Rate My Prof if fictional professors were teaching my classes (Part 1)

E-Business Software Development (INFO 3103)

Professional Practice (CS 3997)

Social Psychology (Psyc 2403)

EA's Fifa Soundtrak 1998 - 2011

Here are the full listings for EA's Fifa Soundtrack. Here's a link to the Grooveshark playlist.
Songs in red are not available on Grooveshark. 


Fifa 1998
Blur - Song 2
The Crystal Method - Keep Hope Alive
The Crystal Method - More
The Crystal Method - Busy Child
Electric Sky Chruch - Hugga Bear


Fifa 1999
Danmass - Gotta Learn (Dub Pistols Sick Junkie Remix)
Dylan Rhymes - Naked and Ashamed
FatboySlim - The Rockafeller Skank
Gearwhole - Passion
God Within - RainCry
Lion Rock - Rude Boy Rock


Fifa 2000
Robbie Williams - It's Only Us
Gay Dad - Joy
Reel Big Fish - Sell Out
Apollo 440 - Stop The Rock
Lunatic Calm - LC001 (Neon Ray Mix)
Elite Force - Call It Brisco (And Why Not?)
Junior Blanks - All About Beats (DJ Scissoricks Mix)
Sniper - Cross Fader Dominator

Fifa 2001 
Moby - BodyRock

Fifa 2002
BT -  Never Gonna Come Back Down (Hybrid’s Echoplex Dub)
Cirrus -  Stop and Panic
DJ Tiësto -  Flight 643
Gorillaz -  19-2000 (Soulchild Remix)
Gouryella -  Tenshi
Issi Noho -  First Snow (General Midi Remix)
R4 -  Revolution 
DJ Sandy vs. Housetrap -  Overdrive (Junkie XL Remix)
Schiller -  Das Glockenspiel (DJ Tiesto Remix)
Terpsichord -  The Bells 
The Edison Factor -  Repeat the Sequence 
Vitae -  Energy Flow 

Fifa 2003
a.mia -  Jumpin' to the Moon (Unexplored Field Mix) 
Antiloop -  In My Mind
Avril Lavigne -  Complicated (Pablo La Rossa Vocal Mix)
Bedroom Rockers -  Drivin'
Dax Riders -  Real Fonky Time
D.O.G. -  Force 
Idlewild -  You Held the World in Your Arms
Kosheen -  Hide U
Kosheen -  Pride
Ms. Dynamite -  Dy-Na-Mi-Tee
Safri Duo -  Played A-Live (The Bongo Song)
Sportfreunde Stiller -  Independent
Spotrunnaz -  Bigger and Better 
Timo Maas -  To Get Down (Fatboy Slim Remix)

Fifa 2004
Dandy Warhols - We Used to Be Friends
Junior Senior - Rhythm Bandits
Cassius - Under Influence
Outlandish - Aicha (Mintman Remix)
Kasabian - LS7 (JFL Remix)
Cooper Temple Clause - Promises Promises
Kane - Rain Down on Me (Tiesto Remix)
Suburbia - Always
Kings of Leon - Red Morning Light
Tribalistas - Ja Sei Namorar
Radiohead - Myxomatosis
Stone Roses - Fools Gold
Caesars - Jerk It Out
Wir Sind Helden - Guten Tag
Timo Maas - Unite
Tosca - Gute Loune
Soffet - Gamushara Deko Boko Dai Race!?
Lost Prophets - Burn Burn
Babamania - Wanna Rock
DJ Sensei- Musica Grande 
The Ravonettes - That Great Love Sound
Goldfrapp - Train
Cafe Tacuba - EO (El Sonidero)
Cabas - Juancho
Zeca Pagodinho - Deixa a Vida Me Levar
Asian Dub Foundation - Rise To the Challenge
Paul Van Dyk - Nothing But You
Seamonator - [Japanese Title]
The Individuals - Take a Ride
The Jam - Town Called Malice
Underworld - Two Months Off
Clones - Crazy Boys 
Dawholeenchilada - Espiral

Fifa 2005
Air -  Surfing on a Rocket
Brothers -  Dieci Cento Mille
Debi Nova -  One Rhythm (Da Yard Riddim Mix)
Emma Warren -  She Wants You Back
Faithless -  No Roots
Ferry Corsten -  Rock Your Body, Rock
Flogging Molly -  To Youth (My Sweet Roisin Dubh)
Franz Ferdinand -  Tell Her Tonight
Future Funk Squad -  Sorcerary
Gusanito -  Vive La Vida
Head Automatica -  Brooklyn is Burning
Inverga + Num Kebra -  Eu Perdi Voce
Ivete Sangalo -  Sorte Grande
INXS -  What You Need (Coldcut Force Mix 13 Edit)
Jose  -  A Necessidade
Los Amigos Invisibles -  Esto Es Lo Que Hay (Reggaeton Remix)
Mala Rodriguez -  Jugadoras, Jugadores
Manana -  Miss Evening
Marcelo D2 -  Profissao MC
Miss J -  Follow Me
Morrissey -  Irish Blood, English Heart
Nachlader -  An die Wand
New Order  -  Blue Monday - EA Sports Throwback Trax Powered By Rhino
Clorofila of Nortec Collective -  Almada
Oomph! -  Augen Auf!
Paul Oakenfold -  EA SPORTS Football Theme
Sandro Bit -  Ciao Sono Io
Sarah McLachlan -  World on Fire/Junkie XL Remix
Scissor Sisters -  Take Your Mama
Seeed -  Release
Sneak Attack Tigers -  The End of All Good
Sober -  Cientos de Preguntas
SouldOut -  1,000,000 Monsters Attack
The Sounds -  Seven Days a Week
The Soundtrack of our Lives -  Karmageddon
The Streets -  Fit But You Know It
Wayne Marshall -  Hot In The Club
Zion y Lennox  -  Ahora

