It's definitely not good for the downtown residents, I simply can't imagine what it's like living with the noise 24/7. We brought ear plugs, which came in handy, but it's not like you can drown out what essentially sounds like an air raid siren blaring right outside your house.

Regarding masks - can't really say whether it's as bad as others have reported, since my friends and I decided to go in with a nuclear option (a pair of anti-convoy signs and a communist hammer-and-sickle flag, just to see how far we can push it). This is to say that I don't think it was our masks that were the biggest problem to the protestors. A few did take issue with our insignia and got a little aggressive, at one point encircling our little outfit, but we ended up talking things through and got out alright in the end.

As for the Americans, it's hard to tell whether many of them are from the US. What I did notice was that a very large chunk of the protestors on the ground, especially those with kids, are Quebecois, and (perhaps not too surprisingly) there was a good number of Russian speakers in the crowd. There was even a field kitchen set up right across the road from the Centennial Flame, with the tables draped in Russian flags - the cooks told me they were Ukrainians from Montreal. Not to say that the protest is necessarily astroturfed or something - my own parents are there some days, thanks to the antivax sentiment ever so present in the immigrant diaspora - it was just a weird experience to constantly hear your own language at a protest on Parliament Hill.

Kinda funny seeing my city on the news all throughout these past few weeks - typically it's a boring little town up here. Went to the counter-protest this last Saturday and then walked through the downtown core (Wellington, Metcalfe, Bank) to get a feel for the situation... so AMA, I guess?

"I will lay Voat upon the cross on December 25th 2020 at 12 noon PST. I have chosen Christmas as the day to do so in honor of the only True thing you will find in this world and that is Jesus Christ, the son of God, and the only way to the Father. I chose 12 noon in honor of the twelve disciples who spread the message of salvation to the world. In this way, my hope is that perhaps 12 people will carry the cross for Freedom of Speech and sacrifice part of their lives for an ideal in the way I did, but hopefully with much more success, glory, and reward. "

God, the jokes just write themselves. What a Christmas gift for all of us.

Lex's videos keep popping up on my YouTube feed, but I never really watched one past the first few minutes to have an opinion on the guy - what is Hubski's take on this guy's podcast?

Best of luck!

Just moved two weeks ago to a new apartment as well, and still unpacking. Gonna echo g5w here, best not leave anything until the very last week since there is always stuff that you forget about, and it always takes up more space than you originally expect.

It's reassuring to know my door isn't about to be kicked in by Hubski police for posting a track I enjoyed more than a week ago.

So this is breaking the rules a little, since I've been into these songs for quite a while, but here is some music I've been listening to this year, seeing how we'll soon be in 2020.

I came across the last one thanks to the Netflix' Dark series - a great show and a great song.

Hey, glad to hear you're planning to be back by the next Pubski - it would have been a shame otherwise.

Started playing Death Stranding, so here is some Low Roar:

I'd love to listen to the stuff you've collected. Let me know if you're able to share that playlist.

First of all - congrats on finally making an account, welcome!

I've listened to Monument Builders more times than I can count now. And Equivalents is great, Equivalent 3 is my absolute personal favourite. I've actually been looking for more artists with a similar kind of sound for a little while now but nothing seems to come close.

This week I went out apple-picking with my friends and had a great time. We chose a wonderful sunny day and got a huge bag of Honey Golds and Empires that I am still chewing through, and probably will be for the foreseeable future. The orchard was a fair distance outside of town, but the crowds were huge - I guess everyone is just trying to bask in the sun while they still can, we've had our first frost of the season a few days back. Walked around the orchard for some time, and then tried to get lost in the corn maze (but couldn't).

Also I took some photos of the Parliament while walking around a few days back, and they just came in from the lab. I've been trying to shoot on film recently, which wasn't going too well (destroyed my first roll and got some light leaks on my next one cause I didn't roll it all the way back before opening), but, other than the expense and the inconvenience, it's fun.

I hear this sentiment from some very liberal friends of mine every time the current US administration does some ridiculous shit - "well, now everyone will realize that Trump is stupid/a criminal/a Russian puppet". Everyone who is capable of intelligent thought has already realized the idiocy of the situation, and everyone who still hasn't caught on will deny any wrongdoing no matter the evidence presented. Republicans aren't afraid of looking stupid, they only care about being in power - because that is the only thing that really matters.

I've been listening to Loscil a lot lately, mostly as background music when doing something or walking somewhere. The music puts me in a certain frame of mind that I find extremely comfortable - it feels perfect for the rainy weather we've been having lately.

Wow, that sounds amazing! Any photos you can share? I've wanted to visit Burning Man for a couple years now, it sounds like an awesome experience.

I think the donation system has been down for a while. If anyone knows how to send mk and thenewgreen money, please let me know.

Thanks! I'll keep everyone posted on how it goes by the next Pubski, I assume :)

Glad to hear you liked it! Playing the piano is something I've been wanting to pick up myself lately, but despite having played a lot when I was younger, it's hard to imagine coming out of my shell enough to perform at a bar somewhere. Perhaps after a couple of drinks or something.

It's currently 3 o'clock and I'm sitting in a coffee shop, sipping on my pint of Lugtread. It's hot outside, and feels like it's about to get even hotter. Today is my day off, so I get to do nothing, drop by the local bookstore, and then buy myself the most delicious box of donuts I ever came across - it truly does feel like summer.

