Condolences - Michael Jackson

My childhood wouldn't be the same without a single sequin glove, the Moonwalk, Bubbles the monkey, and Billie Jean. Thank you for defining a generation and teaching us the Thriller dance.

Company - Convocation

I have been really behind in my blogging that I almost forgot to write about my convocation. It was an amazing experience and I'm extremely thankful that so many of my friends made it even though it felt as if time stood still during the event. I will always remember the energy standing in the Olympic Oval waiting to get my gown with the whole room buzzing from excitement and panic. It really was thrilling and I kept trying to find some familiar faces like Stephanie Tse, who of course was late as usual and strolled in only 15 minutes before the ceremony was to start. After all the graduates were in position, they played "Beautiful Day" by U2 and all the staff cheered, which was extremely exhilarating and helped amp up the excitement. Actually, I was amazed by how polite everyone was during the whole day, even the crossing guards congratulated everyone as they headed to the Jack Simpson Gymnasium.

Once all the graduates were seated, the event finally began. The speeches were somewhat forgettable but I did appreciate how Harvey Weingarten managed to mention Twitter in his speech since it was a trend of the moment that will certainly date the event when I look back on it. Although the ceremony dragged on, I felt as if the moment I walked across the stage breezed by that I didn't fully appreciate the experience.

I was so concentrated on not falling and trying to crack a nice smile on the giant screen that I barely remember hearing my name. I was so glad that Ryan Lee pronounced it "Cheng" and not "Chung", so I am grateful that my name wasn't butchered unlike my chum, Va-nee-ah Sze. Plus, I even managed to hear the "with distinction", which I worked so hard to obtain. I also really appreciated the conversations with the Chancellor but I feel somewhat guilty since I was more interested in smiling for the picture than chatting with her. Anyways, once I got off the stage, we were rushed to take another picture which passed by in a blur.

Now it was all over and I was able to relax and enjoy the rest of the show. It was definitely interesting to finally put some names to the anonymous faces from my classes and I loved being able to cheer for my friends and fellow graduates. Of course, I did boo for my enemies including the ghastly Stephanie Tse and the foul Terry Wong.

Finally, the ceremony was over and I spent the rest of the day taking pictures with my classmates, friends, and family. My favorite part was throwing the mortar board and in my opinion, we got some pretty awesome shots of our fun. I also managed to catch up with so many people that I haven't seen for quite some time, some of whom I've known before University and some that I had the privilege to meet in Haskayne.

I can't believe that anyone would want to skip out on convocation because even though the ceremony was dreadfully boring and there was the fuss with all those rental fees, I just wouldn't have missed it for the world. The whole tradition of the event and being able to celebrate your achievement with all your friends and family is absolutely worth it and convocation is simply the epitome of how I would define COOP "Company". Now enjoy some of my favorite photos from the day!

Cool - Coldplay

It's been a few days since I went to the Coldplay concert so the ringing in my ears has stopped and the proverbial high that everyone gets after a concert has finally warn off. My dear friend Margaret joined me in our floor seats where we enjoyed an amazing concert with some great music. The show first started with the Howling Bells from Australia who were not bad, but Margaret and I both agreed that the lead singer had an amazingly sexy voice. Perhaps it was the accent. Anyways, the second opening act was Snow Patrol who I would be more than willing to shell out good money to see in their own concert. Some of the highlights from their set list included Chocolate, Hands Open, Open Your Eyes, and their stand out hit Chasing Cars, which we have all butchered during Sing Star.


Coldplay hit the stage at around 9pm with sparklers shooting and the band's shadow slowly emerging into view as they sang Violet Hill. Soon the backdrop revealed the painting from the Viva La Vida album with a woman with bare breast who shared a striking resemblance to Vivian Lo. Later on, the band performed Yellow where the audience was appropriately bathed in yellow lights and yellow balloons were bounced around like giant volley balls by the fans. Some standout performances included some of my favorite songs including Fix You and Lost! The band then ventured on to the side stage where they got extremely close to the audience and Chris Martin performed The Hardest Part alone on stage with just a piano. He soon joined the rest of the band again on the main stage to perform a lively rendition of Viva La Vida, which got the entire crowd buzzing from excitement and it was truly a spectacular experience to witness live.


The band then moved to the back of the Saddledome to transform some of the worst seats instantly into the best seats of the house. They performed Death Will Never Conquer and Chris even managed to name drop the Calgary Flames into the song, which made the fans go wild! They completed the set in the back stage with a cover of I'm A Believer, which the entire stadium gladly sang along.


Finally, Coldplay moved back to the front stage where they preformed songs such as Lovers In Japan, with Japanese images flashing on the screen and a sky of butterflies falling on the audience. It was amazing!!! Thankfully, before the concert ended, the band also performed The Scientist which is one of my absolute favorite songs and I was extremely worried that I would not be able to see. The song was definitely worth the wait and I'm so glad that they left it till almost the end. Finally, Coldplay finished the evening with The Escapist and the curtain fell to reveal Viva splashed across the screen. The concert was simply outstanding and the band didn't need to rely on over-the-top stunts to keep the crowd entertained. It was just wonderful music and the charm of four guys from the U.K. that had 15,000 people hanging on to every note.

Cool - Dancing Man

I saw this in the Herald the other day and thought it was just another youtube video where we laugh at the humiliation of another person, but it ended up bringing a smile to my face. It starts out very similar to such videos with a guy dancing without a care, while onlookers stare in disbelief. I'm sure the people filming the guy thought that they needed to capture this, so they can send it to their friends and all share in on the laughter. However, he manages to do something quite remarkable, he convinces one person to dance along and shed his inhibitions. Then another person joins in and soon everyone is rocking out with the dancing man! Notice that the people filming the video ask how he manages to do that, how he managed to inspire an entire crowd to get on their feet and simply enjoy the music. This is an awesome video to remind us all that the judgments of others should never stop us from what we want to do. It turns out dancing man also happens to be a local Calgarian so I hope you can all enjoy life like he does, forget what other people might think and just dance like nobody is watching.