Fifa 2006
3D Voz - Fiesta
AK4711 - Rock
ATHENA -Tam Zamani Simdi
Bloc Party - Helicopter
Blues Brother Castro - Flirt
boTECOeletro - Coco Nutz Mass
Boy - Same Old Song
Carlinhos Brown & DJ Dero - Nabika
Damian  Jr. Gong  Marley - Welcome To Jamrock
Dogs - London Bridge
Doves - Black and White Town
Duels - Potential Futures
Embrace - Ashes
Hard-Fi - Gotta Reason
Jamiroquai - Feels Just Like it Should
Kaos - Now and Forever
Kinky - Coqueta
K'naan - Soobax
KYO - Contact 
LCD Soundsystem - Daft Punk Is Playing At My House
Linea 77 - Inno All'Odio
Mando Diao - God Knows
maNga - Bir Kadin Cizeceksin
Marcelinho da Lua - Tranq�ilo
Nine Black Alps - Cosmopolitan
Oasis - Lyla 
Paul Oakenfold - Beautiful Goal
R�yksopp - Follow My Ruin
Selasee - Run
SoShy - The Way I
Subsonica - Corpo a Corpo
Teddybears Sthlm - Cobrastyle
The Departure - Be My Enemy
The Film - Can You Touch Me
The Gift - 11.33
The Gipsys - La Discoteca
The Rakes - Strasbourg
Vitalic - My Friend Dario
Yerba Buena - Cityzen Citysoy

Fifa 2007
Angélique Kidjo -  Wele Wele
Belasco -  Chloroform
Bersuit Vergarabat -  O Vas a Misa...
DJ Bitman -  Get on the Floor
Blasted Mechanism -  Blasted Empire
Boy Kill Boy -  Civil Sin
caBas -  La Cadena de Oro
Carlos Jean -  Get Down
D.O.C.H.! -  Was in der Zeitung Steht
Elefant -  Uh-oh Hello
Epik High -  Fly
Fertig, Los! -  Sie ist in Mich Verliebt
Infadels -  Can't Get Enough (Mekon Remix)
Keane -  Nothing in My Way
Malibu Stacy -  Los AnGeles
Mellowdrone -  Oh My
Mobile -  New York Minute
Morning Runner -  Gone up in Flames
Muse -  Supermassive Black Hole
Nightmare of You -  Dear Scene, I Wish I Were Deaf
Outlandish -  Kom Igen
Paul Oakenfold -  Beautiful Goal
Persephone's Bees -  Muzika Dlya Fil'ma
Plastilina Mosh -  Peligroso Pop
Polysics -  Tei! Tei! Tei!
The Prototypes -  Kaleidoscope
Ralph Myerz and the Jack Herren Band -  Deepest Red
Seu Jorge -  Tive Razão
Shiny Toy Guns -  You Are the One
Stijn -  Gasoline and Matches
Surferosa -  Royal Uniform
Tahiti 80 -  Big Day
The Feeling -  Sewn
The Pinker Tones -  TMCr Grand Finale
The Sheer -  Understand
The Young Punx -  You've Got To...
Tigarah -  Girl Fight
Trash Inc. -  Punk Rock Chick
Us3 -  Kick This
Young Love -  Discotech

Fifa 2008
!!! -  All My Heroes Are Weirdos
Apartment -  Fall Into Place
Art Brut -  Direct Hit
Aterciopelados -  Paces
Babamars -  The Core
Bodyrox feat. Luciana -  What Planet You On?
Bonde do Rolê -  Solta o Frango
CAMP -  From Extremely Far Away
Carpark North -  Human
CéU -  Malemolência
Cheb i Sabbah -  Toura Toura -  Nav Deep Remix
Cansei de Ser Sexy -  Off the Hook
Datarock -  Fa-Fa-Fa
Digitalism -  Pogo
Disco Ensemble -  We Might Fall Apart
Dover -  Do Ya
Heroes & Zeros -  Into the Light
Ivy Queen -  Que Lloren
Junkie XL -  Clash
Jupiter One -  Unglued
Kenna -  Out of Control (State of Emotion) b
k-os -  Born to Run
La Rocca -  Sketches (20 Something Life)
Lukas Kasha -  Love Abuse
Madness feat. Sway and Baby Blue -  I'm Sorry
Maxïmo Park -  The Unshockable
Melody Club -  Fever Fever
Mexican Institute of Sound -  El Microfono
Modeselektor feat. Sasha Perera -  Silikon
Noisettes -  Don't Give Up
Pacha Massive -  Don't Let Go
Peter Bjorn and John -  Young Folks
Planet Funk -  Static
Robyn -  Bum Like You
Rocky Dawuni -  Wake Up the Town
Santigoldc -  You'll Find a Way d
Simian Mobile Disco -  I Believe
Superbus -  Butterfly
Switches -  Drama Queen
The Automatic -  Monster
The Cat Empire -  Sly
The Hoosiers -  Goodbye Mr A a
The Hours -  Ali in the Jungle
The Tellers -  More
Tigarah -  Culture, Color, Money, Beauty
Travis -  Closer
Tumi & the Volume -  Afrique
Vassy -  Wanna Fly
Wir Sind Helden -  Endlich ein Grund zur Panik
Yonderboi -  Were You Thinking of Me?

Fifa 2009
Black Kids -  I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You (The Twelves Remix)
Caesar Palace -  1ne
Chromeo -  Bonafied Lovin'  (Yuksek Remix)
CSS -  Jager Yoga
Curumin -  Magrela Fever
Cut Copy -  Lights & Music
Damian  Jr. Gong  Marley -  Something for You (Loaf of Bread)
Datarock -  True Stories
DJ Bitman -  Me Gustan
Duffy -  Mercy
Foals -  Olympic Airways
Gonzales -  Working Together  (Boys Noize Remix)
Hot Chip -  Ready for the Floor  (Soulwax Remix)
Jakobínarína -  I'm a Villain
Junkie XL -  Mad Pursuit
Jupiter One -  Platform Moon
Kasabian -  Fast Fuse
Ladytron -  Runaway
Lykke Li -  I'm Good, I'm Gone
Macaco -  Moving
MGMT -  Kids
My Federation -  What Gods Are These
Najwajean -  Drive Me
Plastilina Mosh -  Let U Know
Radiopilot -  Fahrrad
Reverend and the Makers -  Open Your Window
Sam Sparro -  Black and Gold
Señor Flavio -  Lo Mejor del Mundo
Soprano -  Victory
The Airborne Toxic Event -  Gasoline
The Bloody Beetroots -  Butter
The Fratellis -  Tell Me a Lie
The Heavy -  That Kind of Man
The Kissaway Trail -  61
The Kooks -  Always Where I Need to Be
The Pinker Tones -  The Whistling Song
The Script -  The End Where I Begin
The Ting Tings -  Keep Your Head
The Veronicas -  Untouched
The Whip -  Muzzle #1
Tom Jones -  Feels Like Music (Junkie XL Remix)
Ungdomskulen -  Modern Drummer

