aching my chest, and constant headaches.

It hurts enough that I can't find a job, I search everywhere, the newspaper, online, word of mouth, and I still end up at the end of the day unemployed.

I don't have many friends, fuck.. in a given week, I only talk to two people more than five minutes for the entire week. I think of suicide all the time, but I keep getting reminded of Chantal in the end, she's the only thing keeping me going, the only person who seems to even know I exist.

I worked my ass off in university going for my degree, but that doesn't mean SHIT. I've gone to countless interviews, "job tests" and still unemployed, all I can do is "keep my head up", but being told ALL my life I'm not going to amount to anything and I'm not going to be anybody - that's all I can think of now. I still vividly being in grade 7, being held to the ground, being suffocated by two people.. memories like that still are trapped in my mind. I was treated like crap my entire life, I don't expect to have a job handed to me on a platter, but I thought I'd do better than this. I thought I'd have more friends, I thought my mental health would be better, the key word is always "thought". It's not that I'm not doing anything, I am. I work my ass off trying to do better in life - but sometimes you're stuck in a rut. Just thankfully this is no longer grade 7 anymore.. but I still shake from memories of my youth.

Another thing, I worry too much as it is - whenever I do ANYTHING, that I think I accomplished something - It falls flat on my face, I get in shit for something. I was proud when I created a facebook fan page for bande a part, back when Facebook actually was decent, I got in shit by Radio Canada for it, and that's not the first time stuff like that happens.. it happens whenever I got interested in something, politics, coins, anything. I can't do anything right.. even photography I've gotten in shit over. I hate it. I worry too much what others think about me. I hate people frankly, people are greedy, annoying, and get in my way..

Photo of the Day - December 2, 2010

For Russ, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

Photo of the day for December 2, 2010, titled "For Russ." This is for Russ! CBC Radio 3 and Canadian beer's superfan!

Link

Photo of the day - November 15, 2010

The Melita Banana, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

Today's photo of the day is of Sunny the Banana and Breezy the Blue Jay, a controversial statue located in Melita, Manitoba.

Photo of the day - November 4, 2010

People playing frisbee at the Supreme Court of Canada, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

I found this in the old archive, a photo taken on the steps of the Supreme Court of Canada, with some people, including a (now) Canadian cabinet minister playing frisbee.

Photo of the day - November 2, 2010

Tropical San Juan, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

Today's photo of the day is of Tropical San Juan, Puerto Rico!

Photo of the day - November 1, 2010

Pop Shoppe Grape Soda!, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

Today's photo of the day is of a stubby bottle of Grape Soda by The Pop Shoppe, Canada's #1 premium soda company!

Photo of the day - October 26, 2010

Room mates are alkies, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

Today's photo of the day is titled "Room mates are alkies". I took this photo two weeks ago. My room mates drink each and every day of the week, not good beer either - mostly Great Western's Brewhouse and Molson Dry at best. This beer collection is growing each and every day. Not to say that I don't drink my share either, I just drink quality (most of the time).

Link

Update - Goals for the next 9 months (Feb '10)

Hey everyone, just an update for my goals that I set back in February, that I said I had to accomplish by November:

1. Get a job. Simple as that. I would prefer a full time job, but even a part time job would do. I just need a regular source of income coming my direction. <----- Yeah, I still don't have a job, and today is September 20. I know I will be unemployed for quite a bit longer. My girlfriend is furious with me over it, as is my family. When I talk to people I haven't seen in a long time, it looks bad on my part for being unemployed. 
   
2. Get out of this dump. I have been living here for 6.5 years (wow) now and this building probably has reduced my life expectancy by a decade or two. It's disgusting.. mice are roaming free, mold everywhere (not to mention black mold), a room mate saw asbestos, plus there are water leaks in the building every spring. I need to find an apartment for myself, finally a place where I don't have to share the TV or deal with peoples dishes or anything (or people stealing my food). <----- I still live there to this very day, and it's just as disgusting as back then. My favourite room mate is moving out right now, he bought a trailer as he got a job. Congratulations! One of the room mates PISSES in the bath tub, which is apparently something normal with "most" guys, but when the entire bathtub/shower smells like strong urine, it's DISGUSTING.
   
