4/30/2004
Moving On
A couple from Kingston are coming to look at the apartment tomorrow. I'll be out of here in June. I feel kind of bad giving up the apartment. People are offering me $ching ching$ cash to let them have it, but I hate that sort of thing. It's what makes cities like Toronto unaffordable to live in decently.
Last night we began the balcony life as the warm weather has started. The game between Montreal and Tampa was on which everyone wanted to watch, but it was the first warm night since last fall. As a compromise the neighbour brought the TV onto the porch and we had a beer and pizza party outside. I'll miss this neighbourhood.
I was lying in the sun and I feel so sleepy now. I've been working like crazy for the past couple of weeks on a big project which I finished last night! Now I'm working on an art project with K-ob that is part of a gallery show in New York in December.
So it's time to move on, dig up the roots and take to the wind for a while. Every few years it's good to change the scene and keep things fresh.
Bush and Martin met today for a butt kissing session, which may be wasted time if Bush is ejected from the Oval Office this November.
Last night we began the balcony life as the warm weather has started. The game between Montreal and Tampa was on which everyone wanted to watch, but it was the first warm night since last fall. As a compromise the neighbour brought the TV onto the porch and we had a beer and pizza party outside. I'll miss this neighbourhood.
I was lying in the sun and I feel so sleepy now. I've been working like crazy for the past couple of weeks on a big project which I finished last night! Now I'm working on an art project with K-ob that is part of a gallery show in New York in December.
So it's time to move on, dig up the roots and take to the wind for a while. Every few years it's good to change the scene and keep things fresh.
Bush and Martin met today for a butt kissing session, which may be wasted time if Bush is ejected from the Oval Office this November.
4/27/2004
Harping on Harper
Today one time Prime Minister Joe Clark spoke out against the Conservative Party's leader Stephen Harper. As the Liberals who have been in power for over a decade fall from favour there is some chance that people may resort to voting Conservative putting Harper in the driver's seat. Joe of course is a former Progressive Conservative Party leader which gives his concerns a lot of weight. What he has explicitly said is that this new Conservative party should not be mistaken for the old one. This incarnation is cast from the same mold as the Bush Republicans.
Canadians in general are unlikely to readily accept a policy shift as far to the right as Harper would like it to go, but shift to the right it would.
Harper supports the war in Iraq and Canadian troops would be stuck in that mess right now if he had his way. There would be no same sex marriage, health-care would shift towards a privatized two tier system, gun control would be watered down, abortion would not be a women's right but exposed to the whims of legislative trends.
I'm now waiting to see how long it takes for him to evoke "God" as his ally. Oh wait that's his "trademark" ending for his speeches "God Bless Canada".
Of course if you like these ideas he's your man, or you could move next door where they have the uncensored version.
Canadians in general are unlikely to readily accept a policy shift as far to the right as Harper would like it to go, but shift to the right it would.
Harper supports the war in Iraq and Canadian troops would be stuck in that mess right now if he had his way. There would be no same sex marriage, health-care would shift towards a privatized two tier system, gun control would be watered down, abortion would not be a women's right but exposed to the whims of legislative trends.
I'm now waiting to see how long it takes for him to evoke "God" as his ally. Oh wait that's his "trademark" ending for his speeches "God Bless Canada".
Of course if you like these ideas he's your man, or you could move next door where they have the uncensored version.
4/25/2004
4/23/2004
4/22/2004
Wedding Round Two
Anzo and Killer Kane are having their grand festival of matrimonious follies and the introduction of the fabulous GiGi to the northern climes this weekend in St. Saveur.
Yours truly will be the mad monster dj Shamoo. Hopefully nobody will mention the brides tits this time. For the record this is a renewal of the vows as the first time around no one was invited (except for me of course).
Yours truly will be the mad monster dj Shamoo. Hopefully nobody will mention the brides tits this time. For the record this is a renewal of the vows as the first time around no one was invited (except for me of course).
4/21/2004
Ignorance is Pissed.
Pompous wind-bag Bill O'Reilly declared the clearly right of centre Globe and Mail a leftist paper the other day. What doesn't this man not know?
4/20/2004
Grapefruit juice is an inhibitor of cytochrome P-450 3A4 (CYP3A4).
-The cytochrome P450 (P450) superfamily of enzymes is one of three enzyme systems which metabolize the fatty acid arachadonic acid (AA) to regulators of vascular tone.
