2/21/2004
The Earth Has Spun It's Circle Without You
It was a year ago this week Steven left us. Here are some of his doodles from when we were kids.
Heartbreak and All That
One of the few positive things I can manage to dredge out of sorrowful circumstance, is the fact that these are moments that deliniate very clearly what matters in this world. After accumulating enough disappointment, heartbreak and death you find your way through the pain. It' still hurts like hell but you survived last time, you know what to hang on to, when to drift with the current and when to resist it.
It's a gloomy wet day but there is light and music and friends and fond memories. And there is tomorrow, without which I never would have met you all.
It's a gloomy wet day but there is light and music and friends and fond memories. And there is tomorrow, without which I never would have met you all.
Goodbye
I said goodbye to Sophie on Thursday. Friday she took her things back to St. Damien and is driving to Boston today where she will start the next chapter. I wish her all the best and look forward to hearing about her Ivy League adventures although I know Luna and I will miss those evening walks through Parc Lafontaine. Yes I'm sad dammit.
Gettin' the Hits
You would think the best google bait would be something like "Jane_t Jackso_n's Brea_st" or "Cele_brity Nip_ple S_lips" but noooo, John Ralston Saul, The Collapse of Nationalism turns out to be the ticket to a torent of google hits.
2/19/2004
Womble Ponderings
Does anyone remember the Wombles? I barely do from when I lived in Saudi and was exposed to a lot of British pop culture. Who were they exactly?
Bush Science
How would you feel about your credentials if 60 prominent scientests, of which twenty were Nobel Laureates, told you your approach to science was dubious? You'd feel like G W Bush I suppose. This week that's what happened in a public letter that explained how the Bush administration has unprecedently politicized science within the government, to the long-term detrement of the public.
When scientific knowledge has been found to be in conflict with its political goals, the administration has often manipulated the process through which science enters into its decisions. This has been done by placing people who are professionally unqualified or who have clear conflicts of interest in official posts and on scientific advisory committees; by disbanding existing advisory committees; by censoring and suppressing reports by the government’s own scientists; and by simply not seeking independent scientific advice. Other administrations have, on occasion, engaged in such practices, but not so systematically nor on so wide a front. Furthermore, in advocating policies that are not scientifically sound, the administration has sometimes misrepresented scientific knowledge and misled the public about the implications of its policies.
2/17/2004
Atkins this
When I recieved a Harper's magazine in the maill today with a full page add on the back cover screaning in bold red letters "Wake up to Atkins" "Look for the Red 'A' " it was the last straw.
So here it is, via the Smoking Gun the Wall Street Journal the medical examiner's report of the deceased Dr. Atkins "shows that the 72-year-old physician had suffered from a heart attack, congestive heart failure, and hypertension" which is why he fell and bonked his head which is what did him in.
So here it is, via the Smoking Gun the Wall Street Journal the medical examiner's report of the deceased Dr. Atkins "shows that the 72-year-old physician had suffered from a heart attack, congestive heart failure, and hypertension" which is why he fell and bonked his head which is what did him in.
Globalism and Nationalism
I've noticed that there is an article in this month's Harper's by John Ralston Saul titled "The Collapse of Globalism: And the Rebirth of Nationalism." I haven't read it yet but as a student of the subject I was always critical of the notion that "Globalism" was preceding "Nationalism" to create a new paridigm in which the importance of individual states woud whither away. The models of globalism drew largely from what was occurring in those days (mid to late 1990's) in terms of communications and the internationalization of economy and transposing this to state political structures, but if one looked at political events even then, it was clear that nationalism was as strong as at any point in history. With the collapse of the Soviet Union there commenced a great change in Central Asia and Eastern Europe as former satellite states and republics of the USSR redefined themselves. In Africa nationalism was also very much a fact. Indeed the only places where political globalism seemed to be a given was in Western Europe and North America, where we had the European Union in the former and NAFTA in latter presented as signs of the future, in otherwords globalism was a phenomena arising for the most part from the traditional wealthy industrial nations known as "the West".
So "globalism" has always been localized, which makes it a strange kind of globalism to begin with. Globalism didn't diffuse globally, it's force flowed from the West and drew back to the West. In fact globalism probably plays a large role in the kinds of nationalist movements that we see now. Despite the rhetoric of nationalists, the nation is not the natural social/political unit of mankind nor does nationalism exist through much of the history of civiization.
It's a relatively recent phenomena that originates in Western Europe, at least in the form that is the ancestor of contemporary nationalist movements. Nationalism is almost always born in in the face of adversity and thus typically a reactionary movement. The more oppressive the circumstances of the adversity the stronger the nationalism. Nationalist movements rarely survive in conditions of prosperity such as in Quebec, northern Italy or Spain.
