Why the 'H' Mike H?

Ah, the eternally asked question. Why the 'H' after your name? What does it stand for? Why do you use it?

It was, in fact, applied to me in the 1st Grade because there was another Mike in our class. Actually, back then I went by my full name of Michael, because I didn't know that Mike sounded so much cooler. So, this other kid was Michael K and I was Michael H. Just for as long as I was at that elementary school, but we moved 20 blocks and I had to go to a different, Mike-less school for the rest of the non-important grades.

Fast forward to my first semester of University. Mike had become the name I chose to identify myself with because only my family had ever called me Michael for my whole life. Mike just sounded better coming from friends. So I had this group of friends up at school, 3 ladies, whom had already been up for a semester before me and had started making friends of their own. One of whom was named Mike as well. "Too many Mike's" they said. So we all sat down together and brainstormed ways to identify which Mike they were talking about. Because, they were girls and girls like to talk about boys, and the other Mike was hot so they talked about him a lot. They decided, that because my last name was kind of long, 10 letters, that they would call me Mike H. It was easy to say, so it stuck. But I thought that it was unfair that this other Polish Mike was not getting a cool nickname too. (Mike H a nickname? sure!) I asked this Polish transplant where he had grown up besides Poland, and he told us "Winnipeg". Well, he got the name Mike from Winnipeg. But because that was so long to say, it quickly got shortened to Mike-a-peg. Him and I started carpooling together and he turned out to be a really cool guy. He was very mysterious and intense, very James Dean, but he looked like Leonardo Dicaprio.

University was where the H became stuck, and that was when it just got easier to introduce myself as Mike H. Because sooner or later another Mike always shows up and you'll have to start specifying which Mike you're talking about. Because the other Mike is usually more important and thus talked about and to much more.
Then I met TGP and her crew up at University and ... well, that's a story for another day.

As an aside to this story, here's the part you're not going to believe. Michael K from 1st Ggrade had the exact same last name as Mike from Winnipeg. But they weren't the same guy at all. Seriously, I didn't even believe it myself at first. Seems this Polish name starting with K was common over there, but I didn't know it. Because the two Mike's weren't related at all. I asked. Weird, huh?

So, all through my life as I meet new people they already seem to have a Mike in their circle of friends. I just cut out the naming discussion and introduce myself as Mike H. It seems to stick with people because not too many people at the age of 24 still identify themselves with their last initial. That was so 1980's.

As for what it stands for? I tell people 'Humperdink' for a laugh, but that doesn't always work. Some people actually believe that my last name is 'Humperdink' and don't ask any more questions. But it's not 'Humperdink'. I just like saying it.

Fighting and Laughing

Confession time. I like cartoons. Except for those who actually know me, this is not new.

My most favourite cartoon to watch is Justice League Unlimited. I can't get enough of this show. It's not even a kids cartoon, even though it tries to be. But where else do you get to see Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman all fighting super villains together? Nowhere, that's right.
I love superheroes. I'm not even comic book fanboy, because most of my comic education comes from Justice League. It all started back in the early nineties with Batman The Animated Series. I now own every available Batman episode on DVD. And then there was Superman The Animated Series. Both of those cartoons were by far my favourites. Even though I never remembered when they were on, and I was probably too busy being a teenager. Because what teen in their right mind watched cartoons and admitted it. Not me!

Instead I get to catch up on those series much later in life. By buying them on DVD. Of course, all of my work friends want to borrow them, because they won't actually buy them. I'm just the cool cartoon guy at work who buys all these cool cartoon DVD's. At least I lend them out.

But superheroes? I love 'em. We are in the greatest time for superhero movies right now. X-men? Spiderman? Superman? Batman? Seriously! I love these movies!

When you put them all together in one animated show? It's embarrasingly exciting. I just love Justice League. I downloaded the newest episodes and just watched them, if that explains the enthusiasm.

Now I'm listening to some Dane Cook. Before that it was Mitch Hedberg. These are two funny guys. Unfortunately Mitch has passed away, but he was still hilarious. I credit TGP for the heads up on these guys. She's good for my funny bone.

Interesting shminteresting

My little brother gets back from the Yukon tomorrow. I'm pretty stoked. He's been gone since July, and I fully expect him to be totally grown up now. Which is good, because he's needed a good lesson in independence for a while now. And he's missed a lot of stuff with the family. It'll be good to have him back.