3. Save up. Save up money for a rainy day, for a trip, anything. I want to do something such as go to SxSW in 2011, or even a hot vacation. <----- Did alot of saving up, I saved up several hundred dollars (well thanks to family, so it's not really saving) to go to Winnipeg Folk Festival. Now my iPhone is cracked and near death so I'm trying to "save money" for a new iPhone. Frankly I'm sick of paying $80/month when MTS offers the same plan for half that!
   
4. Travel more. I'm a bit of a travel bug and in the past year or so, the furthest I've been was to Winnipeg, and that's only 3 hours away. I need to do road trips more.. go to places like Minneapolis, or even Quebec, Edmonton or beyond! <----- Still wishing I could travel more.
5. Take more photos. This is something I work on every day. I need to take more photos of my surroundings. If I see something of interest, take a photo of it! Also need to remember: landmarks on the prairies don't last long, while they may be here one day, they may not be there the next. <----- That's something I've successfully worked on more!
6. Lose weight. I've been doing an alright job counting calories/carbs/etc lately, I need to be more outgoing, maybe need to go for a walk/whatever more. I've been doing not bad for that lately. Walking to Timmies and back is a decent walk (2km each way). <----- Been very unsuccessful with that lately, my weight always stays the same, even if I never eat, or always eat.
   
7. Make new friends. I've always had problem making friends. I need to make new friends who are more than just random acquaintances that I may bump into once a year type of thing. <----- This is something that will never change, like it or not. I remember working on various clubs around university, hoping to make new friends, in the end I get screwed over, get made fun of behind my back, be called incompetent, in the end not making any more friends. It's still like that to this very day. I volunteer, try to do the best at anything I can, I manage to lose more friend than gain it seems. I know I'm fucking pessimistic, but cmon, I need to stop being such a fucking loser. When I'm talking to people and say "oh my friend blah blah blah blah", in reality, the "friend" is someone I've chatted to on Twitter maybe once, twice in my life and don't know them in real life. It's always been that way. I AM an attention whore, mainly because I was always ignored whenever I thought I did something well.
   
8. Stop being as stubborn when it comes towards cleaning up after myself. If I need to take out the trash, take it out, instead of letting it build out. Etc. I've always been bad at this. I guess it's because I was used to being cleaned up after when I was young. <----- This will NEVER change it seems lol
   
9. Treat myself a bit. I don't mean by splurging on going to Timmies on a day I shouldn't be. Treat myself with stuff when I am able to do well for my life. If I save up a large sum of money and meet my goals, get a brand new TV for it, but nothing too fancy. If I'm able to reach my goals, I should be able to have a bit of fun with my life! Also that means (as part of #2/#3), I should travel more, but make sure I can afford anything I do. If I have to second guess myself, then the answer will be no! So if I am wanting a car say 9 months from now, it will all come down to: "will I be able to afford it?", "is the bus system that horrible?" etc, if the answer is no for either answer or if I have to think, then it's not worth it. <----- Well I need a job to treat myself first.
   
10. Be more positive. I worry too much, I complain too much. Need to stop thinking that people are saying shit about me. Chances are, it may be happening but the people who say that need a life and they don't matter, their problems are probably worse than mine. <----- I still treat myself like shit. Why? Mainly because that's how I grew up. I grew up getting told by anyone and EVERYONE I was worthless, fat, a loser, all that sort of thing, so that negativity stays to this very day. I CAN be uber confident when I need to be, but ever since I graduated university, all I ever told myself was that I'm worthless, I cannot find a job because I'm stupid, that I'm lazy, and nobody wants to hire me. With never hearing back from employers, playing the waiting game, it only makes it worse. On the upside, I had a meeting with a client of a relative of mine. He gave me feedback on what he saw at the "mock interview" he gave. He said that I'm smart, when I get nervous I talk really loud (I don't notice it, but it explains why my throat goes very dry during interviews). I wish I was confident in myself, but I really do need help (but help hasnt helped jack all in the past). If only I got A chance at a good job. I know I'd do well. I'm a slow learner, and I'm slower than the average person at working, but I like to keep myself busy, do a great job and please the employer. I remember on several calls working at the call centre, customers would call in and at the end of the call say that I'm the best CSR rep they've ever had, but the employer would get pissed off that I helped the customer too much instead of selling unneeded services!