Fifa 2010
Adiam Dymott –  Miss You
Afrobots –  Favela Rock
Alex Metric –  Head Straight
The Answering Machine –  It's Over! It's Over! It's Over!
Auletta –  Meine Stadt
Balkan Beat Box feat. Tomer Yosef and Saz –  Ramallah Tel Aviv
BLK JKS –  Lakeside
Bomba Estéreo –  Fuego
Buraka Som Sistema feat. Pongolove –  Kalemba (Wegue - Wegue)
The BPA feat. Ashley Beedle –  Should I Stay or Should I Blow
Casiokids –  Fot i Hose
Children Collide –  Skeleton Dance
Crookers feat. The Very Best, Two Fingers, and Marina Gasolina –  Birthday Bash [29]
Cut Off Your Hands –  Happy As Can Be
Dananananaykroyd –  Black Wax
Datarock –  Give It Up
The Enemy –  Be Somebody
Fabri Fibra –  Donna Famosa
Fidel Nadal –  International Love
Los Fabulosos Cadillacs –  La Luz del Ritmo
Macaco –  Hacen Falta Dos
Major Lazer feat. Mr. Lexx and Santigold –  Hold the Line
Márcio Local –  Soul do Samba
Matt & Kim –  Daylight (Troublemaker Remix feat. De La Soul)
Metric –  Gold Guns Girls
Mexican Institute of Sound –  Alocatel
Nneka feat. Wesley Williams –  Kangpe
Passion Pit –  Moth's Wings
Peter Bjorn and John –  Nothing to Worry About
Pint Shot Riot –  Not Thinking Straight
Playing for Change –  War (No More Trouble)
Rocky Dawuni –  Download the Revolution
Röyksopp –  It's What I Want
SoShy –  Dorothy
The Temper Trap –  Science of Fear
The Whitest Boy Alive –  1517
Tommy Sparks –  She's Got Me Dancing
Wyclef Jean –  MVP Kompa
Zap Mama –  Vibrations

Fifa 2011
Adrian Lux -  Can't Sleep
Ana Tijoux -  1977
Caribou -  Odessa
Charlotte Gainsbourg -  Trick Pony
Chromeo -  Don't Turn The Lights On
Choc Quib Town -  El Bombo (Toquemen el Bombo)
Dan Black -  Wonder
Dapuntobeat -   - 0 (Dos Punto Cero)
Dum Dum Girls -  It Only Takes One Night
Ebony Bones -  W.A.R.R.I.O.R.
Gorillaz -  Rhinestone Eyes
Groove Armada -  Paper Romance
Howl (band) -  Controller
Jónsi -  Around Us
Jump Jump Dance Dance -  White Picket Fences
Ladytron -  Ace of Hz
LCD Soundsystem -  I Can Change
Linkin Park -  Blackout
Locnville -  Sun in My Pocket
Malachai -  Snowflake
Maluca -  El Tigeraso
Mark Ronson feat. Simon Le Bon & Wiley -  Record Collection
Massive Attack -  Splitting the Atom
MGMT -  Flash Delirium
Ram di Dam -  Flashbacks
Scissor Sisters -  Fire with Fire
The Black Keys -  Tighten Up
The Pinker Tones -  Sampleame
Tulipa Ruiz -  Efemera
Two Door Cinema Club -  I Can Talk
We Are Scientists -  Rules Don't Stop
Yeasayer -  O.N.E.
Zémaria -  The Space Ahead

EA's NHL 2000 - 2012 Soundtrack

The complete Track listing of EA Sports NHL 2000 - 2012. Organized by year. Here is the Link to the Grooveshark Playlist with all the songs

Red text means not available on Grooveshark

NHL 2000:

Garbage - Push It (intro)

Uber zone - Dokta Dokta
Gearwhore - Accelerator
La Guitaristic House Organisation - Rinocerose

NHL 2001

Collective Soul - Heavy

Templar - Here We Go

NHL 2002
Barenaked Ladies - It's Only Me
Gob - I hear you Calling
Sum 41 - Makes no Difference
Sum 41 - Fat Lip
The Tea Party - Temptation
Treble Charger - Brand new Low
Treble Charger American Psycho

NHL 2003
Blindside - Pitiful
Celldweller - Stay with me (unlikely)
Dead Star Hotel - Frustrated
Default - Deny
Default - Slow me Down
Dragpipe - Simple Minded
Greenwheel - Strong
Gob - I've been up these steps
Gob - Sick with you
Jimmy Eat World - Sweetness
M.ill.ion - Showstopper
Papa Roach - She Loves me Not
Queens of the Stone Age - No One Knows
Trapt - Headstrong
Treble Charge - Hundred Million

NHL 2004

Adema - Co-Dependent
Alien Ant Farm - S.S. Recognize
Autopilot Off- Clockwork
Avenged Sevenfold - Chapter Four
Bowling For Soup - Punk Rock 101
Brand New - The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows
Cinder - Soul Creation
Deftones - Minerva
Dexter Freebish - Falling Down
Dexter Freebish - Life Of Saturdays
Gob - Oh! Ellin
Jerk - Sucked In
Jet - Get What You Need
Less Than Jake - The Ghosts of Me and You
Living Things - Born Under the Gun
Modern Day Zero - Down
The Ataris - Radio #2
Vendetta Red - Shatterday


