Mountain Battles

It’s 2009 already, and I haven’t done my best of the year post.

Me, Myself and I

I suppose 2008 will go down as the year that I made good on my exit strategy. For a while, I thought my own characteristically laidback nature had got me into a wee bit of a hole, but ultimately, the visa came through and I fled to this here parts. Being back in university has been interesting but I think this semester I’m genuinely excited about at least two of the three courses I’m taking. I’ve done the tricky bit – nailed down the essays and we await the results of that effort. My getting a PhD place will largely rest on the results from last semester, not on anything I do from this point on. In the long run, obviously, I still have to hit the high grades but that’ll count for another day. Those damnable essays from late November and early December will be the ones that decide my fate. I’d like to think I did enough, but these things are never that straightforward. In any case, I’m glad to be here, and I’m still not really missing much about Sri Lanka, bar my peeps and the famileh, and maybe an occassional OR and Coke. I may yet change my mind after three months of hard winter.

The second half of 2008 makes me almost forget how bad the first half of 2008 was. Almost. Without a shadow of doubt, the first few months of the year were the least enjoyable in my life. Mountain Battles they were! With that in mind, my present circumstances are totally idyllic in comparison. Therefore, whatever happens, and the best laid plans have a tendency to fall through, I’m still happy that I came here.

2008 also saw my blog activities diminish drastically, not just in the case of updating this critter, but also in keeping abreast of what else was going on. I don’t think I’ve been on Ach in ages. Much like Spectral then. There are probably a number of reasons for this. I doubt any of them are particularly interesting so I will  move swiftly on. I have a feeling I will be a little more prolific in 2009.

Politics: The Times They Are a-Changin’?

I’m going to cut down on the political shiz this time around. The most outstanding feature was of course Obama’s triumph in the Presidential elections. I don’t think I will ever forget the room full of colleagues at a sports bar in town. People were in tears, and heck this is Canada, hardly a country that cares that much about what goes down across the border. Let’s hope that Obama can manage to stem the expectations that he’s been saddled with (saddled himself with). I like the look of his cabinet so perhaps good things will happen.

On the other hand, everything else has been much of the depressing same. The homeland has been embroiled in war. I’d say Kilinochchi was taken, but I think that happened after the New Year so technically that’s inaccurate. And even if the Tigers are beaten to a pulp, there’s nothing remotely positive about the way the country operates. The attack on MTV this morning pretty much encapsulates that. Renewed conflict in Gaza; the rather horrific attack on Mumbai; war in Africa, Afghanistan and Iraq: things haven’t changed all that much. Something that has changed is the outlook for international trade. The economic crisis is more than a little worrying. Perhaps being in academia is the safest place to be. If – If – I get my PhD place, that’ll keep me occupied for four years, and hopefully the job market will have sorted itself out by then. At the moment, however, it is not exactly rife with job opportunities.

But anyway, enough of all that shiz. The best of 2008 is relatively simple:

Best film – I haven’t watched a great deal this year. My most recent film was Slumdog Millionaire but I’m a bit behind on the Oscar contenders. Slumdog was excellent and I enjoyed it very much, but I suspect it’ll be this year’s Little Miss Sunshine and Juno. But anyway, my favourite film was undoubtedly The Dark Knight though I enjoyed Iron Man a great deal, and Tropic Thunder was the outstanding comedy. It also wins my favourite scene of the year. I can’t find the exact scene but it’s in the middle of this video somewhere (there are a number of spoilers if you haven’t watched the film so be warned):

*Playa*

From here.

Favourite sporting moment: This -

Fucking donkey indeed.

From here.

The most outstanding sporting achievement of the year was of course – Bolt.  Special award has to go to Ajantha Mendis’ spell in the Asia Cup final though.

Most amusing sporting moment: There’s only one winner.

It brings such a smile to my face every time. Mr. Chelsea. What a knob.

From here.

Favourite meal: Salmon. In Oslo. Yum. Special mention to that sirloin beef sandwich with jus and chips at Casey’s in Toronto. Yum.

Okay. This post is too long so I will round up the best on the music scene in another post. I need to go to sleep in any case. I have a class at 8.30 am. What twit.