The PNE Budget

Hey All!

You’re getting two blogs about the PNE today in spirit of it ending soon!

I thought while I was there that I would give myself a low budget and see what we can get for that budget between me and my girlfriend. I’ve grown up believing that the PNE is expensive, and though that is true in some ways, it is an amazing experience to go and it does offer many MANY free things, as well as some cheap food that is probably not the best for you,  but oh well! ‘Tis the season as they say! Besides, how could you NOT eat Mini Donuts and Corn dogs at the PNE.

The Budget: $60

What was purchased:

– 2 Bags of Mini donuts: $5

– 2 Pieces of Fudge: $5

– 2 Smoked beef on a Kaiser bun with 2 medium cokes: $23

– 1 Regular Sized, Iced Tea flavored Lemonade: $6

– 1 Revolation drink: $10.25 (The good thing about this is it comes with free refills all day, and if you come back again, you buy a sticker for free refills all that day too for $5.50. Buy this the second you get to the park! It saves money!)

– 1 Wiggle Chips: $5

– 1 Corn Dog: $5

– A day at the fair with the girl I love: PRICELESS

As you ca see, we were well fed with crap food all day within a $60 budget between two people. That’s $30 each, which is what you end up spending for a dinner out anyways. At least here it was the same price and a great experience all in one. Though the PNE can get costly, I hope I have opened your eyes as to how cheap it can be as well. Now go out there and have fun while you still can!

Top 5 FREE Things To Do At the PNE

Hey everyone! With the PNE wrapping up and the crowds dying down, I figured I would write an article about the top FREE things to do at the PNE. I was just there doing some media coverage, and having a blast a couple days ago, and all I spent money on was food. I will include my budget and what I got in a different blog, but without further adieu, this is: THE TOP 5 FREE THINGS TO DO AT THE PNE!

1. PRESIDENTS CHOICE SUPERDOGS:

If you haven’t seen the Superdogs by now and you’ve been to the PNE before, YOU ARE MISSING OUT. It is good fun for the whole family, with some great crowd interaction, and this year even came with a couple of great messages. The announcers at one point said: “That’s one of the purposes of this show. To show you to play with your dog, take care of your dog, love your dog.” Along with the way they started the show by presenting us with two puppies and telling us (the crowd) that any dog can be a Superdog (we are all super). And the ending to the show was a classic: We are all winners. Anyways, if you have kids, GREAT, take them to the Superdogs, if you have pets at home, the Presidents Choice has a table set up for all your pets needs. But best of all, the show is free, and at the end you can even come down and pet the dogs you spent the whole time watching. I enjoyed this event as a young child, and I enjoy it still as a young adult. Who doesn’t love dogs at least a little bit?

2. ACROBATS SHOW: 

I will admit it, this year was my first year ever watching this event. I wanted to experience everything free this year, and I was completely shocked that I had never seen such a tremendous act before. I won’t ruin ANY of the acts for you here, but you simply must go see it if you haven’t yet. There are many death defying acts, many acts leaving you scratching your head as to how they are able to contort their bodies, and some acts that left ME personally saying: “What the hell is going on here?” I was skeptical if this was an event for kids, as it requires patience for some acts, like the chair stacking, however, kids sat behind me and they were very well behaved. It’s really up to you parents, but do go see this show at some point of your PNE day, you will not regret it. Just don’t take any photos with a flash, that is VERY dangerous for the performers as they need all their focus on what they are doing.

3. STAR TREK THE EXHIBITION

First things first, I will also admit that I am a Treky. I spent most of my time in the line for this watching the Star Trek video provided via overhead televisions, but how could you blame me? It was at the climax! This line up can be quite long, but fear not everyone, once you’re in it, you will find it moves quite fast. Me and my girlfriend were actually surprised at how little time the seemingly endless line took to die down. I believe our wait was about 10 minutes, and the line was about half full when we joined it, so it’s about a maximum of 20 minutes, but boy is it worth it. This exhibit isn’t just for Star Trek fans, but for everyone really. It has SO MAY props, costumes, set pieces, art, etc. that my mind was just blown, I literally could have spent my entire day here if my girlfriend wasn’t with me. On top of everything, you can get your picture taken on all of three set pieces. The captains chair from the original series, the bridge, and the transporter. You’ll be saying “Beam me down Scotty.” right after you say “Fire  photon torpedo’s”. However, ye be warned, the photos are quite costly, and I ultimately couldn’t afford mine sadly, but if I had the money I would have gladly spent it, because how often do you get to sit in the ORIGINAL CAPTAINS CHAR!

4. FREE CONCERT!?!?

That’s right, a FREE concert. The PNE provides a million dollar stage for performers of all genres to play free shows on just for you. How expensive are concert tickets in today’s day and age? Well here, you can sit in the stands and watch a show for free! Check online to see who is playing there when to get your FULL money’s worth, but how amazing is it that such a thing is free at the fair? Sounds very fair if you ask me. 😉

Be sure to show the artists your support, and also show the PNE you appreciate their hard work. Just kick back and relax on the nice grassy area, or the stands provided.