NHL 2005

Ash - Orpheus
Burning Brides - Heart Full of Black
Dropkick Murphys - Time To Go
Faith No More - From out of Nowhere
Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out
Hazen Street - Fool the World  
Jersey - Saturday Night
Letter Kills - Radio Up
Lola Ray - Automatic Girl  
Papa Roach - Not Listening
Sugarcult - Memory
The F-Ups - Lazy Generation
The Network - Roshambo
The Soundtrack of Our Lives - Karmageddon


NHL 2006

American Head Charge - Loyalty
Animal Alpha - Bundy
Avenged Sevenfold - Bat Country
Beatsteaks - Atomic Love
Billy Talent - Red Flag
Bullet For My Valentine - 4 Words (To Choke Upon)
Fall Out Boy - Our Lawyer Made Us Change the Name of This Song So We Wouldn't Get Sued
Institute - Bullet-Proof Skin
Kaiser Chiefs - Saturday Night
Mando Diao - Down in the Past
OK Go - Do What You Want
Pennywise - Knocked Down
Rock 'N' Roll Soldiers - Flag Song


NHL 2007

Anti-Fla - This is the End (For You My Friend)
Bloodpit - Platitude  
Cute Is What We Aim For - There's a Class for This
Gatsbys American Dream - Theatre
Good Riddance - Darkest Days
Goodnight Nurse - My Only
Hurt - Unkind
Inkwell - Ecuador is Lovely This Time of Year
Mashlin - The Shore
Mobile - Montreal Calling
NOFX - Wolves in Wolves' Clothing
Pilate - Barely Listening
Pistolita - Beni Accident
Priestess - Talk to Her
Protest the Hero - Divinity Within
Quietdrive - Rise from the Ashes
The Hellacopters -  Bring it on Home


NHL 2008

Airbourne - Stand Up for Rock 'N' Roll
Anberlin - A Whisper and a Clamor
Bayside - The Walking Wounded
Datarock - Fa-Fa-Fa
Disco Ensemble - This is My Head Exploding
Dustin Kensrue - I Knew You Before
Enter Shikari - Sorry, You're Not a Winner
Jupiter One - Turn Up the Radio
Luna Halo - Kings & Queens
Manchester Orchestra - Wolves at Night
Mando Diao - The Wildfire (If It Was True)
Paramore - Misery Business
PlayRadioPlay! - Compliment Each Other Like Colors
Pop Levi - Sugar Assault Me Now
Santogold - L.E.S. Artistes
Scanners - Raw
The Black Keys - Just Got to Be
The Mooney Suzuki - 99%
The Ponys - Double Vision
The View - Comin' Down
The Wolfmen - Jackie Says


NHL 2009

Airbourne - Runnin' Wild
Apocalyptica featuring Tomoyasu Hotei - Grace
Avenged Sevenfold - Afterlife
Billy Talent featuring Anti-Flag - Turn Your Back
Black Tide - Warriors of Time
Bullet for My Valentine - Hearts Burst into Fire
Coheed and Cambria - The Running Free
From First to Last - Two As One
Johnossi - Execution Song
Millencolin - Done Is Done
Panic! at the Disco - Nine in the Afternoon
Phantom Planet - Do the Panic
Protest the Hero - The Dissentience
Sons and Daughters - Gilt Complex
The Elms - The Shake
The Kills - Cheap and Cheerful


NHL 2010

Alexisonfire - Young Cardinals
Cancer Bats - Deathsmarch
CKY - Hellions on Parade
Disco Ensemble - Golden Years
Dragonforce - Heroes of Our Time
Eagles of Death Metal - Anything 'Cept the Truth
Earl Greyhound - Oye Vaya
Green Day - Know Your Enemy
Megadeth - Peace Sells
MeTalkPretty - Wake Up! Wake Up!
Ministry - Keys to the City
MxPx - Kids in America (Kim Wilde Cover)
Nickelback - Burn It to the Ground
Papa Roach - Into the Light
Priestess - Raccoon Eyes
Rancid - The Bravest Kids
Scorpions - Rock You Like a Hurricane
Thousand Foot Krutch - Fire It Up

NHL 2011


In Whispers - Here I Stand
Airbourne - Bottom of the Well
Bullet for My Valentine - Your Betrayal
Megadeth - Dialectic Chaos
Pantera - Walk
Danko Jones  - Full of Regret
2 Unlimited - Twilight Zone
Black Box - Strike It Up
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Mama Taught Me Better
The Bouncing Souls - ¡Olé!
Darude - Sandstorm
Dropkick Murphys - I'm Shipping Up to Boston (Live)
Europe - The Final Countdown
Foxy Shazam - Unstoppable
Ramones - Blitzkrieg Bop
The Black Keys - Howlin' For You

NHL 2012

Against! Me – Occult Enemies 
Anthrax – I’m Alive 
Beady Eye – Standing on the Edge of the Noise
Billy Idol – Mony Mony
Black Tide – That Fire
Blackguard – Farewell
Bush – Sound of Winter
Death Letters – I Wish I could Steal a Sunset
Dropkick Murphys – Hang ‘em High
Electric Light Orchestra– Don’t Bring Me Down
Judas Priest – You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’
Manchester Orchestra – April Fool
Middle Class Rut – Busy Being Born
Murderdolls – Whatever you got, I’m Against It

The Trips that weren't

My summer work term is almost done and I find myself dreaming of another grand adventure before returning to the books. Before I could think clearly I turned to Kayak.com (for all my flight planning needs) and started plugging in locations. Looking at the flight prices, the destinations, the layovers ... the shit I would get to fly over!!! I could go to Dublin? Paris? Casablanca?
Reality soon set in, realizing that I really don't have the time or the money or the people to go to any of these places. It reminds me of how much time I spend dreaming of conquering new territory. With that, I present the trips that weren't.

