Hi ya’ll, I’m feeling very southern today, and by southern I really mean Spears-esque southern. So look for me around campus either getting married, eating fried chicken, or forcing an unholy amount of cheetos in my mouth. But aside from that, today I’m feeling pleased. I’d like to direct you to the post below this one, specifically the comment section where a rather lively debate emerged last night. I’m not going to lie, I had mixed feelings when this first occured. I wondered if maybe I’d gone too far. I was afraid it was my very own “wardrobe malfunction” moment, and soon I’d be forced to apologize on national television before they’d let me perform at the grammies. (Yes I’m Justin Timberlake in this particular fantasy- what of it?) But then I realized that maybe, people disagreeing, people voicing their opinions even in opposition to whatever I’ve thrown out there is exactly the point of AMS Election coverage. Don’t get me wrong, I want you to laugh too. ( and I want you to VOTE but more on that later) But I would like to think that you’re not just laughing at these ridiculous events but also taking in that they’ve happened, and realizing there is an election going on that really affects everyone at UBC.  So my title, like most things here, is a joke. I encourage disagreements, and alternate opinions, and hope that you all will continue (or even start) to voice them here!

     Now in reference to the giant set of breasts that are currently reigning over this post; AMS Elections are officially OPEN. This means that you can get in your votes, online, for all of your favourite zAaAnY contestants. It also means you can throw a little support my way. If you’ve enjoyed/ will continue to enjoy this blog  please do me a big favour and click my BOX in the VOTER FUNDED MEDIA category. It’ll take you two seconds, and you’ll have really made a difference, to me and also to your UBC experience. Just do it. Rock the Vote! Diddy / P.Diddy / Puff Daddy / Sean Combs would!

- S

Just Take a moment, please, to breath in the majesty of this photographic experience, brought to you all by the Radical Beer Tribune ( at http://radicalbeer.blogspot.com ) and of course the wonders of microsoft paint. You’ve had that moment? Okay then…

So confession time: I have a problem with prime time television. I watch it a lot, and I watch pretty much anything. This includes, but is not limited to,  90210 reruns, The Tyra Show, COPs, and of course the little known gem “Showbiz Tonight!”. Showbiz Tonight, is more or less the worst show I’ve ever had the misfortune to watch. In fact the only reason I managed to get through a whole hour of this stunning tele-visual accomplishment was my burning desire to watch a promised segment on “Goliath”, an extremely obese cat. I’m not proud, but my need to see Goliath struggle to move his gargantuan paws was extreme, and I must say that while the segment ended up being shorter than I would have liked, sitting around to watch this weeks edition of “That’s Ridiculous!” was absolutely worth it.

            This segues nicely to Peter Rizov. Hopefully you’re all currently aware that he is one of two candidates involved in a heated elections race for the VP Finance position. And if you weren’t aware; SURPRISE, he is!  For a short time  I was convinced that Peter Rizov was not actually running a campaign based on his hatred for the status quo, and his superiority as a commerce student, but in fact was making a bold school-yard esque romantic gesture towards Brittany Tyson, his competition. I thought of it as the University level equivalent to the elementary school hair pulling. Quite simply I was wrong.

            In the debates held today in the Meekison Lounge, Rizov made it clear that the idea of experience being necessary to hold an executive position in the AMS was absolutely “ridiculous” and unacceptable. While I’d like to agree, purely based on continuing my dedication thus-far to being completely bat-shit crazy, my urge to make this into my very own segment of “That’s Ridiculous” is far too strong. To be fair, this debate was rough for Rizov. Who could have anticipated that Brittany Tyson would resort to a tactic that has been treated like a leper in these elections thus far and whip out an actual campaign platform. And we’re not talking a simple commitment to ending student apathy ( although this seems to be the must-have accessory of the season for any AMS candidate) oh no, Ms.Tyson has had the audacity to bring up concrete plans during debate. I would have been outraged too Peter, don’t worry too much about it.

But even after this underhanded tactic was pulled on him, Rizov valiantly fought to convince voters that Brittany’s experience was to her detriment. This goal took particular skill considering during the course of the debate Rizov admitted that he in fact had no concrete plans because he had no experience with the intricacies of the position, that experience was of course an asset, and that as an inexperienced fresh face to the position it would obviously take him a while once in the job to be able to properly evaluate the status quo. The truly mind boggling thing about this was the way in which Rizov has clearly blurred the line between rational and irrational thought in his own mind. Despite all of these admissions to the contrary, he continued to steadfastly support the idea that experience was a ludicrous basis on which to judge a contestant. And to a certain degree he is right, experience alone does not make any candidate better than another- after all Jerry Fan Fan has sat on UBC senate and that certainly hasn’t diminished how incompetent he remains. What is undeniable, however, is that experience, when utilized properly allows a candidate to have concrete, informed ideas, and to get to work to accomplish them quickly and effectively. It is this that makes Brittany Tyson an attractive candidate, not some abstract antiquated notion, and Peter Rizov knows it. To suggest anything different, that’s ridiculous.