Photo of the day - Sept 14 - Small town train station

Small town train station, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

one of two train stations in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba

Photo of the day - September 4, 2010 - Prairie giant

Prairie giant, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

Today's photo is entitled "Prairie giant", a silhouette in the early evening of a massive concrete & steel grain elevator

Photo of the day - September 3 - Sunset/Harvest

Sunset/Harvest, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

It's harvest season, a time when the farmers rush to get their crops all cut and sorted into graineries in time for before the first snow storm of the season hits (sometime in the next month or two). As each day passes, the nights start earlier and earlier, and before you know it.. it will be pitch black at dinner time. It's evenings like this that remind me that there was once a summer evening here on the prairies, when the mosquitos bit, when the beers were plentiful and when the farmers were haying away.

Empties.. non-returnable, no deposit

All in a day's work!, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

One thing that really grinds my gear here in Manitoba is that the government, and frankly almost everyone is pushing for a Green Manitoba, pushing for a clean Manitoba, which includes to recycle more, but the Government doesn't really push incentives to recycle, nor do retailers (either than seeing a garbage can at a store for "plastic bag return").

Returning soda bottles, cans, and other containers.. it happens for beer here in Manitoba, but that's it. In Saskatchewan and Quebec, there are stations set up, even a special vending machine (like in Quebec grocery stores) where you can bring back your Coke bottles, milk jugs and whatnot and get a return on a deposit. Hey, that's a great idea, that way people will actually stop littering as much! But no, that's something that's too good of an idea here in Manitoba to work.

The Manitoba Government stopped charging an environmental levy on soda bottles back on April 1st, however several retailers, including the Real Canadian Stupidstore (sorry: I had to do it) still charge the fee, stating it's a "corporate policy" now. What the government should have done is replace the environmental levy with a deposit (like they do on beer, keep it the 2¢ or whatever) and pushed for retailers to take in empties, with the customer getting the two cents back in the end.

But that would not happen, it's not the "government's responsibility" to tell retailers what to do, so they won't anyways. But frankly, I'm sick of seeing empty Coke bottles lying on the road, random a-holes throwing their trash in my parents yard (as they live off the highway), and whatnot. To me, recycling seems more of a hassle to many Manitobans I know moreso than a convenience (or for the heck of it). In my own household, in a building that's shared accommodations with eight other people, people just randomly throw trash in the recycling, recycling in the trash and leave it at that.

IF Manitoba started charging a deposit (and forcing retailers to use the "fake" environmental levy as a deposit), it would get people recycling more, sure it's only 2¢, but it does add up. I know I would end up collecting all the plastic bottles I used in a month and bring it to the closest retailer/station that gives back deposit, and I'd probably have a few bucks extra each month (good for laundry coin).

In Quebec, what they did was if you had soda bottles, or any other recyclable plastic bottles, or even glass bottles (glass FTW), there would be these special vending machines set up where you would drop in your bottles/containers in the machine and it would add up how much the levy is worth (not sure how they do that), and it would print off a receipt (or give you the change) and you would get money back. Heck, their supermarkets and their dépanneurs took back beer empties! Sure more liberal than here in Manitoba. It's not THAT hard. I give props to those people who actually take in their soda empties (probably illegally) and get cash for it n Saskatchewan, atleast they're doing something about the empties instead of just putting in the trash like alot of people I know.

Photo of the day - June 11 - One from the Archives

One from the archives - Mom's horse, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

I found this photo in one of my mom's old photo albums, probably taken back in the late 60s/early 70s, her love of Arabian horses has been around for many decades.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/codyrl/4691706488/

Photo of the day - June 10 - Fenceless Fence Posts

Fenceless Fence Posts, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

Today's photo is Fenceless Fence Posts!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/codyrl/4499335226/

Photo of the Day! June 9, 2010 - Ice view of the rink (Memorial Cup)

Ice view of the rink (Memorial Cup), originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

Today's photo is titled "Ice view of the rink" which was taken at the 2010 Memorial Cup festivities in Brandon, MB
http://www.flickr.com/photos/codyrl/4646472488/

Photo of the day - June 8, 2010 - Long Gone to Saskatchewan!

Long gone to Saskatchewan! (Well probably not), originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

Today's photo is titled "Long Gone to Saskatchewan!", a Saskatchewan branded grain hopper infront of a Ukrainian Orthodox church.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/codyrl/4657941377/

My Return of Photo of the Day! June 7, 2010

"Hello my name is Mauricio", originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

After a few month hiatus, it's the return of my photo of the day piece on my blog, I haven't posted here in forever, so why not bring back the blog back to life with the Photo of the day!