1. Greenland
What I wanted to do:

I really wanted to friggen go to Greenland. This is probably one of the ones I worked the hardest on.
Greenland is literally just a quick swim away 230KM (land to land) from Canada to mainland Greenland. So as you can clearly see above, I would bus to Montreal and then get a flight to either Labrador City or Iqaluit (Whichever is cheapest) where I would take one of those charter planes that take all the people that want to visit Greenland to the beautiful territory.

The Problem
There aren't charter planes worth of people who want to visit Greenland. As such, there aren't charter flights to Greenland. In fact, there is no way of getting from Canada to Greenland. None. Nothing at all. Here's what I would have had to do.

Bus to Halifax, take ... hang on ... take Iceland Air to Reykjavik (Capital of Iceland) and then take Air Iceland (note the subtle change in airline company) to Greenland. The awkward thing is that the flight from Iceland to Greenland is as expensive as the one from Canada to Iceland. Also it only flies every two days. WHY IS THERE NO DEMAND TO GO TO GREENLAND!!?

If you google "Ferry to Greenland" the second link is this one where a guy asks if there is a ferry from Nova Scotia to Greenland. One helpful response on the same page is "The old ferry didn't carry vehicles, and you had to wear a hat with horns sticking out, and carry a battle ax. It's damned unfortunate that there isn't a ferry today, considering the staggering amount of business and social interaction between the thriving metropolitan areas of Greenland and northern Newfoundland."  (there's no such thing as a stupid question). That being said, there is no ferry from North America or Europe (or Asia surprisingly) to Greenland. I thought I remembered finding one when I made my MS paint picture but I guess not.

Lastly, the only real "feasible" option to get to Greenland is to take a cruise line from Iceland or Norway. Apparently cruise lines have been in and out of the market for years. The popular line now is the Hurtigruten (I feel like if I were a bullie I would threaten people with hurti grutens). I looked at that for a bit, but this doesn't really look like my idea of a cruise:

Woah... this isn't where I parked my car

Also, $5500.

Canadian Bussing Extravaganza

The original plan for my cross America bus trip was for it to be across Canada. I think the real reason I deteriorated away from this plan was because of the NHL playoffs and my chance to see the Predators play. 

The trip took many different forms, but the one stood out as being way more awesomekward than the rest

What I wanted to do

Bus from Fredericton to Montreal to Ottawa to Thunderbay to Winnipeg (take a train to Churchill and back) to Saskatoon to Edmonton to Yellowknife to Whitehorse to Dawsons City, to Kamloops to Vancouver and fly home. 

This was going to be awesome. I was going to discover Canada and the bus would take me through many little towns and I could really get to know the country I live. Also, while I am doing it, why not just nip on up to Churchill Manitoba, the polar bear capital of the world. 

The Problem

That's not how busses work. Mostly. Also taking a train to Churchill is a bitch. The route I would have to take only had 1 big difference. Can you spot it? 

Yeah you can't take a bus from Yellowknife to Whitehorse. You would have to double back down to Edmonton.  One of the most fun things about planning my bus trips was just looking through all the itineraries and seeing just where the heck the bus would take you. Examine this portion of the trip from Edmonton to Whitehorse for example: 

Edmonton -> Whitecourt -> Valleyview -> Grande Prairie -> Dawson Creek -> Fort St.John -> Wonowon -> Buckinghorse -> Fort Nelson -> Toad River -> Watson Lake -> Whitehorse. Or on a map: 

And that's probably about 30% of the stops. The rest are listed but there are no breaks. It's simply to drive into town and check out the gas station and see if it's still standing. 

To be honest, parts of me think that's pretty sweet. Check out all these little communities in a way you never would. But there is something about three days on a bus that just doesn't work for me. Further, they schedule if for you to arrive in Yellowknife at 11 PM and in Whitehorse at 4:25 AM. What am I going to do until Sunlight? Play a lose-lose game of try not to get knifed? 

Finally the last snag is that the train to churchill and back takes three days. Which is just really too long. I mean it would be sweet to do, but it's a trip on it's own. You don't simply ride a train for three days to step out into downtown churchill, squint your eyes to find a polar bear and then leave disappointed. 

Discovering Newfoundland & Labrador

I've flown to St. John's for soccer nationals once but I really didn't get to see the island of Newfoundland or any of Labrador. So I devised a trip that I knew would be amazing. It would be hard to see all of Newfoundland in the 8 day time period I was planning. But surely I could see a lot of amazing stuff. 

The Plan

First and foremost, the plural of ferry is ferries, not ferrys as my ms paint job suggests. Secondly: Fredericton to North Sydney, take the Ferry across drive up the NFLD Pinky to cross the gulf of St. Lawrence on another ferry and then drive up to Labrador City, down to Baie Comeau where I would take yet another Ferry and head back home. 

I wasn't disillusioned on this one: I was going to drive it. You can't do Newfoundland and Labrador on a bus. And I mean that literally: There is no city-city bus service there. I thought this trip was pretty reasonable. Until I started to look into it.

The Problem

Most of the Labrador highway is made of gravel. I didn't know a lot about the drive. I asked some questions on a forum because I knew it was a pretty deserted area and was worried about gas. Here are a couple of quotes from some of the feedback: 

"girlfriend's sister and boyfriend drove from Lab City to Grand Falls-Windsor in the middle of Newfoundland and that alone took around 3 days"

"There are flatbed tractor trailers loaded high with logs and a good rule of thumb for the entire route is to assume these trucks own the road. In essence, they kinda do as there are spots where they simply can't stop for you even if they wanted to."

"this road is surprisingly straight BUT there are several dips that will take you by surprise if you go too fast. Seriously, I've gotten a Dodge Neon airbourne on that [Paved] road and it wasn't on purpose"

Rental companies don't actually allow you to drive their cars on them. And although a somewhat short distance, driving apparently takes forever. Further, sections of the highway will be randomly closed/washed out. They also strongly suggest against driving at night since moose love hanging out there. Big moose too. 

Urg. Why can't they just pave all the roads in the country? Low population or not, what exactly is the government even spending it's money on? This is garbage. 

Thanks for the read!

