Apparently the new deal is reasonable. Although a few writers are still sour about the fact that they do not get compensation for the first 2-3 weeks of online streaming (which they argue is the peak download time for videos), there are other parts of the deal that provide the writer’s with more compensation then they originally requested.

All in all, I’ll be happy for the writers if they start getting compensated for DVD sales and online distribution. And then we can be entertained again. Hurrah!

Binks posted about this too. I don’t really understand his post though. It seems to be dripping with sarcasm, but I am not sure if it is because he doesn’t like the deal or he did not support the strike to begin with.

I mean…writers are not like actors with their million dollar contracts. Actors can be featured in all sorts of projects, whereas writers end up working on teams with other writers and are shackled to one project at a time. I feel bad for them since they weren’t getting a dime for any new forms of distribution (DVDs and online sales).

So, yeah. I really hope this deal works out for them.

On Sunday, I decided that I would clean the entirety of the house. Top to bottom.

Here is a breakdown of what happened:

• Removed all furniture from the living room

  • Vacuumed carpet and drapes

  • Dusted the furniture

• Removed all furniture from the dining room/hallways

  • Vacuumed all tiled areas

  • Mopped all tiled areas

• Washed all available counterspace/tabletops/appliances/surfaces

• Vacuumed stairs and the landing on the second floor

• Cleaned the bathroom counter

The entire process took 5 hours (not counting the time that I waited for the floors to dry). A pretty modest span of time considering that:

a) It was only me cleaning, which made moving furniture an interesting ordeal. b) The whole cleaning process was not something that would be done weekly. The vaccuuming, sure. But I would say the floor washing can be done bi-weekly.

So, anyway, you add maybe an additional half an hour to take into account the cleaning of the toilet and the shower. Brings you up to 5 1/2 hours to clean an entire CLV townhouse. Divide that among the four residents, and lose about 45 minutes every other week for the mopping, and you get:

Week A: 1 hour and 22 1/2 minutes per resident Week B: 1 hour and 11 1/4 minutes per resident

So, ranging from an hour to an hour and a half each week. Not a lot of time to clean the entirety of a house between four people.

I would say that is pretty decent. So, why does it seem that students have such a difficult time maintaining a clean home? I mean, the time to clean an entire home is equivalent to the time spent watching two episodes of television. Not an incredibly huge sacrifice. I just wish I could convince everyone else in the house of this fact.

I shaved off most of my beard recently, but I left the moustache due to a bet I had with one of my housemates (Subject A). He and I are going to attempt to wear our embarassing moustaches for a week, and we will see how long we last without being completely humiliated.

I’m already feeling embarassed, and only three people have seen it. I’m also quite sure that my moustache is lopsided.

It doesn’t help that I look like my father back in the late eighties, early ninteties. Ugh.

I might just shave it off right now. We will see.

While watching this movie, I could not stop laughing.

A Dog’s Breakfast is a dark comedy written by, directed by and starring David Hewlett, a British-born Canadian actor who you may (or may not) have seen in Cube, Stargate SG-1, or Stargate Atlantis. After seeing A Dog’s Breakfast, I have been completely blown away by his acting prowess. A Dog’s Breakfast is truly one of the funniest things ever.

Here is a brief synopsis from Rotten Tomatoes:

Marilyn (Kate Hewlett) has it all: a great job and a great guy. But when she brings her fiancé [Ryan (Paul McGillion)] home to announce their engagement to her family, the news pushes her eccentric brother Patrick (David Hewlett) to the limits of sanity. Things get even worse when Patrick thinks he’s discovered Marilyn’s soon-to-be-groom has some loose marbles of his own.

The synopsis is not entirely accurate. I would not describe Patrick as discovering Ryan has lost his marbles. It would be more suitable to say that Patrick does not approve of the relationship that Marilyn has forged with her science-fiction star fiancé Ryan, and would go to deadly lengths to keep them apart.

The movie was filmed during the Stargate Atlantis hiatus, and every cast member (except one who is only featured for four minutes) is a principle character in one of the Stargate franchises. It also features some rather memorable sci-fi parodies. All in all, the movie is fantastic. David Hewlett has an amazing performance, as does Paul McGillion and Christopher Judge. The movie is brilliantly directed. I would highly recommend it.

Okay. So, I was going to go to the FASS show. I made that post and fell asleep for two hours (half of my total sleep over the past two days). Anyway, I woke up and made some dinner. I washed my dishes, and some dishes that belong to me that I did not dirty, but they were not cleaned properly.

Sidenote: The constant disrespect visited upon my possessions in this household has forced my hand. During reading week, I will be removing all of the pots that I do not use (all of the ones that Subjects A-C use frequently) from this household. I see no reason why I should let them use my new pots if they are going to treat them with so little care. And since I don’t need them, there is no point in them being here. Tell me in the comments if you think this is too extreme, but I have discussed matters of cleanliness with my household many times, but it doesn’t sink in.

Anyway, after I finished cleaning the dishes, Subject B persuaded me to play DnD that evening instead of going to the play. I was feeling kind of sleepy and rather sluggish. Memories of Andrew and I seeing The Importance of Being Earnest while I dosed lazily drifted through my head. Seeing the FASS performance, a 3 hour show, at 10:00 pm with only 4 hours of sleep was a recipe for an unenjoyable experience. So, I relented and decided to play DnD.

I waited until 10, when the game was to commence. Unfortunately, Subject A had just returned from the grocery store. One thing you will shortly discover about Subject A is that he is psychotic. He burst into the door with groceries (despite the fact that he still had weeks and weeks worth of food) and insisted that we must make pancakes. It is currently 11:15. They are making pancakes downstairs. I am sitting here not watching a play because I was under the impression that we would be playing DnD. As much as I like pancakes, I am trying to eat healthier this term. I’ve removed milk from my diet (those of you who know me will realize how difficult that would be), and I have been eating mostly fresh fruit, vegetables, and the occasional deli sandwich. Anyway, I found it ironic to hear Subject A talking about how he too intends to eat healthy as he greases up a pan to make pancakes.

Oh, and for the record, I will clarify something to those who are wondering why I am not participating in this unscheduled group activity. The reason for this is because I spend enough time in the kitchen cleaning up after the three people I live with (they are slobs). If I were down there, I am quite sure I would have to kill them. I would rather see the mess in one shot and have to clean it up then, rather than have to watch as the kitchen is slowly turned from the pristine cooking environment that I try to preserve to a graveyard of wasted food and uncleaned spills.

NOTE: Oh, and Binks, I got your ‘yo’ on MSN, but that was only about 20 minutes ago. By now, you’re an hour and twenty minutes into the show. Sorry I wasn’t there. I hope you enjoyed it anyway though.

I’ve decided to start a new feature: CLV Confidential. These posts will be passworded. The password will be the name of this creature from Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass.

If you can’t research it (it takes a few seconds), just ask me for the password on MSN or in Facebook.

If anyone is in Waterloo and wants to see the play “Global Warming: Kiss Your FASS Goodbye” let me know, and I’ll meet you there. I’m thinking about going to the 10 o’clock show. Word on the street is that it is pretty funny, and two of my professors are allegedly in it (Diana Chisholm and Ian Vanderburgh). I’m psyched.

Drop me a line on MSN or call me.

EDIT: I decided that since I am only operating on 4 hours of sleep over the past 48 hours, it would be best if I stayed in tonight. My housemates and I are going to play some DnD, and I’ll probably end up going to sleep relatively early. Instead, I’m going to the Saturday showing so that I do not fall asleep during the show. Frankly, I don’t know how I am still conscious right now.