-Grapefruit juice is a potent inhibitor of the intestinal cytochrome P-450 3A4 system (specifically: CYP3A4 - mediated drug metabolism) which is responsible for the first-pass metabolism of many medications. This interaction can lead to increases in bioavailability and corresponding increases in serum drug levels.
-People have known for about a decade that grapefruit juice somehow reduces the fast-pass effect, making drugs more effective. Recently, James W. Harris, a scientist with Bioavailability Systems LLC, has established that spiro ortho esters are the molecules in grapefruit that make this work. ("CITRUS CHEMISTRY BOOST DRUGS"
June 2, 2003 Chemical and Engineering News, p. 33-37.)
-Grapefruit Essential Oil Common Name: Grapefruit
Botanical Name: Citrus paradisii
Origin: USA
Distillation Method: Cold Pressed
Uses: Has a sweet, sharp, citrusy aroma. It is antidepressant, antiseptic, diuretic and disinfectant. Excellent for concentration. Invaluable in times of stress, uplifts and revives the spirit.
4/18/2004
Update
As you may have noticed I'm not writing much these days. I'm in a floating period. I feel detached from social things so I don't have strong enough feelings to write much. No political rhetoric. It's beyond comment. Clearly we have a morally confused presence in Washington and Ottawa has it's own problems. Normally I'm motivated by contempt, but that seems like such a waste of effort. I'm in love with my camera right now and all the beauty it reveals to me in the most mundane settings.
Sophie is starting to get used to Boston. The wedding last week went horribly wrong when my uncle's misguided attempts at humour alienated most of the guests. Never mention the brides tits, especially don't comment on how they compare to those of your wife.
My little friend who is new to this neck of the woods vanished for the weekend, or did I?
Sophie is starting to get used to Boston. The wedding last week went horribly wrong when my uncle's misguided attempts at humour alienated most of the guests. Never mention the brides tits, especially don't comment on how they compare to those of your wife.
My little friend who is new to this neck of the woods vanished for the weekend, or did I?
4/16/2004
4/15/2004
Girls Who Wear Glasses and Afghanistan Gasses
My little friend never fails to surprise me. This evening after everyone in the park has had his turn telling me of the obstacles they face in life, she came running up behind me, her dog announcing her arrival with his baying as though they were in the middle of a fox hunt. She looked different. She wore glasses. They made her look younger which is odd because usually glasses make people seem older. Perhaps they made me focus on her age and I thought of how young she probably is. She was in a festive mood. She did a lot of branch waving while I spoke with an older man who was complaining that his lungs burned when he breathed, the effects of napalm he surmised, of which he was exposed to when he served as a mercenary in Vietnam, or perhaps from the gas the Russians used in Afghanistan.
She's Smokin'
My little friend from Sherbrooke seems to frequent the Park at the same hours as me so I've seen a lot of her lately, she is a little shy but friendly. Yesterday we talked a little about photography and photoshop. Very little as I spoke my dumbass french and she spoke her heavily accented not-from-Montreal french. I had to ask her to repeat things a lot which is very charming.
This morning I found her waiting in the usual place with a cigarette clamped between her lovely digits and with the smoke that coiled in the morning air so went my fantasy. I really find that unattractive. That being said I've always been one who's strived to overcome his prejudices.
This morning I found her waiting in the usual place with a cigarette clamped between her lovely digits and with the smoke that coiled in the morning air so went my fantasy. I really find that unattractive. That being said I've always been one who's strived to overcome his prejudices.
4/14/2004
4/11/2004
Wedding Night
It's done. For better or worse my cousin is married. It was a simple ceremony. The focus was on the party afterword. It was fittting in this way. There was a lot of tension during the toasts, which were roasts. There were tender moments like dad and mom slow dancing under the disco ball. There was the joy of flirtation with strangers in tight floral dresses and reconnecting with old friends and relatives after a decades worth of changes. Saturday Night Fever disco dancing and AC/DC rocking out. Wasp ass conga line and NHL hockey broadcast in the hall. A sense that we are finished. The last cousin to marry. Now we all grow old and grey and turn to ash that's swept away.
4/10/2004
4/09/2004
Weddings and French Lessons
I'm away to Ottawa for the weekend. My last cousin of a brood is finally getting married. it will be intersting to see everyone again. We use t have huge family gatherings when I was a kid but the occasions are fewer these days.
What happens when you meet a cute single woman in the park with a dog but neither one of you speaks the other's language. I learn French very fast, that's what. "Est ce que tu vu aller ce soir pour un biere avec moi?"