Photo Sources:

http://www.scantours.com/greenland.htm

http://chezbeeperbebe.blogspot.com

http://www.artistic.ca/dteed/labrador.htm

ttp://www.gov.nf.ca/

http://www.globosapiens.net/jorgesanchez-travelogue/

Cowboys vs Aliens - A review (with gratuitous memes)

Caution: Every plot twist is revealed. Spoilers are everywhere. Only read this if you don't plan on being surprised by the movie. Really, this is written so you will have no desire to see it. I suggest that you take the opportunity that is presented to you. 


Also I am not trained in the art of Meme's and I am not sure if they contribute or take away from this post. I mostly added them to break up the text.


We start the movie with our protagonist, Jake, who I am going to refer to as Drake for the sake of this summary. I just feel like Drake is a much better name for this guy than Jake. Jake comes off like Joey which reminds me of Kangaroos and there are no Kangaroos in Texas. So Drake is lying on the ground with some strange thing on his Arm. He tries to get it off but can't - even after hitting it with a rock!

Anyway, a lot of crap happens after this but all you need to know is that he ends up locked in a wagon and while there his bracelet starts going off. Well just then Aliens attack the village and destroy everything. But they also use these arm things to snatch people from the ground (imagine War of the Worlds except fast flying things instead of drones). He breaks out of his prison wagon and starts running around trying to fix everything when HIS BRACELET TURNS INTO AN ALIEN SHOOTING GUN! YES! So he shoots down one of the ships like a boss. Unfortunately the aliens have already done their damage and they take off. One of them though is left behind and he has to run away. So in the morning, a gang of people set off on their horses to follow this Alien's tracks.

Umm yeah ... just know that I am leaving a lot of stuff out and a lot of what I tell you will be on a need to know basis ...

So after a day of riding a storm breaks out in the night. Luckily they find a very large overturned pirate vessel in the middle of the desert to camp out in. That's right, a huge upside down boat in the middle of the desert. They briefly question this but then just choose to embrace it as a place to stay for the night. There is a singular rogue alien attack that they fight off and then they leave the next morning. The upside down boat is never mentioned again. It serves no other purpose. Wtf. Why not put a house or a cabin if it doesn't add to the story. The director is a lunatic!

So day two of escapades through the desert and they run into Drake's old crew from before he lost his memory. At first they want to kill him then they decide not to then they decide they will and then the aliens attack. The aliens steal this girl who has been along for the ride and Drake is like "Aww hell no bitch" and starts chasing this space ship on his horse. Of course he catches it, rescues the woman and they return to safety. Good on ya Drake. Right at that moment they get captured by pissed off first nations folk and get brought back to a tent camp for a roast. Oh also the girl dies. I forgot that, he didn't actually rescue the girl, just brought her back.

The Indians bring them back for a powwow and they throw the dead girl on the fire while the rest of the crew is beaten to the ground to watch. Drake is livid but too weak to do anything. Luckily, being thrown in a fire is exactly what this woman needed to bring herself back to life. She re-materializes and hovers out of the fire to the crew who are all tripping balls. This is where she explains that she is from another planet that was colonized/destroyed by these aliens. She tells them she came to make sure it didn't happen to earth.

Seriously. Nothing was stopping you from saying this way earlier. Like when they set off on the hunt for the aliens she could have said oh yeah by the way I'm magic (which she actually really isn't, she has no use except that she is from another planet) and I have past experience dealing with these guys ... I could probably be of some help. My second issue with this is that she brought no weapon at all to help her. Everyone else at least has a gun (we'll get to that in a bit) and then Drake has his alien laser. This woman/alien, who has dealt with aliens before brings NOTHING TO HELP. Come on! Whatever.

Oh and also there is this super rich guy in the crew who has a mexican slave that can fluently speak Appalachian and converse with the natives. On top of this magic girl can also speak Appalachian, which ... really shouldn't be the case. Magic Alien lady tells the native leader that Drake knows where the alien dugout is but he just can't remember. Well luckily Chief has just the potion to change that. He gives Drake this juice and then Drake just starts flipping balls, trippin' hard about memories and his wife and crap and we learn how he got the bracelet (Stole it when he was captured by the aliens) and things. Also he starts seeing this hummingbird and kind of follows him but kind of doesn't. Like the ship, this bird contributes nothing to the story. It's just there and weird.

During this segment Magic Lady also tells us about the aliens one weakness: they underestimate the humans. Thanks a god damn lot magic lady! That's super helpful. Also they are less good at fighting in the sunlight, but still pretty good. Oh and the reason they are trying to destroy the human race is to mine for gold, which even a lot of the crew consider to be a pretty weak excuse for an invasion. But don't worry, Magic Alien lady convinces them with a great line of dialogue "It's valuable to them too you know.". Deep shit.

So it's time for a plan. Drake and Magic Lady are going to go into the home/ship of the aliens and rescue all the trapped slaves + destroy the core of the ship. This makes sense since Drake is the only one that can kill the aliens. Everyone else decides that they will attack on the ground and shoot the Aliens with their pistols and bow and arrows, a strategy that thus far has proven to be completely ineffective.

So yeah ... this happens, the guns are weak, only kill the aliens at close range but this doesn't stop everyone from firing rounds at will from a distance into the aliens' back. The indians are actually carrying the team since they are using spears and big sticks to attack the aliens and that seems to be working. Drake and the girl rescue the trapped people and then magic lady starts to crawl to the core to sacrifice herself in order to take out the ship. Everyone but the main characters die in the battle. The main characters who lost loved ones are reunited with them in a very not touching scene. Magic lady blows the ship up about 100 meters off the ground. This is a really big ship made out of stone by the way, but absolutely no debris falls on the lovey touchy reunion below. Then they go back to the town and the rich asshole at the start of the movie decides to be nice to everyone and build a railroad track. The end.

A few Positives though:

• The dog survives the whole thing. 
• Didn't waste our time with a love story side plot. 
• Acting actually didn't suck

Movie gets a 3/100. Should be lower but I was really happy they didn't kill the dog. 

