Yes, today sure is Thursday. All day, in fact. “Thursday” comes from the Old English “Day of Thunor” which stems from the latin Iovis Dies or “Jupiter’s Day.” The Great Depression was marked by Black Thursday, when the New York Stock Exchange crashed in 1929.

Wikipedia tells me that on this day in 1848, The Communist Manifesto by communist theorists Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels was first published. Also on this day, Carl Czerny, an Austrian composer, was born in 1791. To celebrate, I played his Etude Op. 740, No. 41 (albeit poorly). I also began the massacre of Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in D Major. We’ll see how that goes.

Thursday is also a particularly bad day in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. All elections in the United Kingdom take place on Thursdays. Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, is British. Interesting. I could never get the hang of Thursdays either.

Thursday is the day that happens between writing a midterm and having an assignment due for the same class. That’s a little sick, if you ask me.

Oh Thursday. You aren’t quite as bad as Wednesday, but we sure wish you were Friday. To be fair to Wednesdays, though, this last one was pretty spectacular. It began with an exam, but ended with a dragon eating the moon! As for the middle, Aperture Labs came to SFU to do some recruiting!

It was a triumph. Huge success. I only wish Chris had stuck around longer with his randomly-dropped accent and spectacular metal briefcase. Leaving us for beer… shameful.

We don’t get one.

I am still straining to understand the idea of reading break. While UBC students get a much needed week to catch up and prepare for exams, SFU students are scrambling about and forgetting to sleep, eat, leave the house… I don’t get it. When we do get a reading break, it’s an entirely useless 2 days. In 7 years of attending SFU, I’ve witnessed two…yes…two reading breaks.

Now, I have no actual data to back up this claim, but I’m pretty sure ours is the only university in Canada who denies such a break to its students. I’m also pretty sure that if an American university were denied Spring Break, there would be riots and anarchy. Why do we get so ripped off, and why does no one seem to care? And why does my friend at UBC get to keep sending me irritating “lolsfu” MSN messages?

I am not a happy panda.

Today on the moon.

After failing to start a war with the Browncoats yesterday, Lunar Fark was slapped with a declaration of war from FAN. The Browncoats were ready to jump to FAN’s aid, but GOONS announced that they would honour their defense pact with Lunar Fark. Oh what a tangled web we weave! Browncoats find themselves trapped between two warring allies, the very predicament GOONS had been bracing for only a day before. War comes at you like a snowball, growing as it rolls along. The Grey Cosa Nostra (GRcN) declared on Lunar Fark. Next up to bat; Oceanus declares on GOONS, in response to the attack on FAN. Finally Legion, the largest alliance on the moon, declares on Lunar Fark, honouring their treaty with FAN.

This is looking ugly, folks. The Browncoats could tip the balance, but their hands remain tied, their leaders locked up in what might be the most stressful discussions this year. It seems that the only solution is to find a way to peace. To that end salithus, Co-Pilot of GOONS has been valiantly petitioning for peace. We have him with us here tonight for an exclusive interview.

EQJ: Thanks for your time. Let’s start with the most burning question. Peace, do you think that it’s possible at this juncture?

salithus: Very. This war seems to have started out of simple paranoia that a war would be starting. Once we can resolve the issues that generated the paranoia, the war should end swiftly.

EQJ: Fabulous! What of the absence of your closest ally, the Browncoats? How do the GOONS feel about this?

salithus: Concerned, but it was expected. Browncoats are in a very awkward and unstable period for their alliance. The wrong move at this time could destroy them and fear of making that move has paralyzed their leadership. Unfortunately, it could be the very move of not-moving that is the wrong one, not only for this war, but for their future as an alliance. My motto has always been “Do something, whether it’s right or wrong. If it’s right, keep doing it. If it’s wrong, don’t do it again, but do something.”

EQJ: It is my understanding that many Browncoats feel the same way and that some, including a member of their leadership, have joined your alliance in order to do what they felt was right. Do you agree with this move, beyond appreciation of the help provided, or do you feel that they should have stood solid with their already-endangered alliance?

salithus: I believe that individuals have an obligation to do what they believe is right. While I cannot speak for those that joined GOONS, I can understand a mentality that says “I am not doing any good for my alliance and allies just sitting on my hands, I need to take action.” There are occasions, as it is said, that “desperate times call for desperate measures” and individuals may have to place other things in a higher priority than their alliance’s welfare.

EQJ: I just hope that when the storm calms, the other Browncoats will see the move with as much of a level head as you. What do you forsee if the peace talks should fail? Could this war engulf all of Luna?

salithus: Easily. Those involved are doing so for the sake of honoring treaties and will not back down unless those they are defending no longer need defending. This will only happen as a result of a domino effect kicked off by FAN and Fark reaching peace with each other.

EQJ: So without peace between those two, this might grow into an all out Lunar War. I have heard rumours that both FARK and FAN are “warmongers” who would like nothing more than to see such a thing take place. Are there any early indications of such a thing at the negotiation table, or do they seem prepared to talk?

salithus: Fark has stated repeatedly, both before and after the war started, that they are not interested in fighting anyone who is not interested in fighting them. They have offered to walk away from this war with a handshake and a pat on the back, but so far FAN has refused.

EQJ: That is very surprising indeed. Has FAN offered any formal demands?

salithus: None, despite being asked over a half dozen times for them.

EQJ: Goodness. Well, it seems that you have your hands full with this one. I, for one, would like to wish you the best of luck in the upcoming days, and I hope that peace can be found.

salithus: Peace will always be found. The goal is to make sure as many as possible are still standing when it arrives.

You heard it here first! The next few hours or days will determine the future of the moon. This reporter hopes that there will not be too many fresh craters by the end of this battle, which promises to be epic should it rage on. Stay tuned for more coverage!

The sky was a shade of amber that reminded Jeff of good honey. Almost as beautiful as the sunset he had watched only hours earlier from the vantage point of the hood of his car, but he would remember these colours much more vividly. There was something to be said about watching your own house burn to the ground.

The above piece of randomness was pulled out of thin air via an amusing little writing trick. This trick was handed down to me today by a prolific wordsmith. It’s absolutely spectacular, and I refuse to share it! Go make cake.

Cake. Delicious moist cake. I would like to bake a cake, perhaps next weekend. I’ll invite my friends over, and they can eat delicious cake with me. It’ll be great! “How great?” They asked. And I said “Who are you, and why are you in my house?”

You can all have cake too, I’m going to share my cake recipe.

EQJ’s Awesome Cake of Pure Excellence

Ingredients

• 1 cup Margarine
• 2 cups White sugar
• 3 Eggs
• 2 tsp Vanilla extract
• 1 ½ cups Milk
• 2 ½ cups Cake flour
• 6 tbsp Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
• 1 ½ tsp Baking soda
• 1 tsp Salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F/175°C
2. Grease and flour a 9×13″ pan
3. Sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt
4. Cream together margarine and sugar until fluffy
5. Beat in eggs, one at a time
6. Stir in vanilla
7. Beat in flour and milk, alternately, in about 3 stages
8. Pour batter into pan, and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.
9. Allow to cool (as painful as it is) and spread on your favourite icing. (I like Betty Crocker’s whipped icing)

For added hilarity, bake with a friend and accidentally double the sugar. (No… don’t actually try this at home. The resulting sugar high may lead to bad decisions)