What happens when you meet a cute single woman in the park with a dog but neither one of you speaks the other's language. I learn French very fast, that's what. "Est ce que tu vu aller ce soir pour un biere avec moi?"
4/08/2004
Maureen O'Dowd
As she so often does, Maureen O'Dowd sums up the situation in Iraq best. The saddest thing is that so many people saw this coming. Most of the world probably, but as we know Bush and the gang don't realy know much about the world.
4/07/2004
Pareidolia Equine
I took this picture of the earth for the texture and found this little horse in the mess when I came home.
the Boat Has Tipped
The War in Iraq has broken out in it's second stage now that a new power centre has had time to develop and unlike Saddam's largely secular approach this one is definitively religious. It's a civil war as well as war against the occupation. A war within a war.
This is bad news for everyone and it may go on for years. Thank you wise men of Washington and London.
This is bad news for everyone and it may go on for years. Thank you wise men of Washington and London.
4/06/2004
A horrible event related to the conflict in the Middle East occurred here in Montreal yesterday when a Jewish school was firebombed. A note was left explaining that this was a punishment for what is happening to the Palestinians and that there was more to come. It's such a counter-productive strategy, not to mention cowardly to attack children. Hopefully they will find the culprits. It's an incredibly stupid, cruel and worthless act. Thankfully no one was injured, but the primary school was gutted.
Octopus Dreams
I had to catch up on some badly needed sleep last night. This always makes for extensive dreaming. It's as if the brain is catching up on all the dreaming it missed out on the night before. There's too much to recall. One part that was very beautiful was when I was a gossamer octopus swimming to the accompaniment of cello music.
I heard something o the radio yesterday buy a diver/archeologist who said that octopi are known for gather artifacts from the wrecks of sunken ships. Thus a good place to find such things is in an octopus lair.
I also drew this octopus (pentapus) while on the phone yesterday so all of this made it's way into my dreams. Now where the 7ft Fijian who insisted I play his favourite song, or else, came from I have no idea.
I heard something o the radio yesterday buy a diver/archeologist who said that octopi are known for gather artifacts from the wrecks of sunken ships. Thus a good place to find such things is in an octopus lair.
I also drew this octopus (pentapus) while on the phone yesterday so all of this made it's way into my dreams. Now where the 7ft Fijian who insisted I play his favourite song, or else, came from I have no idea.
4/05/2004
Winter in April
Late Sunday afternoon it began to snow and by evening everything was as white as after a December storm. The sounds of early risers scraping car windshields plays with the songs of birds at dawn. It's an April morning but it's winter. He came back for a day. He's calm and quiet and he's pretending that the seasons haven't moved on towards spring. By afternoon he will know that this isn't true. He will melt away into swampy pools from which the trampled yellow grass will drink some. The remainder the sun will turn to vapour which will rise and join the fleets of clouds that sail away to wherever winter goes.
4/04/2004
4/02/2004
Yawns, Lies & Videotape
First the Whitehouse gets Howard Stern on their ass, now they've riled David Letterman. This week a video showing a yawning boy standing behind President Bush while he gave a speech, was shown on the Late Show with David Letterman. CNN then reported that the White House had declared it a fake. It wasn't a fake and Letterman openly called the Whitehouse liars.
To complicate matters it turns out the White House never contacted CNN about the video, or did they? As Letterman said last night, something smells fishy. NYT columnist Paul Krugman's take
"Now that, ladies and gentlemen, as sure as I'm sitting here, is an out-and-out, 100 percent absolute lie. The kid absolutely was there and he absolutely was doing everything we pictured via the videotape."
"So when you cast your vote in November," he urged, "just remember that the White House was trying to make ME look like a DOPE."
To complicate matters it turns out the White House never contacted CNN about the video, or did they? As Letterman said last night, something smells fishy. NYT columnist Paul Krugman's take
4/01/2004
Graveyard Planet
The Cold War keeps popping up this week. Documents were released that show the British government was prepared for 12 million deaths in the case of a nuclear war. This is why everyone should be scared sh**less that terrorists might get a hold of portable nuclear devices. London or New York or whatever city you choose, would be gone in an instant. It's beyond comprehension, but it could happen and then how would the attacked nation respond? I dread to think of it.
I promise something more cheery tomorrow. It's just weird that I had that dream of war this week and the the next day they reported the release of these documents.
I promise something more cheery tomorrow. It's just weird that I had that dream of war this week and the the next day they reported the release of these documents.