Getting to Know New Brunswick (Part 4 of 4)

Part 3/4 can be found here

Monday was New Brunswick day and to Celebrate we planned on conquering the highest elevation in the Province. 

We woke up in Inkerman and had way too much to eat at the bed and breakfast. There was just too much good stuff. Unique stuff too, that they insisted we tried long after we were full. I said one last goodbye to the puppies and we hit the road.

Retracing our drive from the previous night, we went passed Grande-Anse to Bathurst where the car was refueled. An hour and a half on a dreadful road later we arrived at Mount Carleton National Park. Last time I was here was the early spring when the park was closed, the roads covered in slush and we almost drove the car into a lake. A story I might try and blog here at a later date. But today was beautiful, and we set on towards the mountain. 

The first hour and a quarter of the hike followed a stream. It was mediocre terrain: not really insane but not a stroll in the park either. It was a gradual hike. A little background for those not familiar: Mount Carleton is the tallest mountain in New Brunswick however Mount Sagamook is just down the road and although ever so slightly smaller it is a much more challenging hike. Sagamook is the one we attempted in the spring. 

Anyway, about an hour and a half in we finally find a fork in the road: Easy route to summit, dangerous route to summit. I was happy to see Laura's enthusiasm for the difficult route matched mine and we headed right. 

What had been a gentle scale turned into a narrow path with rocks crowding both sides. No big deal. Pfft, if this is why this is the difficult way than this is a joke. 

It wasn't. We were out of the trees into a clearing where it became obvious that rocks with green circles lightly painted on them would be our only guide to the top. That being said, the view was starting to shape up. And the occasions where we would turn around to view our progress we got to marvel at the sights. 

                 

                 

                                

Thankfully it started raining as well. Which made us wet and the rocks slippery. It was actually pretty difficult, in a aerobic challenge kind of way, to get over these rocks. The worst part is when we got to the top, of what we thought was the mountain, we were greeted with this:

Despite what the picture suggests, we had to first navigate down and then back up. So close yet so far! You would think they could put a suspension bridge here no? Whatever. At least that hut is probably a McDonald's or something to get some food.

We took a break to bask in our misery, and continued on the final surge. It was no problem for us who had already conquered so much! Unfortunately the hut was not a fast food joint (wish this were the USA :( ). We had to rely on our own food for some re-energizing. We did however run into a special new Brunswick day promotion where we got a coupon for a free shirt.

At the end of this video you can see what we had to climb up

The way down was very easy, it was almost a walking trail. It was downhill and actually quite dull. At the bottom we went to find our t-shirts, I got a fluorescent green shirt and Laura chose a white one. We also went for a quick swim to wash off. There were no crabs in the lake so I even got in for a bit. 

On the drive home we encountered a messy messy storm. Laura kept pointing out the lightning to me, but true to form Lighting is quite fast and by the time she showed me where it was I had missed it. We stopped in Plaster Rock to get some food but the Power was out to the city. Lucky we didn't need gas (as most of the people at the Irving did) because we would have been spending another night away. Perth Andover had power but not really anywhere to eat. In the end I just snacked on whatever was remaining from our several grocery trips and Laura bought a sandwich. 

We got home at 9, and I am quite satisfied to say that I discovered a lot of New Brunswick. Worth it. Very happy about the vacation inside the province. 

Oh wait, some idiot also tried to take me off the road. So I am driving, like just past woodstock right, and  I am in the passing lane probably doing 120 or something reasonable. Anyway I notice that I am passing two cars and the first of which is probably doing 45 KM/H. The car behind him will have to hit the breaks and leave cruise control if I pass. So being the canadian citizen that I am I slow down to let him pull out and pass. But he doesn't do that. Umm ... okay, your call bro. So I speed up, hoping to pass both of them before he has to hit the breaks. So I am in the passing lane, the car doing 45 is still doing 45 and the other guy just has not noticed the speed of this car. He is literally about to drive through the guy. Absolute last minute he looks up and sees that gramps is right in front of him. OH SHIT, Swerves into the passing lane which is currently being occupied by me. I slam the breaks and swerve off the road and he narrowly misses the front of my car. I pass him a bit later and he still seems oblivious to everything. What a douchebag. Worst trip ever. 

Getting to know New Brunswick (part 3 of 4)

If you missed part two, it can be found here

Sunday was a polar opposite of Saturday, which was great because driving 10 hours in the rain everyday wasn't exactly what I signed up for.

After a quick breakfast at our econo lodge in Miramichi we hit the road but didn't make it very far. We stopped at the French Fort Cove park in Miramichi and planned to walk off some of the XL Donair I decided to order the night before. We did the water loop which was whatever. On the home stretch we did get to see some ducks though! The ducks were pretty cool, and very apathetic to our presence. We watched them for 5 minutes, then moved on only to find more ducks which we watched for another 5. As we were leaving the two groups of ducks met up to go on one of their duck adventures.

After the ducks we navigated our way back to the highway heading North up the east coast. Thirty ish minutes of driving lead us to Tracadie where we were just in time for the "Festival de L'eau"! A must see. The main road was blocked off and flowing with pedestrians. The entire village was out for the occasion. Lining the sides of the streets were numerous vendors of a wide range of shit collectibles for sale. There were also many artists trying to sell their CD's. Sadly we did not support their economy and left empty handed. Laura was quite impressed with the bouncy castle set up. Of course there was a weight restriction and we weren't allowed on them... if there was ever a reason to be anorexic ...

So, onwards north. We pass Inkerman, where we would eventually be staying, and continued through Shippagan. We screeched to a stop at the Ecology park in Lameque. Probably one of the most disappointing stops on the trips not as bad as Cape Enrage. We were in the mood for birds, but unfortunately all we got were plants and mosquitoes.

hmmm....

OH LOOK! There it is! Nice find Laura. 

There was plenty of opportunity for birds to present themselves. But sadly we saw more wildlife in the Miramichi park ... and that was free. Laura did see a Bunny though. She was very happy about that. 

Try and find him...

I present to you... nothing at all!