Today's entry is "Hello my name is Mauricio"

Enjoy!

Golden Coke Cans

Golden Coke Cans, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

The other day when opening my case of Coke, I noticed something weird, the Coke cans weren't the usual red as they usually are, this time they were a weird light golden colour. I quickly thought there was some manufacturing error and got Caffeine free Diet Coke instead. Actually it turned out Coke made a series of Golden coloured cans to honour both the Mens and Womens hockey teams winning the gold medal at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics! Pretty neat, but thankfully this wasn't actually Caffeine Free Diet Coke!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/codyrl/4456868090/

La Quatrième Bière/52 Weeks! - Carib Lager

La Quatrième Bière/52 Weeks! - Carib Lager, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

Today's March 31st, making it the 4th week of the 52 week project of my Flickr Beer photo project. Today was such a beautiful day as it is currently sunny and 15C, the PERFECT weather for a light lager on the patio while relaxing with friends.

I was lucky enough for my parents to visit the caribbean island of Grenada a few weeks back and bring me back an assortment of various Caribbean/Grenadan beers. For this week's project, the beer is Carib Lager from Grenada.

As I was saying, the weather is beautiful today, absolute gorgeous! So it was only right to crack open a Carib. Carib Lager is available at almost any beer/liquor store across Canada and beyond. However, here in Manitoba the Manitoba Liquor Commission sells theirs from a Trinidad based brewery. The Carib Lager I am trying out today is from Grenada.

This is a very tropical influenced beer as expected, not anywhere near as skunky as say Corona, but definitely light enough to enjoy while on the beach while tanning or on a patio while hanging out with friends. I'm not a fan of light tasting lagers like this, but either way, light tasting beers have its purpose, like days like today! The Carib is 5.2% alcohol/volume which surprised me (expecting it to be 4.8% or so), so it's higher alcohol % than the average North American domestic, and lighter tasting than most beers with a comparable percentage. Great for a hot summer day on the patio where you want a beer that satisfies the thirst, but not a beer if you want a flavour kick from. The bottle is also smaller than the traditional North American style beers, with having only 275ml of beer (as compared to 330-355ml here).

Flickr Link

Trois/Fifty Two! - Fort Garry's Folklorama Ale

Trois/Fifty Two! - Fort Garry's Folklorama Ale, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

I can't believe it's already week number three of the 52 week beer project, it seems like I was drinking the O'Hara only two days ago!

This week's beer is a seasonal specialty beer by Winnipeg microbrewery Fort Garry Brewing, which is owned by Vancouver brewery Russell Brewing Company.

This Fort Garry Folklorama beer celebrates the Winnipeg summer festival "Folklorama", which takes place each and everywhere around Winnipeg.

The beer comes in a 473ml can and is 5% alcohol/volume. When I bought this, I expected it to be a classic Canadian style lager as it doesn't mention what style of beer it is at all on the can. I was surprised when pouring it to find out it's a reddish/brown Ale. The taste is a bit boring, I definitely get the aftertaste of a regular ale, but I just can't really taste it, a bit watery for my tastes. Also, it has this grittiness (reminds me of sand) that's left in my mouth.. what in the world? Not a great ale, but then again I'm personally not a fan of any of Fort Garry's beer. Would be a decent beer for the average Manitoban as it is certainly not overpowering in any way. Would I buy this again? Probably not, unless if I happen to go to a Folklorama pavilion in the summer. I purchased this for about $2.50 Canadian, so it's cheaper than some other beers at the ~500ml size.

Flickr Link

Deux/52! Happy St Patricks Day! O'Hara's Leann Folláin

Deux/52! Happy St Patricks Day! O'Hara's Leann Folláin, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

Today is March 17th, St Patrick's Day for Ireland and most of the world so the second beer of the 52 week Flickr beer project is O'Hara's Leann Folláin from Ireland.

I'm not a fan of stouts, but I drink them from time to time, especially thanks to the Half Pints taster pack (Stir Stick Stout). The first wiff of aroma I get is a bit of a nutty/molasses sort of aroma. The very first taste, to me was kind of a coffee taste, but after a few sips, it no longer tasted like that. Not really a good stout, sort of bland, but drinkable. I have an aftertaste similar to the taste of sesame seeds now. I would rather be drinking a Guinness right now, as it is St Patricks Day, but I'm glad to be drinking something Irish today as I haven't celebrated it beer wise since oh... 2005? Wow.