Aside from one more night shift at the battery factory tonight, my weekend looks pretty empty. I'll probably see a few movies. 'Corpse Bride' and 'Flightplan' look pretty good. And watch some more Undeclared on DVD. Maybe hang with my brother. All in all, really low key. Really boring and low key.

My Work Review

I know that this is going to sound braggy, but it's something I'm proud of so I want to show off. Yesterday at work I was called up to the Supervisor's Office and given my 3 year performance review, one month late. They send these questionnaire things out to everyone I work with and they answer them and comment on how they think I'm doing. Peer Reviews they're called. So I went upstairs and received the best review I think I've ever gotten, here are some highlights.

Team member comments
"Very knowledgable and experienced worker. Very punctual and reliable. Positive, calm and mature work attitude. Mike would make a very strong Team Leader"
How about that huh? People think I would be strong? I can barely lift 50 pounds! lol

Supervisor comments
"Your team members consistently comment on your positive and calm demeanour and in our hectic environment this plays a huge role in your success and the success of the team."
"Your overall work performance and ability to step in as Rotating Team Leader is outstanding"
"Thanks again for all your efforts and we look forward to your continued success with us here."

I don't think I've ever seen a review where upper management thanks someone. This makes looking for work elsewhere seem kind of mean. I've been thinking about getting a different job. Just for the next few years because there have been certain difficulties working at the factory. Too much has happened that made me want to leave, but if the people there really appreciate what I do, then I might just stay there for a little while longer.

If you can't brag on your own blog, then where can you brag to? I'm going to put this review on my refrigerator. A+ baby!

What the H?

Ok, I just got called a blog whore. What's the deal with name calling? So far, I've like everyone I've come across, and they're all very interesting. They're also all very established in their blogs. I'm just trying to catch up like the little engine that could. (toot toot)

You know what? I don't care if anyone has a bad day and takes it out on me. It's not my fault certain people don't post as much as I do. I just happen to be blessed (or cursed) with an abundance of free time.

Does this mean you want to be my blog-nemesis? Because if you do you better say something! You wanna fight is that it? Well bring it on missy! You don't know what you've unleashed!

:p

That's right, I used it. You made me use the tongue sticking out emoticon. And you know what? I might be a little sorry, but I might not be. We'll see in the morning after some warm milk and a good night sleep.

You've been warned. Bwahahahahahaha!

.....

Okay, now that I've got that out of the system, does anyone else watch Lost? I nearly rip my hair out in frustration after every episode, and yet I keep, going, back. I can't wait until next week for more secrets uncovered and only a fraction of them resolved. No one in my immediate social circle watches this show, so I'm alone in my frustration. People laugh at me when I get all excited about it.

Oh yeah, and happy first day of Fall. My favouritest season of the year!

Lord of War

Saw this movie tonight. It's a real downer, but also an eye opener. It says a lot about the people in power and how they do nothing to stop the wars overseas from happening. They just keep up the business of guns. It's the story of a guy, Nicholas Cage, in the middle of it all, and how everything falls apart when he gets into it too deep.

Gunrunning sucks, but at least you have some powerful friends, but you also have just as powerful enemies.

At the end there's a text on screen about who supplies the most guns to the world, which are all coincidentally the same 5 countries on the UN Security Council and will remain there as long as there is a UN Security Council. They are, the U.S., the U.K., Russia, France and China.

That's all according to the blurb at the end of the movie. A movie I'd recommend for people to see, if you're up for a feeling of futility. Because lets face facts, as Canadians, we can't really do much except have an opinion.

Go Canada, eh?

Here comes the Thnikkaman

Another weekend has again passed me by, and I feel like I spent a majority of it online. It's not really a good story to tell the non web savvy coworkers when I go back tomorrow. It's actually kind of boring. A 'conversation killer', if you will.

But if I do want to have a great story to tell, I'll have to expose too much of myself to these people that don't always set the morality and ethics watermark all that high. A few are cool, but I work with, like, 12 people most days, and I'm a Team Leader. A mistake I learned early on is to not let too many people know too much about you and what you do on your days off. It keeps things a little bit mysterious.

I work at a battery factory in the Lower Mainland for those that are curious. It's a really intense job at first, but after you're there for 6 months (if your sanity makes it that long) the job gets really simple. I've been there for 3 years now, and I have somehow managed to get myself into a Team Leader position. Not by choice, mind you, but by design. If it were my choice, I would rather just be a 'worker bee'.