5. MONSTER TRUCKS

Boy I had a hard time deciding number five. It’s hard to decide what the last thing to make the cut is. Ultimately I picked the monster trucks as it was a big part of my PNE experience as a child. Now I know my parents probably just took me to this event to drown out the noise of me constantly chattering, and now I also realize how much of a headache I probably gave them considering now I get a headache from this event every time, but it’s worth it to watch these massive monster trucks defy gravity. But, be warned once again, they are extremely loud! There’s a lot of power packed into one of those suckers. Take your kids as a break from all the headspinning, stomach altering, high flying rides that we all know and love, if for no other reason then to make sure they’re not throwing up in your car.

This has been my top 5 FREE things to do at the PNE. It was really hard to decide a top 5, but I think you’ll find these events are on your top 5 by the end of it as well. You know, people often forget with all the things that cost money there that lots of it is free too, along with what is mentioned above, there’s a Family Feud event, pig races, a petting zoo (with other animals to look at because they’re adorable, or you just don’t see them that often at home), there’s dirt bikes which are also stunning, you can vote for your favorite sand castle which artists have worked long days in the hot sun on, play in an assortment of amazing jungle gyms (only recommended for children, and especially not for people with a history of neck injuries). You can hang out with your favorite radio DJs, take a walk in the fair and see all the products you see on tv and more, and kids can play Beyblades with the YTV crew. But best of all, enjoy the experience, because it only happens once a year.

Within You Without You

Perhaps to get over this looming sense of entitlement we must first realize how little we mean to the world and how much we can mean to each other. For if not for you and me, life would be different. I can change someone’s life with a smile, but to change mother Earth is to harm it. We are merely a creature living on her, to be disposed of in a flash hurricane or a big quake. As they say, life’s too short to be a dick, and despite only living once (contrary to my belief as a Buddhist) you only live once too. The decisions we make, interactions we have, things we say may echo in eternity or fade out into the great nether. So which do you want to be? Someone who is always remembered, or someone people dream to forget. Ultimately you decide. But in the words of The Beatles: “Every one of us is all we need.”

Technology Breakthrough.

The advancement in technology in the last three decades has been very rapid. Not only has it made things simpler in being more complex, but it has DEFINED a new generation. That generation, of course, being MY generation. This is our voice. This is the MILLENIAL PERSPECTIVE.

Technology has come a long way since the radio. Fifty years ago, nobody would have dreamed of  a network connecting the world creating THE global village in the internet. Our parents never would have thought about having a world of knowledge at our fingertips. Geologically in fact, approximately 200 years ago we had nothing for technology really, and what is 200 years in the lifespan of mother earth? Pretty much nothing. It is ASTOUNDING how far we have gotten in such little time.

Technology, specifically the most recent stuff (as it is changing every day) has made life simpler. Specifically the cell phone category. Cell phones have basically become portable computers with more going for them. My iPhone, for example, can do ALMOST everything my laptop can, plus make calls and text messaging. I can do my online banking while I am at the beach, I can check the news while I am on break at work, I can check my email on the bus, and read ragecomics while I lay in bed. People do not give enough credit to this advancement of technology, but everyone admits to one thing: They Love It.

More complex than the advancement of phones however is the even more recent breakthrough of the Cloud. The Cloud is very complex to the most of us (specifically our parents, the last Analog generation) but to simplify it, it binds all our devices into one storage location. Usually this is done through accounts, i.e: Logging into my itunes account on my laptop will bring up the same things on my iphone, my desktop, my ipad, etc. This is the ultimate in connectivity, and is certainly the future of technology.

Imagine, if you will, using the Cloud for employment, for example. Files of employees can be saved to this network, and when these employees go on to do better things, their files move with them, this may even eliminate job hunting, and may actually allow employers to find the exact employee they are searching for just by clicking a few buttons. This same system could go into policing, making the law easier to uphold worldwide, preventing criminals from running.

Certainly video gaming will adopt this technology, and in fact it has already in SONY. The Playstation 3 works on an account system similar to other Cloud devices, and so, this allows Sony more room to expand with future (and present) projects. The Vita being the newest addition to a great franchise. You can be playing a game on your PS3 one minute, and pick up right where you left off on the Vita on your way to work (if you’re busing, I don’t suggest driving and trying this). Sony if the founder of the new generation of gaming because of this, and will lead the charge for many years to come.

With this technology, however, does come with some potential of terrorism. Hacking specifically. For example, The Playstation Network was crippled by hackers in 2011, however, since then Sony has strengthened their security and hasn’t had any issues since. However, hacking is something that scares everyone who understands it, but for those that don’t I will simplify it for you. Hacking enables anyone with the determination and knowledge of programming (among other things) to access your device, network, etc. And do what they wish with it. Stealing documents, adding viruses, depending on the ability of this hacker, they could do anything with your life, in this future of technology. This is the future of Terrorism moving into the next generation, and cloud technology, and companies are aware of this, so they are coming prepared. Companies know not to bring a knife to a gun fight when it comes to their consumer being at risk. So do not fear the Cloud, embrace it, but don’t forget where we came from.