Past Lameque we were getting closer to our destination: the Island of Miscou where we were promised a real lighthouse. We took the single road in Miscou for a long time, getting discouraged as we drove. Was the lighthouse a lie? OH Sweet! It's Lighthouse Road, that's promising! 

Disappointing. 

Off the main road we saw a sign for "Beach". Why not, it was a beautiful day. Expecting a small area of sand and no one there, we were surprised to see that it was actually quite packed. Well ... packed in Miscou terms anyway. The water was nice, but completely overwhelmed by crabs, which I hate, so I politely volunteered to watch our stuff while Laura swam. I tried to take a picture of the giant crabs, but our camera couldn't zoom out enough to get one fully in the shot. 

After an Hour we took off, continuing our search for this lighthouse, that I was now convinced didn't really exist. But, wrong again. The road finally ended, and I think this is one of the few places in the world where you will see a highway turn into a parking lot. Seriously, exactly as it sounds. But, alas, the Miscou Island lighthouse

And the view from up top was pretty good too.

Well that was done, and since the road ended it looked like there was nothing left to see in Miscou. Time to head back to Inkerman to check into our Bed and Breakfast. 

I'm not going to lie to you, the primary rational in selecting this B&B was that it advertised "Two Golden Retrievers". I was not disappointed. Their names were Rousseau and Nanny, and they greeted me at the car!

These guys were awesome. I bartered with the owners to trade the two of them for Laura -- no dice.

Surprisingly, there wasn't much to do in Inkerman. So we decided to visit Caraquet for supper. I got my second Lobster roll of my trip, and Laura decided to really indulge in coastal food by ordering a Lasagna ...

To end the night, we caught the Sunset in Grande Anse. It was a wonderful ending to the day. We went to sleep shortly after as we had a mountain to defeat in the morning! 

/End of Part 3

Getting to Know New Brunswick (Part 2 of 4)

If you haven't read Part 1, you can take a look at it here first

Excessive rain greeted us in the morning threatening to ruin a day of driving and beach stopping. The goal was to get out of the B&B for 9 so we could be in Fundy before High Tide. However a slow breakfast lead to a late start. The rainy conditions and unsurprisingly awfully maintained road from Saint Martins to Sussex upped the driving time more than necessary and by the time we got to Alma it was still raining, 50 minutes away from high tides and not worth getting out of the car.

We went onwards to take the back roads into Moncton. Stopping on the way at Cape Enrage, probably the most disappointing part of our journey. We had to fork over 4.50 each to get in. There was a zipline that cost 17 dollars to do and looked very very dull (in my opinion). There was also a lighthouse that you couldn't walk up or anything. It was simply to look at. The view was fine I guess.

We did absolutely everything we could to get our moneys worth before getting back in the car and gunning it out of Cape Ensuckrage (mature joke!). We entered Moncton through the Riverview road which left me completely disoriented. Took me about 30 minutes to understand where I was and find the highway to Sackville, where we found the beginning of our new "road" for the trip: The Acadian Coastal Route.


Again the now torrential downpours made this road difficult to enjoy. Hydroplaning was frequent. There were a few planned stops on this drive, at beaches and the such, but because of the rain and the lost time we just motored all day through New Brunswick's Southern Francophone communities. We drove through Kouchibouguac National Park, but again didn't stop.

Finally at around 8 30 PM We picked up some Pizza in Miramichi, where we would spend the night at the Econo Lodge. Now I must say this hotel wasn't anywhere near as sketchy as some of the hotels I stayed at on my USA trip, but it was definitely odd. We didn't have any toilet paper. The overhead lamp was just barely still attached to the wall and one of the door locking mechanisms was ... well it wasn't going to be locking any doors that's for sure. Oh well, at least we weren't there for long.

At about four AM, the room above us livened up and we're making some sort of drug deal or something. Really inconvenient timing.

I promise, part 3 is much better, as we only had one hour of necessary driving before we could enjoy the day!

/end part 2

Getting to know New Brunswick (part 1 of 4)

Anyone who saw my "in the last year" post understands that I get around pretty easy. I barely have standards. But earlier this summer I thought that for all I have seen, I have not gotten to know my native province and the only one I have ever lived in. So, this past weekend we decided to drive around the NB coast. Seeing many of the communities that we always blow by on the highway. Here are some bits and snippets!

Day 1

We left Fredericton at 4 30, for the touristy town of Saint Martins - a place I had only kind of heard of but that Laura was enthusiastic about.

We rolled in about an hour and a half later. I had no idea what was in Saint Martins. Honestly, all I knew about it came from this video.

But apparently this Saint Martins is not in the Caribbeans and renowned for it's beach right next to the airport. Sigh, oh well.

Instead we found the Fundy trail foothills, which is code for the poorman's fundy national park. We decided to check it out anyway when all of a sudden OH SHIT CAVES!

I squealed the car to a halt and we both jumped out (Dukes of Hazard style) and headed to the caves. The large wet rock beach screamed sprained ankle and our run turned into cautious stepping. We also had to navigate across a fast flowing, large stream to get to the caves. All challenges that were easily overcome though and we were soon two of few who had found their way to the depth of the cave.

We decided to make the most of our effort to get to this side of the stream and we went for a wander around the area. Unfortunately the tide was just about in, so there wasn't much to see. We did make our way over some interesting seaweed and some over medium sized rocks. It was more thrilling than it sounds.

By this point we were quite bored had conquered all that there was to conquer and decided to head back to the car. It was time to find our lieu de residence for the night and get some food.

Saint Martins was surprisingly booked solid. I was able to squeeze us in to this fancier than we deserved bed and breakfast right in the heartbeat of downtown Saint Martins. We were greeted by a startled elderly British lady who was surprised to see clients under the age of 40. She was a great women who showed us to our room for the night.

Oddly, these are the blurriest pictures of the trip. The ones of an immobile room. Oh well.

After settling down we went out to grab a quick bite to eat and actually hit up the fundy foot trails. Only to find out they were closed. Nothing of value was lost.

We called it a night as we had a big day of driving and "adventure" ahead of us.

/end of part 1