I'm training someone right now, which is why I'm not really looking forward to going to work tomorrow. When you go a few weeks with barely talking about the job, to narrating everything you're doing, it takes a toll on the voice. Although, when voices get a little bit more scratchy they sound more sexy, so I guess I have that to look forward to. And being as our Battery Making Team is comprised of mostly women in their mid 30's to early 40's, a 24 year old baby faced dude with a scratchy man voice is just the kind of motivation they need to get up in the morning and come to work. What lady can resist that, seriously?

A fair amount surprisingly.

I wish I was more irresistible some days. Then I get a second look from some cute girl in the movie theater or at the coffee shop, and I feel a bit better.

There goes the Thnikkaman!

Yet another skill with which to pay bills.

I just finished my First Aid course an hour ago. It was pretty intense, and very informative, as most First Aid courses should be. It was Child Care First Aid because my Mom likes to use me as a substitute whenever she needs an extra hand in her daycare.

Now I am able to do CPR on an infant and a child. Talk about scary! I never in my life want to see an unconcious baby, I think that alone would upset me enough to want to run away. But now I have the skills to save little lives. So I'm kind of obligated to save the unconcious baby and not run away. (Responsibility, what's that? I don't want to think about it; we'd be better off without it!)

Why do I do these things and become so responsible? Most of the party animal friends I had no longer invite me to anything because I'm such a square. (Their words, not mine.) I just like being safe, that's all. I care, so sue me.

There's one thing I've realized about taking this First Aid course though, having kids is the scariest thing anybody will ever do in this life. Do you have any idea how deadly things are to a kid? If they ingest (for whatever reason) 2 cigarette butts (1 full cigarette) they'll almost die. Cigarettes, bah! Disgusting habit anyways. If you double those numbers then they WILL die. A marshmallow can't be Heimlich Maneuvered out. The paramedics have to use a wire and stick it down the throat. And that goes for everybody! CPR is the scariest though. Like I said, an unconcious baby would be scary to see. I've never even seen a regular person go unconcious, let alone a baby. And no, I'm not talking about passing out from drunkenness. That's just going to sleep.

Hopefully I'll never have to use these new skills. But I'm sure they'll come in handy someday.

Earmuffs.

More like Boring

I just finished watching 'Just Like Heaven'.

While it did have it's moments, I would only ever recommend this movie to the hordes of females that have begun to notice that Mark Ruffalo is a big piece of man candy. Seriously, for all the ladies out there? He's been around for a while now. Just last weekend I watched 'You Can Count On Me', and his performance in that is far superior to any of the rom-com's he's been selling out to recently ('Eternal Sunshine...' and a few others aside that is). Actually, now that I think about it, he seems to make a string of fabulous movies, and then pads the resume with some good old fashion formulaic rom-com shite.
He's in 'Just Like Heaven' for about 90% of the screen time, and even the addition of Napoleon Dynamite for a measly few scenes doesn't save the movie like it should have. Napoleon Dynamite is funny, but so far he's only proven that he can do one guy, the quirky funny guy. To be fair, he's only been in 2 movies so far, so I'll cut him some slack.

The thing about romantic comedies, (rom-coms for those that aren't on board yet), in every single one is that there's a bit of adversity to overcome, maybe some kind of miscommunication/misunderstanding, and then they take you right to the edge of believing that it's not going to happen. Then in the final 10, sometimes 5, minutes of the movie everything works itself out and everybody is happy. There's such a formula to these things and I really only see the ones that have quality actors in them.
Now, don't get me wrong, I like a good rom-com. One of my favourite movies of all time is 'Love Actually'. I even own a few more rom-coms to pop in whenever I lose faith in love (About a Boy, High Fidelity, IQ). But this movie pushes the limits of what I find entertaining. It could have been better. That's my point.

But if you want to have Mark Ruffalo's babies, then go see it. I'll watch 'You Can Count On Me', 'Eternal Sunshine...', and 'My Life Without Me' again to restore my belief that this guy is worth paying money to see.

Side Note: whomever the artist was that covered The Cure's Just Like Heaven at the beginning was only ok. The Cure do a much better job. I'm going to listen to The Cure now.

Just keep mixing

I'm not sure why, but for some reason I thought that people were only supposed to update their blogs once a day? Weird notion, I know. Since I've started this thing I always think of things to post, but then end up talking myself out of them so as not to be too bloggy.

Well now, I could care less. I've got an apparent abundance of free time so I'm just going to post everything I want to. Keep up if you can!

Right now I'm making a CD. These are the songs that I'm going to be putting on it, in no particular order.