I bought it for about $2.80 Canadian as it was on sale here in Manitoba (but then again the best before date was for a week ago). The bottle is 355ml, I like the label but it's just a lackluster stout.

Link

Goals for the next nine months

Drinking a cold cerveza, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

Well it's been a year now since I started looking for a full time job, and fast forward to now, I'm still exactly where I was 12 months earlier.. but without a job and not doing anything. I've drafted a 10-goal list that I hope/need to reach within the next 9 months.

1. Get a job. Simple as that. I would prefer a full time job, but even a part time job would do. I just need a regular source of income coming my direction.
2. Get out of this dump. I have been living here for 6.5 years (wow) now and this building probably has reduced my life expectancy by a decade or two. It's disgusting.. mice are roaming free, mold everywhere (not to mention black mold), a room mate saw asbestos, plus there are water leaks in the building every spring. I need to find an apartment for myself, finally a place where I don't have to share the TV or deal with peoples dishes or anything (or people stealing my food).
3. Save up. Save up money for a rainy day, for a trip, anything. I want to do something such as go to SxSW in 2011, or even a hot vacation.
4. Travel more. I'm a bit of a travel bug and in the past year or so, the furthest I've been was to Winnipeg, and that's only 3 hours away. I need to do road trips more.. go to places like Minneapolis, or even Quebec, Edmonton or beyond!
5. Take more photos. This is something I work on every day. I need to take more photos of my surroundings. If I see something of interest, take a photo of it! Also need to remember: landmarks on the prairies don't last long, while they may be here one day, they may not be there the next.
6. Lose weight. I've been doing an alright job counting calories/carbs/etc lately, I need to be more outgoing, maybe need to go for a walk/whatever more. I've been doing not bad for that lately. Walking to Timmies and back is a decent walk (2km each way).
7. Make new friends. I've always had problem making friends. I need to make new friends who are more than just random acquaintances that I may bump into once a year type of thing.
8. Stop being as stubborn when it comes towards cleaning up after myself. If I need to take out the trash, take it out, instead of letting it build out. Etc. I've always been bad at this. I guess it's because I was used to being cleaned up after when I was young.
9. Treat myself a bit. I don't mean by splurging on going to Timmies on a day I shouldn't be. Treat myself with stuff when I am able to do well for my life. If I save up a large sum of money and meet my goals, get a brand new TV for it, but nothing too fancy. If I'm able to reach my goals, I should be able to have a bit of fun with my life! Also that means (as part of #2/#3), I should travel more, but make sure I can afford anything I do. If I have to second guess myself, then the answer will be no! So if I am wanting a car say 9 months from now, it will all come down to: "will I be able to afford it?", "is the bus system that horrible?" etc, if the answer is no for either answer or if I have to think, then it's not worth it.
10. Be more positive. I worry too much, I complain too much. Need to stop thinking that people are saying shit about me. Chances are, it may be happening but the people who say that need a life and they don't matter, their problems are probably worse than mine.

Fifty Two Beers Project Begins! Un! - Ožujsko Pivo Beer

Un! - Ožujsko Pivo Beer, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

Hey everyone! I've been wanting to try out a Flickr 52/365 project for nearly two years now, but never had an idea what I should try out. Around Christmas I thought it would be a great idea to do a 52/365 project dedicated to beer. Since I don't want to seem like an alcoholic, and force myself to try a new beer each and every day, I decided that a 52 week project would be best. This way it would give me the ability to try A NEW (to me) beer each and every week! Ranging from beers I have never tried in my life to beers I may have not tasted in years.

The first beer in this 52 week project is a 500ml can of Ožujsko Pivo from Croatia. I've never heard of this beer, so I thought it would be perfect to be the first beer of the project.

A quick review, a beer that's similar to a North American styled golden lager, a very smooth tasting beer, it kind of reminds me of beer such as Molson Canadian, however the aroma is much more similar to Heineken or other European style lagers, but the taste is certainly more North American influenced, but that may just be me! As it being my first beer in the project, I was very pleased with how the photo turned out and how the beer tasted. Not a bad deal money wise, but it's not a beer I would have on a regular basis.

