General Update

Well I suppose it's time for another blog entry from me, since I've had not one but two nudges already. I just haven't been in the blogging mood, jeez! So anyways here's a general recap of what I've been up to:

Birthday!!
- I turned 20 six days ago. It was super. My wonderful parents took me out for a delicious meal. We decided to postpone the movie that usually follows because I had to get home to finish preparations for my party. I don't think I've ever had more than 5 people in my apartment at once, and certainly no real parties. I don't know if this quite qualifies either since 90% of the people that would normally have come were out of town. So it was probably more of a large gathering.
- There were probably around ... 15-20 people there, I guess? Most of my high school friends, a few from Ivey (including one professor!), and a handful of randoms. I'll tell you that story now. Around about 9:30pm, some of my guests sitting by the window announced that there were some people on a balcony across the way starring at us! So, having my new social personality attained in the summer, I proceeded to skip out onto the balcony and shout greetings and invitations to my party. They disappeared.
- 5 minutes later, I get a call from one of my invited guests buzzing me from downstairs. When he arrives at the door, he's joined by 5 people I've never met! It turned out the randoms from across the way were trying to buzz me by dialing my apt # (which I had shouted across), my friend found them and brought them up.
- Anyways, everyone was really impressed with the level of preparation: I had decorations, cookies, cupcakes, a lasagna, and tons of free alcohol. It was a good little party.
- Around 11 we left for the bar, where there was no line and most of us were able to bypass the cover. Inside, it was the perfect amount of busy: not too crowded, but not dead.
- Had a fabulous time.

Went to Toronto the next day.
- Visiting dad for a week.
- Seeing lots of movies.

Deloitte Christmas Party on the 16th. It was INSANE. I have never been to or heard of a party like this. This year's theme was Cruise Ship.
- 200+ tables set up for dinner, a full stage and band on either end of the long room (entire Toronto Convention Center)
- Open bar and buffet all night
- Midway games (huge) set up one side
- Entire casino area, with blackjack, roulette, craps, etc. Tokens, instead of money, were given for the draws.
- "Walk the plank" to get on, with the head partners dressed up as the captains of the ship.
- Mini golf
- Shuffleboard
- Ping Pong
- Pool tables
- People who would draw your caricature
- Massage tables
- Oxygen bar (?!)
- Karaoke
- At 8pm, all these balloons dropped for the ceiling as a "sail away" thing. Redeemed for prizes.
- Balloon maker
- Mariachi and jamaican bands wandering around

Anyways that gives you some idea of the scale of this event. I would estimate that if you consider the cost of the space, decorations, hundreds of staff needed, food and alcohol consumed, that it was probably a $5-$10 million party. I really hope I get to experience some more of these! (re: earlier entry).

Reviews in 5 words or less:
The History Boys: didn't go cliched route
Volver: best almodovar yet; perfect
Stranger Than Fiction: a long version of trailer
Scoop: more hilarious than people say
All About My Mother: classic almodovar; tight story
The Pursuit of Happyness: hope goes a long way
Blood Diamond: accent not so bad
Casino Royale: best bond, but not amazing
Match Point: i liked scoop better