As the final grains of sand are about to pass through that skinny part of my First Year MBA hourglass, I'm putting the finishing touches on the last piece of the puzzle - an essay on business ethics of all things. Once I put this to bed I'm off to watch the Canucks and the Flames in game six tonight. The Canucks will win tonight of course, everyone knows that when the Flames play the Canucks get together in the playoffs it always goes 7. Diehard fan that I am, I still believe that the Nucks win this series. As Christopher Moltisanti says: they just need to "Keep their eyes on the Tiger." Love this game, love this team.

To quote the same movie two posts in a row, "It's all happening!" The very good news today is I'm now officially hooked up with a great summer gig. One that should provide once in a lifetime experience and allow me to pay back some of my ever-mounting student debt. To celebrate, Im off to Vancouver next week to kick it on the West Coast. I'm gonna get do all my favorite Vancouver stuff and see all my favorite Vancouver people - so I'm very stoked. Sushi at Tanpopo, Grouse Grind, Stanley Park Seawall. Too bad its too early for a nooner at Nat Bailey Stadium. After that me and a few of the boys are heading down to Vegas. Yes, just me, and all my degenerate alcoholic gambler friends, what could go wrong? I even know about this great private poker game, its supposed to be especially for rookies.

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I went to see the matinee of Kill Bill 2 today on the Imax big screen. You've got to love Quentin Tarentino. All his movies have such great style, but especially Kill Bill 1 & 2. Great music, great dialogue, great clothes - so funny and violent. Why aren't there more movies like this and fewer of the kind Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy put out these days? Kill Bill 2 just makes it fun to go to the movies again. Tarentino doesn't treat you like you're stupid. He know's you grew up watching kung-fu movies and spaghetti westerns and he gives you what you want to see. I urge you to see this film before people start talking about all the best scenes and ruin it for you.




Here's a tip: don't buy the KB Vol. 1 DVD yet. It's got just a bare bones of extra features. Wait for the combined Vol. 1 & 2 to be released, which will be packed with extras.

Finally, the CBC is putting together a show called The Greatest Canadian. They let you nominate your favorites on their website, then they profile them on the show and you vote for your favourite American-Idol Style. I had a scroll through the CBC's suggested nominees, and its amazing how many athletes and entertainers are on this list. Can you really see choosing an athlete or entertainer as the Greatest Canadian to Ever Live? It's Celine Dion - "The Supreme Canadian Being!" Best to ever draw a breath! I admit I had never given it much though until now, but my top choices are Terry Fox, Billy Bishop and John A. MacDonald.

It didn't take people long to start trying to cash in on the Todd Bertuzzi incident here and here. Pick a side and have your credit card ready. (hat tip: Trev)

The first year of my Rotman MBA is drawing to a close. It is still too early to have perspective on the experience and I'm still too busy with my studies to take time to reflect much on it, or to think about the difference between where I was last summer and where I am now. Without any doubt its been a worthwhile experience, I can honestly say I've never been around so many bright, motivated, passionate, enthusiastic people in my life. When you walk in off the street and into the Rotman building it takes you to a higher level. Just being around the place keeps me challenged and stimulated. But is it everything I hoped it would be going in? Probably too soon to tell.

The Integrative Management Challenge course held the first session of union labour negotiations this week. Our team was up against a union rep from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. We had a negotiations class in the second quarter, but this experience is of much more use. Being up against these professional negotiators is like attending a lecture about how to swim, and then being thrown in the deep end of the pool to apply your knowledge. That said, our union counterpart is a classy guy and a pleasure to deal with.

One of my regrets from first year, is not blogging more. The funny thing is a really enjoy writing, referencing pop culture and keeping track what I've been up to. As Lester Bangs said in Almost Famous:

"I used to do speed and sometimes a little cough syrup and stay up all night writing and writing, I mean like 25 pages of drivel about, you know, the Guess Who, or Coltrane, just to f#@king write."

But that's tough to do when you have an exam or a paper due the next morning - the writing that is. Taking speed with cough syrup is just good common sense.