All this to say, and this is a simplification of a lot of complexity, is that because globalism was a phenomena whose force originated among the wealthy nations of the world its force was not distributed equally so we have reaction in the form of localism, as the transnational colldies with the village, as the interests of the global players clash with the man and woman in the street or field.
One small example: The emergence of Hindu Nationalists as India becomes an economic and industrialized state (not Indian nationalists but Hindu) and their rejection of all things "foreign" such as Valentines day. There's a myriad of other examples but I'm not really meaning to right a thesis here.
So "globalism" has always been localized, which makes it a strange kind of globalism to begin with. Globalism didn't diffuse globally, it's force flowed from the West and drew back to the West. In fact globalism probably plays a large role in the kinds of nationalist movements that we see now. Despite the rhetoric of nationalists, the nation is not the natural social/political unit of mankind nor does nationalism exist through much of the history of civiization.
It's a relatively recent phenomena that originates in Western Europe, at least in the form that is the ancestor of contemporary nationalist movements. Nationalism is almost always born in in the face of adversity and thus typically a reactionary movement. The more oppressive the circumstances of the adversity the stronger the nationalism. Nationalist movements rarely survive in conditions of prosperity such as in Quebec, northern Italy or Spain.
All this to say, and this is a simplification of a lot of complexity, is that because globalism was a phenomena whose force originated among the wealthy nations of the world its force was not distributed equally so we have reaction in the form of localism, as the transnational colldies with the village, as the interests of the global players clash with the man and woman in the street or field.
One small example: The emergence of Hindu Nationalists as India becomes an economic and industrialized state (not Indian nationalists but Hindu) and their rejection of all things "foreign" such as Valentines day. There's a myriad of other examples but I'm not really meaning to right a thesis here.
2/16/2004
Conan the O'Barbarian
As you may or may not know Conan O'Brien has been taping his nightly comedy/talk-show in Toronto this past week. The other evening they did a segment with the cigar chomping dog puppet, Triumph, whose raison d'etre is to insult people. They sent the feisty one up to check out the Quebec Carnival and it turned into a minor political fiasco.
I saw excerpts from the show and it was both ignorant and funny. Funny in an outrageous way. You can't believe how stupid and naive the producers of the show are about Canadian society.
I only spoke to one Francophone friend about the show. He used to live in the USA and in fact worked for the CIA in the 1980's. So is familiar with a certain kind of existing American mentality. He reacted with a resigned disappointment. "Typical American ignorance. What can you do." he sighed and said that in Canada we've learned how to live together with our differences and to have someone who knows nothing about our country come and throw this shit in the pot was too bad.
The thing that upset him most though was the Toronto audiences enthusiastic response to the denegration of his culture. Yes, we know it's "only a joke. Chill out". Gee thanks being a francophone in North America is a joke. That makes us feel so much better.
I saw excerpts from the show and it was both ignorant and funny. Funny in an outrageous way. You can't believe how stupid and naive the producers of the show are about Canadian society.
I only spoke to one Francophone friend about the show. He used to live in the USA and in fact worked for the CIA in the 1980's. So is familiar with a certain kind of existing American mentality. He reacted with a resigned disappointment. "Typical American ignorance. What can you do." he sighed and said that in Canada we've learned how to live together with our differences and to have someone who knows nothing about our country come and throw this shit in the pot was too bad.
The thing that upset him most though was the Toronto audiences enthusiastic response to the denegration of his culture. Yes, we know it's "only a joke. Chill out". Gee thanks being a francophone in North America is a joke. That makes us feel so much better.
In a Bloggy Mood
After a slow period of blogging I find myself replete with blog topics today. Sophie is moving to Boston next Saturday. For the record I will miss her. Last night we went to meet a prospective room-mate. A man studying neurology at Harvard. He was in Montreal to visit his wife who is a dancer. She was admitted to a Dance program in New Yrk City but was then refused a student visa so she came to Montreal.
We met them both and they were very nice. Sophie has not been to keen on the idea of living in the land of Bush and having to live without French for 18 months, but after last night she was much more enthused. Hector painted a picture of Boston that made her feel much more relaxed about the idea of living there; even excited. I know she's going to have a great time and I look forward to going there to visit. It's really not so far from Montreal and I'm sure is a fine place to be in its own right.
We met them both and they were very nice. Sophie has not been to keen on the idea of living in the land of Bush and having to live without French for 18 months, but after last night she was much more enthused. Hector painted a picture of Boston that made her feel much more relaxed about the idea of living there; even excited. I know she's going to have a great time and I look forward to going there to visit. It's really not so far from Montreal and I'm sure is a fine place to be in its own right.