Last week was spent sending out my resume to all sorts of odd places. One of them - a book binding factory near Toronto - replied yesterday, so I'm just trying to set up an interview right now. If all goes well, I will probably drive down there sometime next week and try and muster my impression of my best resume self. Even if it does not work out, I still get to walk around Toronto and ride the metro system, which is somewhat of a guilty pleasure at this point, coming from a city without one.

Hope you all have a splendid week, Hubski!

It's been more than half a year since I last posted on Hubski, but this seems to be about as good good a time to jump back in as any.

A few months back I started working at a job that's essentially glorified tech support for a tiny CNC firm. The customers we get are mostly hobbyists who know very little about the machines they are trying to set up, so at least I can sometimes explain to them the little I myself know about controllers and the such. My days are spent writing manuals for the myriad settings and functions hidden within our software which I myself do not quite understand fully. There is nearly zero existing documentation on some features, and what we have is usually already outdated, so I am effectively trying to document everything from the ground up. The pay is minimal, but this gives me something to do for now.

My family has been suggesting I get back to studying, perhaps doing a Masters in engineering, more and more as of late. I myself am not quite sure of what to do - currently I feel as if I am in a limbo, stuck with my diploma but not really able to apply it anywhere that would make good use of it. On a more positive note, I have been working on myself - working out, swimming, learning French - and for the first time in what feels like in forever, I don't feel like I am getting dumber with every passing day.

[EDIT]: what's up with the donations bar? Please, mk, I would rather my $5 went to hubski than another latte.

Went to an Earth Strike protest yesterday. Marched around downtown, talked to some people, grabbed some pamphlets and had some hot food with them, which was a welcome addition with all the cold weather we got recently. Went on my way after about an hour, before the protest headed for the office building of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, which they supposedly occupied for a little while before the police cleared them out.

Perhaps it was just me expecting something slightly different, but the focus was mostly on the Indigenous issues, primarily the Wet'suwet'en Nation's resistance to the new pipeline being put through their territory. A lot of talk about 'spiritual awakening' and 'Mother Earth', and a lot of protesters who came to protest the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the government in general, rather than ecological issues. The protest didn't strike me as a highly organized or thought-out one - it was rather disjointed, with some speakers talking about our spiritual connection to Gaia, and some calling for the workers to rise up. I am glad I went, but overall it did not strike me as something that has much potential unless something changes by the next planned Earth Strike.

Happy Orthodox Christmas, Hubski!

Posting a little late, but does anyone know what's up with the donation link? It seems that I cannot donate to the site, was wondering if the problem was on my end or not.

There is something incredibly calming about his music to me.

no one has adequately explained to me what the fuck Voronezh was about

Completely unrelated to the argument at hand, but never before did I think I'd see my hometown being mentioned on Hubski.

That's what I'm hoping for, when I'm not gripped with fear.

As for rain, come to Ottawa! We've got random thunderstorms, politicians, and some of the most boring suburbs in North America.

Finally received my last grade for a vibrations class, which means I'm all set to graduate in the fall. This means that I need to start looking for a proper engineering job instead of working as a cook at a nearby pizza place - the student loan payments are set to kick in around November, and I don't want to take the full fourteen years to pay it back.

There is also some sort of a low-grade anxiety that's constantly spread over everything I do and feel - perhaps it is just the fact that my life is rapidly changing, for better or for worse, but it's far from pleasant. It's like I'm finally coming face to face with some responsibilities of an adult, and I'm just not used to it yet.

On a positive note though, the heat wave that has been around for the past two weeks has turned to pouring rain that is set to continue for at least the next few days. It feels nice to not be afraid to burst into flames every time I step outside.

Right, I definitely agree with the necessity of having a professional welder be properly trained, no matter how long it takes.

However, coming back to what moslydeaf was talking about, what I'm actually interested in is a program for those inner city kids, and not for people who would necessarily want to graduate with a degree in Welding and Fabrication. For example, something like a BAJA SAE competition is a fairly complex project (certainly harder than most public art installations), that has the weld samples from the vehicle's roll cage being checked by the tech inspectors before the competitions due to the danger that would otherwise be present to the drivers. The welders, however, do not need to be licensed - a good number of my own friends participated in working on the vehicles in the last few years, most of them having received the same minuscule amount of MIG and TIG welding training as I have. A program for projects like that would be a quick and fairly painless introduction for people wanting to learn the basics, but unfortunately I'm just not aware of any public entity in my city that would provide it.

Went to see these guys last week, really enjoyed the set despite only ever listening to a few of their songs beforehand.

Here is my own personal favourite of theirs:

That's great to hear! There is only a handful of colleges and universities in the city, and they certainly don't publicize whatever scholarships they have for their welding and fabrication programs. Then again, it might be different here in Canada, but I'd think that the government would provide a lot of the learning tools for free, seeing as how the student loans and grants are already comparatively generous.

Reading up more on it, it turns out that most (all but one, actually) of the votech schools in my city have been closed or converted during the 90s, citing things like lack of funding and low enrolment. The one school that is currently operational was also closed down from 1996 to 2001, and has only been able to expand and upgrade its program through a fundraising effort from local businesses back in 2010 since the public school board refused to pay for it. I would also assume that it provides the tools needed to learn things like welding, but the information on their website is extremely scant, and I wasn't able to find whether there actually is a program to learn this one particular skill without having to be enrolled for the full school year.