It is also 5.2% alc/volume

Link

Photo of the day - March 10, 2010

Lines, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

Time again for photo of the day! This will be the last photo of the day for a while because frankly, I'm bored. That and I've been having a hard time choosing photos lately. So enjoy this photo, it's titled "Lines"

Stuff Cody Hates - March 10, 2010

Oh Garbage Tree, Oh Garbage Tree, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

I haven't done this in a while. But I'm in a grouchy mood as usual, so time for Stuff Cody Hates!

• Maple Bugs. They're disgusting and they're EVERYWHERE on the farm in the late fall, every year. They're ugly, they fly around and they get on you and annoy you. They freak me out, Bluehfhsahfsa!
• Beer price increases. On monday the Manitoba Liquor Commission increased the price on almost all the beers sold in Manitoba. What irks me about this is that the Commission states that we have among the cheapest beer in Canada - Sure, if you don't count Quebec and you don't count Ontario when they have sales. Check out BeerDeals.ca, which is a site dedicated to showing the beer deals in Ontario, better deals for the most part compared to Manitoba. $29 for a 24 of Blue, INCLUDING deposit? That's nearly $40 here. Also, they state that this is the first increase to beer prices in SIX years, that's bull because around 6 years ago was when the "value brand" beers came to Manitoba with Minhas Creek. Molson Dry was sold for $5.52 around then for a 6, now it's $7.28. Also, all the big brands such as Blue, Canadian and Kokanee have ALL gone up in price within the last year alone. So that's BS.
• Birthdays. Birthdays effing suck, it's just another day of the year, but apparently my friends/family have better friends than I do here in Brandon. I get random invites to surprise parties for random people I don't talk to or even my sister's big 1-8, but nobody has ever done something of that nature for me. I don't care either ways, this town is an effing shithole, and I have never felt welcome here in either way.
• This town.
• Unemployment
• Ice on sidewalks. There's a business here in town that has their eves trough/water flow pointing directly to the sidewalk. So all winter long, there's 4 inches of ice on the sidewalk, I've slipped and hurt my back on that specific spot several times each winter, now I avoid that street completely. I wish they would effing atleast do something about it so people can walk, that's not a place to allow your drainage of melting snow runoff, it's a public sidewalk.
• Telemarketers
• Greyhound. I effing hate greyhound, well that's obvious, since this whole piece is about stuff I dislike. I wish Brandon had a Via Rail terminal 

Photo of the day - March 9, 2010

Farm Town Graffiti , originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

The photo of the day for March 9, 2010 is titled "Farm Town Graffiti." Usually I'm a believer that graffiti is just wrong and disgusting, but its times when very artistic graffiti like this deserves to be noticed.

Photo of the day - March 8, 2010

Glass Bottle Mountain Dew from the 1980s, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

As someone who remembers the weird things about growing up, I miss being around glass bottles. They were the staple of life back growing up in the late 1980s, early 1990s around when they were being discontinued for plastic bottles (boo!)

Today's photo is Glass Bottle Mountain Dew from the 1980s.

Hamburquesa?

MMMM bison burger!, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

I may be a hamburger purist, a person who enjoys a hunk of beef, someone who grew up on a beef farm, or just plain obsessed.. or.. Picky! I like to have my hamburgers done a certain way. I absolutely detest mustard, onions and processed cheese on my hamburgers. I have been like that my whole life.

If I do want a hamburger at a restaurant, I always tell them in a friendly tone "I would like x burger plain with nothing on it." but what's weird, quite often I will end up with a Burger that has all the toppings, or atleast at minimum, processed cheese slice. Blech. Some restaurants are good for catering to my needs, but others screw up each and every time. Wendy's manages to screw up more often than any other restaurant (diner, fast food or upscale). Their burgers are yummy to eat, but it seems 80% of the time, the burger will come with cheese, even if I go "no cheese please!" the best restaurant for catering to my needs is actually A&W. The last time I remember A&W ever screwing up on the burger was back in 2005. Wow!

I have no clue why I am so darned picky about the staple item of the fast food universe, but it's just one of the million things food-wise I am picky about. Well I do have a right! Anytime I go to a restaurant with a friend, family member or colleague, they like to comment on my eating habits. I get it already! Heck I've done it to people who I didn't know were vegetarian/vegan.