Beach Boys - Wouldn't it be Nice, because everything is nicer with the Beach Boys
Foo Fighters - Aurora, A320 or Generator, I haven't decided which one yet. Maybe it'll be 2!
Howie Day - Collide, sappy but ultimately calming
Jimi Hendrix - Fire, this song just classically rocks my socks off
Primitive Radio Gods - Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money In Hand, how can anyone go wrong with a lengthy title like that?
Samantha Ronson - Built This Way, this is from 'Mean Girls' and it's a girly song, so what! wanna fight about it?
Postal Service - Such Great Heights, I dig it
Aha - Take on Me, obligatory 80's song that still keeps popping up every now and again
Stevie Wonder - Signed, sealed, delivered, it's funky and reminiscent of a time when there wasn't too many problems with things
XTC - Dear God, where did this come from? who is that kid in the beginning? why did I find out about this song so late in life?
Perry Como - It's a Good Day, because Blast from the Past was on TBS yesterday
Bobby Darin - Beyond the Sea, kicks major old school ass!
Rod Stewart - Maggie May, it sounds kind of Fall-ish, it even mentions September
Earth, Wind and Fire - Dancing in September, speaking of September!
Bedouin Soundclash - When the Night Feels my Song, new hits always get a spot on a mix CD until heavy rotation kills the vibe
Kanye West with Jamie Foxx - Golddigger, the only rapper I can think of who's not an idiot, yet
Arrogant Worms - Toronto Sucks, because Toronto sucks and these guys are Canadian so they understand enough to be able to write a song about it


That's all I've got so far, one or two more I have myself another classic Mike H Mix CD

Any suggestions for great mix CD songs?

Wham!

Here it is, the best sunset picture I've ever taken. I was visiting a friend at her cabin in Birch Bay, and when we walked 20 meters from her cabin to the beach this is what we were greeted with.

Oh, and remember to wake me up before you go go.

Toronto Sucks!

What's with today, today?

Why is everybody suddenly taking stock of where they are in their lives? Is this seriously a birthday thing? Do all girls go through this thing in their twenties when they have a birthday and start reviewing where they are in their lives compared to where they wanted to be?

I just gotta ask because I did not go through something like this when I turned 24 last May. I was enjoying a Mexican sunset, single (at the time) with no prospects. And I was happy. I remember thinking that I was going to remember this 24th birthday for a very long time because I was sharing a beer in silence with my little brother in a country I had never been to before, enjoying a sunset. I'd never previously enjoyed a sunset with a family member. I had been cast aside by about every girl I had tried to strike up a conversation with because I had chosen to be in Mexico when only couples go to Mexico. I was without anybody to love, I was in debt to my knees, and my car had been stolen a week previous to me arriving. But I was still happy with my life and where I was, where I had been.

I guess everybody measures the successes in their lives differently. I mean, sure I feel stuck some days, but the feeling doesn't last very long and I don't let it get me down. What I know is that if I put my mind to anything I can get it done. If I want to leave the battery factory and do something worthwhile I KNOW I have the proverbial 'skills to pay the bills'.

There's this movie quote that has made me realize a lot about Life Plans.

"What do you think?"
"I think a plan is just a list of things that doesn't happen."

Rather than concern myself about where I am in my life plan (and I DO have one, just like everybody else), I look just around the corner and wonder what's going to happen next? I make the decisions I need to make, and not let my own worries/fears/concerns get in the way of living a full, healthy life. I cut out the bad, and keep in the good.

Worrying is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it doesn't get you anywhere.
Write that down.

"Tut tut, it looks like rain."

This afternoon I sat on my computer and surfed the Internet. Booooorrrring!

But, I will say this, it sure beats the heck out of driving somewhere more exciting than here. Have you seen the colossal gas price? It's high, and I don't like it. I mean, everybody has bills right? Well so do I, and I wanna pay some of them off. Making batteries only allows me to live a comfortable life renting a room from my sister, and buying the movies I want to own (so many!)

Anyways, whilst surfing I am listen to music. Over the years I have accumulated a lot of songs. Random songs that people have told me about, obscure artists that I've never heard of (but you probably have) and various other "hits" that are time honoured and awesome.
It's so refreshing to create my own soundtrack when I'm doing something that I consider to be boring. It makes my life seem that much more interesting. Not that I need to find 'interesting', 'interesting' usually finds me.

...

I was gonna tell a crazy story here, but it's not my story to tell. Oh well, maybe one day I'll find out how it ends and write a screenplay about it. But in the meantime...