The Sad Story of the Segway
There's an article in today's Globe and Mail about the new mode of transportation that was going to change the world. There was a lot of hype surrounding the Segway and when it was presented to the public there was a huge deflation. "Oh," I remember thinking, "that's it?" The Segway never caught on and think it has something to do with the fact that it isn't sexy. It isn't cool . In fact it's an electric wheelchair without the chair. On top of it all it doesn't do anything that a bicycle can't do at a lower cost and more efficiently. The Segway is a case of too much applied technology to create something that has already been done more simply.
A bicycle is made of physical parts that can be readily replaced and tuned. A Segway has computer chips and gyroscopes. It has no storage space and isn't convenient to bring up or down stairs. It's no good in a snowy climate like mine and I'm not certain that you can leave it out in the rain. Poor Segway nobody loves you.
A bicycle is made of physical parts that can be readily replaced and tuned. A Segway has computer chips and gyroscopes. It has no storage space and isn't convenient to bring up or down stairs. It's no good in a snowy climate like mine and I'm not certain that you can leave it out in the rain. Poor Segway nobody loves you.
2/15/2004
2/14/2004
A Quick Political Blog
One of the things that I've always detested about the Canadian political system is that we end up with Prime Ministers that the populace didn't vote for. It's based on the idea that a vote goes to a party not an individual. So we had Kim Campbell step into Mulroney's shoes and she was trounced. Now we have Mr. Martin stepping into Chretiens and he is being pummelled. Had Chretien finished his term and called an election with a new Liberal leader I think things would be different. Ther is an inherent resentment for a leader that we feel we didn't choose. It rubs the democratic spirit the wrong way. Martin still may win an election but it's not a sure thing.
Of course the scandal hasn't helped. According to the Globe and Mail the the Liberals are at 39%. 39% of what? They don't say. According to "a poll". What poll? They don't say. Talk about low standards in journalism. Anyhow the Liberals are where the Conservatives were just before the Canadian public disintegrated them. Are the Liberals next? That would be exciting, but what would we get in return? I've said it before here at the Glob, but for the first time in years I will not be voting Liberal.
Jack Layton has problems in that the NDP has almost no presence in Quebec and Ontario still begrudges the Bob Rae days. You aren't going to win a majority without these provinces. It's too bad because I believe that he is a fresh (federally), competent and likeable man. Especially by the standards of politicians.
I don't even think that there is an NDP candidate in my riding. It's Bloc and Liberal. So I can't even vote for the man. Something is wrong with this system.
Of course the scandal hasn't helped. According to the Globe and Mail the the Liberals are at 39%. 39% of what? They don't say. According to "a poll". What poll? They don't say. Talk about low standards in journalism. Anyhow the Liberals are where the Conservatives were just before the Canadian public disintegrated them. Are the Liberals next? That would be exciting, but what would we get in return? I've said it before here at the Glob, but for the first time in years I will not be voting Liberal.
Jack Layton has problems in that the NDP has almost no presence in Quebec and Ontario still begrudges the Bob Rae days. You aren't going to win a majority without these provinces. It's too bad because I believe that he is a fresh (federally), competent and likeable man. Especially by the standards of politicians.
I don't even think that there is an NDP candidate in my riding. It's Bloc and Liberal. So I can't even vote for the man. Something is wrong with this system.
2/13/2004
Strange Wink
I Googled an image called "Winking" this evening looking for someone winking to use in a graphic and to my surprise a picture I took of Sophie winking that I put on the Glob and Wail last August came up ( mind you on the 7th page). She's a famous winker now. it freaked me out a bit; how public this is.
2/11/2004
One More Thing
I always thought that the Liberals had been in power too long. In effect we have been living in what amounts to a one party state. There are good reasons for this given the choices voters have been given over the years. Preston Manning? Alexis McDonough, Doris, I mean Stockwell Day. It turns out in light of the Auditor-General Sheila Fraser's report that the corruption was institutional. It's criminal and those responsible should be in prison. For the money stolen from Canadian citizens every child in Canada could have been immunized against menengitis and a host of other life-threatening diseases that at present are paid for out of an individuals pocket. All I can do is growl. Grrrrrrrr.
2/09/2004
The Inventors of Timekeeping Have a Lot to Answer For.
Not much time for blogging these days. I'm working on the professional side of things with a renewed intensity that is taking up all my time. I figure in March things will have stabilized somewhat.
2/04/2004
Whether it snows...
We had a beautiful snowfall last night. It's been a real winter this year, which is fine by me. I I've lived in climates where there was no snow and cold and I missed it then. Granted it can drag on but in general I love the strong characters of the four seasons we have in Eastern Canada.
In Montreal Spring is a bit of problem. It doesn't come at once (if at all ). Instead we have a day here a day there that you could call spring weather, popping up between the continuing winter days. Then , smack, a heatwave slaps you and you are in the midst of summer. Humidity, sweat and raging waves of heat slither off the tarmack.