At a restaurant sometimes, I feel like I should be paying a bit less if I don't want cheese/trimmings on it, but I will never go to a restaurant and ask for say.. A bacon mozzarella burger with fried onions and mushrooms and ask for it just as burger plus bacon, and that's it.. That's just wrong!

Perhaps I'm just very anal about how I like my food, or I just know what I like. I've had such pickiness since I was an infant and haven't been able to grow out of it. I HAVE discovered new foods, but for the most part, I still won't eat alot of food. I don't eat fish, wild game, most pork and alot of other stuff. I'm just a picky person, I hear it every single day of my life and I will be a picky person til the day I die.

Whats your thoughts on this? Am I being weird about it? Or do I have the right? I believe I have the right, if vegetarianism, raw veganism and meatatarianism all exist, I should be picky in my beliefs too!

Photo of the day - March 7, 2010

Devil's Punch Bowl, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

Today's photo of the day is titled "Devil's Punch Bowl", any of you who have ever visited Carberry, Manitoba should know about the Devil's Punch Bowl!

Photo of the day - March 6, 2010

J'aime la biere! I love beer.. whatcha expect!, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

Today's photo of the day is "J'aime la biere! I love beer.. whatcha expect!" I was hogging quite a few beers one time because they were free!

Photo of the day - March 5, 2010

Ugly, old, uncomfortable chair, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

The photo of the day for March 5, 2010 is titled "Ugly, old, uncomfortable chair". A chair that simply, sucks.

Photo of the day - March 4, 2010

Let's dance, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

Today's photo of the day is titled "Let's Dance." Taken at a Crystal Castles show in Quebec City I saw a few years back.

Photo of the day - March 3, 2010

The Cat in the Hat!, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

The photo of the day for March 3, 2010 is

Photo of the day - March 2, 2010

Reminiscent, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

Today's photo of the day for March 2, 2010 is "Reminiscent"

Photo of the day - March 1, 2010

Roll up the rim to uh.. lose?, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

It's March and yet another day for Photo of the day! Today's photo of the day is "Roll up the rim to uh.. lose?"

Photo of the day - February 28, 2010

Gold Canada Gold!, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

Today's photo of the day is "Gold Canada Gold!", as a tribute to Team Canada mens hockey team (who just won gold medal!)

Photo of the day - February 27, 2010

If this doesn't scare you, then I don't know what will, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

Ahoy hoy, today's photo of the day is "If this doesn't scare you, then I don't know what will". Check it out!

Photo of the day - February 26, 2010

Rue Petit-Champain, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

The photo of the day for February 26, 2010 is "Rue Petit-Champlain" which is a very beautiful historical part of Quebec City. I miss that city.

Photo of the day - February 25, 2010

Patriotic Canadian Farmer, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

The photo of the day for February 25, 2010 is "Patriotic Canadian Farmer." On the prairies many farmers are now hanging miniature Canadian flags on their tractors/farm implements to show their pride in being a Canadian.

Photo of the day - February 24, 2010

Hershey Bears win the 2009 Calder Cup against the Manitoba Moose, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

Today's photo of the day, in tribute to tonight's hockey game of Canada vs Russia, the photo is of "Hershey Bears win the 2009 Calder Cup against the Manitoba Moose" last June in Winnipeg. See Bouque on the right? He's Ray's son.

Photo of the day - February 23, 2010

Hawksley Workman - Brandon, Manitoba February 24, 2009, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

One year ago tomorrow night, Hawksley Workman performed a show in blizzarding Brandon, Manitoba. Most of the crowd came from Winnipeg for the show, and one person I talked to was actually from near Thunder Bay! Photo du jour.

Photo of the day - February 22, 2010

Large icicle "spears" and a hint of moon, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

Phew, just in the nick of time! Here's the photo of the day for February 22, 2010! Large icicle spears!

Photo of the day - February 21, 2010

Stag Beer, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

Salutations! Time again for Photo of the Day! Today is February 21, and today's photo is "Stag Beer" from Grenada.

Photo of the day - February 20, 2010

Bouquet of flowers, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

Hey again! The photo of the day for February 20, 2010 is "Bouquet of flowers." I took this on my Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens, didn't turn out that bad!

Photo of the day - February 19, 2010

Newfoundland 10 cents from 1917 and Jell-o hockey card, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

The photo of the day for February 19 is "Newfoundland 10 cents from 1917 and Jell-o hockey card". It appears I still have an awesome collection of hockey cards and currency lying around!