...here I am, being boring and surfing the Internet. I found out some interesting things about movies and stuff. That's just so I have something to talk about when normal conversation fails. Is it weird that I prepare for awkward silences? Luckily they don't happen to me very often, and if they do I usually don't recognize them because they happen so infrequently.

I've also been watching some homestar and laughing on the inside.

I have to work tonight. Stupid battery factory. At least it's something to do while I wait for something crazy to happen. Crazy always happens to me.

"Let me stand next to your fire!"

Okay, was anybody looking at the sunset between the minutes of 7:01 and 7:13 tonight (the approx time it takes me to drive home from work)? Abso-freakin-lutely amazing. I think it may have been the Bog smoke, but it seriously looked like the sky was on fire. Not like, just the sun was on fire, I mean the whole sky around the sun looked like it was burning. But it wasn't really. Burning I mean.

West coast sunsets can't be beat. Just throw a little pollution in the mix (sad but true) and you've got the single most beautiful sight your eyes will ever see (too melodramatic?)

Here are some of my truths:

- Sunsets look better with a bit of cloud or a haze of pollution.
- Everything smells a bit more like it's supposed to when the rain first hits it. Then it washes all away and everything smells like water.
- People are more stupid than anyone is willing to admit.
- River's know this, we'll all get there someday.
- When you do things right, people won't notice you've done anything at all.
- You've got to be able to take care of yourself before you can ever take care of anything else.
- Just because I like rainbows doesn't mean I'm gay. It just means I like rainbows.

Those are the main ones that I can think of right now. Didn't I say I wasn't gonna do this on purpose? Oh well, I blame the fire sky.

Judd Apatow is a golden god

I just watched some 'Undeclared'. That put me in a better mood. Not like my last post about Terry Fox and all that seriousness. Sometimes I get way too serious, but there's enough funny people in the world to bring me back to being light and airy, like popcorn. I love popcorn, it's my comfort food. Even though sometimes the little corn husks get stuck in my teeth. It's kind of something to do when I use my tongue to try and get them out if no floss is handy. Floss works best though.
Back to 'Undeclared'. Barely anybody I know has ever heard of this show, let alone seen it. Remember back in the day that TV show 'Popular Mechanics for Kids'? The one with Elisha Cuthbert (hot!) on it before she was hot and a big TV/Movie star. The other kid on it was Jay Baruchel. He was kind of a nerd, and still is, and plays one on 'Undeclared'. It's got a bunch of other people in it, including some major names guest starring. Judd Apatow is responsible for the whole thing, and I wish he could have made more episodes. They're all seriously funny.
I guess Judd Apatow is a movie director now. He directed 40 Year Old Virgin, and had a hand in Anchorman too. The point is, he's a funny behind the scenes guy, and should be recognized for it.

Oh, and while I'm on the subject of golden gods, David Bowie is one too.

Terry Fox: hero, inspiration, tearjerker?

Okay, so last night I should have been watching this Terry movie. The guy is a Canadian icon, a hero for Cancer research. But I couldn't do it. I watched the Simpson's instead, and then remembered that the movie Terry was on. For the 1/2 hour that I watched it, I was moved to tears. Actually, I could only make it through about 20mins because it was showing the last bit of his run, the part where he had it the toughest. The final bit of his run into Thunder Bay was probably the most emotional part of the movie for me. I had to turn the channel because I was likely to lose it over 20mins of a movie. Maybe if I had remembered to watch from the beginning I wouldn't have felt the same, or maybe it would have been worse I don't know. For some reason the Terry Fox story has become more poignant as I get older.
In high school it was just a schoolwide gym requirement to do a mini Terry Fox Run. Then every year after that you start to understand a bit more about just how hard it was for him. Now, 25 years after the fact, this movie comes along and moves me to tears. I regret not participating in this year's Terry Fox Run. I'll do it next year though. That's a promise.

Terry Fox died June 28, 1981. (A month and a half after I was born.) I wish growing up I had known more about him and everything he did. Luckily for me and every other Canadian, things were documented and dramatized so completely and so well that we'll never forget.

The hammer falls!!!

This is my public blog. I'm posting all the random things that happen to me in MY mixed up world. Maybe all other bloggers will be able to relate, or advise, or just comment. All are welcome, unless you're crazy. I have enough crazy in my life right now. There will be no pearls of wisdom; at least not on purpose. I may even post a movie review or two, I've been thinking about doing that for the last few years. I'll try and update as much as possible, but life gets busy right?