Photo of the day - February 18, 2010

Snow banks, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

Everything moves real slow when it's 40 below, when it's 40 below!
The photo of the day for February 18th is "Snow Banks"

Photo of the day - February 17, 2010

Back of tractor 1 - real or toy?, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

Today's photo of the day is "Back of tractor 1 - real or toy?"

Enjoy!

Photo of the day - February 16, 2010

As a kid... harvest season with toys, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

Today's photo of the day is "As a kid... harvest season with toys". How I miss being a kid playing with old tractor toys. Those were the days.. ah!

Why I love being French, and speaking French!

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Mon héro!, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

Well Journée Louis Riel is now officially over here in Manitoba, which is the Manitoba equivalent of "Family Day" in other Canadian provinces. Thinking back, Louis Riel is probably my biggest political hero in my life, not only for having the courage for standing up to the Canadian government, but also as him being a Francophone/bilingual person.

I love speaking French, and every day of my life I'm proud to be a French Canadian. My French isn't perfect by any means, but when I get to speak French, I get excited and all nostalgic.

Whenever I go to a local shop or a restaurant and hear someone speaking French, my ears start tuning into the French conversations. Whenever French musicians come to Brandon, Manitoba, I always have a chat with them after the concert.. they always are ecstatic when they realize that there's another person who speaks French in the room, which is rare in this part of the country.

Yeah, of course it gives me a reason to trash talk about someone without most people knowing what the eff I'm saying, but I don't trash talk anyways. But I do love to Franglais it up, which is a mixture of French and English.

Living in Quebec City, people would automatically notice my obviously anglo accent, but they never hated me for it, they would ask me questions like where I was from, what I think about the community, "have you gone to... yet?", stuff like that. In any other city in Canada, particularly anglophone communities, I have never had this happen. Not once has anyone ever said this while in Ottawa or Edmonton, or even Winnipeg.

Also, I consider myself a bit of an expert on Franco-Canadien music, I'm not a professional at it or anything, but thanks to taking a "Popular French music" course back in university, it gave me a grasp of Québecois musical history and what to look for. Now I have dozens of different Francophone musicians on my iPhone. I probably know more about French music than most listener friends of mine on Radio 3, but I don't hold it against them, they're just anglos, they don't know any better! ;)
While musicians like coeur de pirate and malajube are great and all, they're are in NO WAY the best that the province has. Give me Jean Leloup, Marie-Pierre Arthur and Radio Radio instead!

Also, what I love is that my absolute closest friends, most of them are French speakers, I don't know how I ended up with amazing friends who all speak French, but it happens!

But on the bad side of things.. here in Western Manitoba, Francophones/"Frenchies" are constantly discriminated on a regular basis. On a local message board, every single time the word "French" is mentioned, there's a heated debate (well one sided debate) about how Francophones need to STFU and how this should be a unilingual country, it's no wonder why said same people vote Blue each and every election like clock-work. It's embarassing to be in a community that is so discriminatory(?) against any cultural groups. I even got made fun of, in public for wearing French tshirts, although THAT'S rare. Usually it's just glares, rude looks if they see me speaking French, it sucks, but that's life. Also, while there are a few thousand French speaking people in the region, it seems like all of them are hiding, I never can find them, so I never get to really speak French in the first place!

Anywho, I'm proud of being French Canadian and proud of speaking French, I've had the pleasure of spending St-Jean Baptiste Day on the Plains of Abraham before, and felt like I belonged there with the other 250,000 attendees, it was a night to remember! Drinking with random strangers, singing en Français and having a great time! Ah.. those were the days!

Vive les Francophones!

Photo of the day - February 15, 2010

Bonne Journée Louis Riel! Un peu tôt though, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

The photo of the day today is titled "Bonne Journée Louis Riel! Un peu tôt though." Today is Louis Riel Day here in Manitoba and I felt that it was only fitting to have today's photo of the day as a photo of Louis Riel himself!

Also check out Rue Louis-Riel in Quebec City.

Photo of the day! February 14, 2010

...turned it into a parking lot!, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

I'm sitting here in the car waiting for my sister to pick up Chinese food for my parents for Valentines Day. Here's today's photo of the day titled "...turned it into a parking lot!"