But that's not today. today is painted in soft grey tones and the pillows of snow absorb all the ambient noise.
In Montreal Spring is a bit of problem. It doesn't come at once (if at all ). Instead we have a day here a day there that you could call spring weather, popping up between the continuing winter days. Then , smack, a heatwave slaps you and you are in the midst of summer. Humidity, sweat and raging waves of heat slither off the tarmack.
But that's not today. today is painted in soft grey tones and the pillows of snow absorb all the ambient noise.
2/03/2004
Last Night
The woman who lives upstairs is being evicted tomorrow. She hasn't paid her rent since last summer. She hasn't budged yet and tomorrow the bailiff comes. He will put everything she owns on the street. While I feel bad for anyone in this situation, I will not miss her. She has been a bane to everyone in this building. If she repaid us for all of the sleepless nights she has given each of us we could sleep for days.
I won't miss the screaming, the fighting, the tantrums, the parties, or the shady characters that sometimes drop by looking for her. One evening in December a fellow dropped by looking for her. I knew him vaguely as the boyfriend of a woman I sometimes meet in the Park while walking the dog. He is a man of few words. Rather he communicates with small shifts of his eyes in his otherwise expressionless face. His head is shaved and he likes to wear pseudo-military clothing.
When he asked for her I could tell it was not for tea. He had given her money for a room she was renting last October. He had asked for it back when he found out that she wasn't paying the landlord. He didn't say anything more about this and offered me a bottle of beer that he pulled out of the pouch on the front of his camouflaged poncho. He had the demeanor of a man who could kill you with no more emotion than he would tie up a bootlace. He made me nervous.
The woman upstairs stopped staying in her apartment just before Christmas. Her phone was disconnected and the light in the front room was on at all hours. She would return at odd times, perhaps to get fresh clothes and feed the cat. Beyond that all was quiet until last night. The stomping the yelling, the strange sounds returned and for the first time in all the time she has lived there, I heard the rhythmic sawing of the bed upstairs accompanied by squeaky moans. Strange that this should happen the night before the bailiff comes.
I won't miss the screaming, the fighting, the tantrums, the parties, or the shady characters that sometimes drop by looking for her. One evening in December a fellow dropped by looking for her. I knew him vaguely as the boyfriend of a woman I sometimes meet in the Park while walking the dog. He is a man of few words. Rather he communicates with small shifts of his eyes in his otherwise expressionless face. His head is shaved and he likes to wear pseudo-military clothing.
When he asked for her I could tell it was not for tea. He had given her money for a room she was renting last October. He had asked for it back when he found out that she wasn't paying the landlord. He didn't say anything more about this and offered me a bottle of beer that he pulled out of the pouch on the front of his camouflaged poncho. He had the demeanor of a man who could kill you with no more emotion than he would tie up a bootlace. He made me nervous.
The woman upstairs stopped staying in her apartment just before Christmas. Her phone was disconnected and the light in the front room was on at all hours. She would return at odd times, perhaps to get fresh clothes and feed the cat. Beyond that all was quiet until last night. The stomping the yelling, the strange sounds returned and for the first time in all the time she has lived there, I heard the rhythmic sawing of the bed upstairs accompanied by squeaky moans. Strange that this should happen the night before the bailiff comes.
2/01/2004
February
It's February. February is one of the nothing months. Like November it exists in a seasonal limbo. If you were at a party and all the months were there you would want to spend as little time with February as possible. The best thing about February is the fact that is short.
However all that being said, today is a beautiful sunny day and mere very cold rather than a deep freeze. I've only strolled down Mount Royal once since before Christmas as the weather has been so beastly.
Sophie started moving her things back to her parents this weekend in preparation for her move to Boston at the end of the month. She has mixed feelings about leaving, but it's going to a be a great opportunity to work with some of the top scientests in state of the art facilities on her measles vaccine. Measles is I understand the number one cause of death of children globally. (But isn't there already a vaccine for measles? Yes, but you'd have to talk to her about it. In general it will be a more effective, safer and cheaper to produce vaccine).
Which brings me to the growing anti-vaccination trend, among North Amricans who grew up without fear of childhood disease, but I'll save that for next time.
However all that being said, today is a beautiful sunny day and mere very cold rather than a deep freeze. I've only strolled down Mount Royal once since before Christmas as the weather has been so beastly.
Sophie started moving her things back to her parents this weekend in preparation for her move to Boston at the end of the month. She has mixed feelings about leaving, but it's going to a be a great opportunity to work with some of the top scientests in state of the art facilities on her measles vaccine. Measles is I understand the number one cause of death of children globally. (But isn't there already a vaccine for measles? Yes, but you'd have to talk to her about it. In general it will be a more effective, safer and cheaper to produce vaccine).
Which brings me to the growing anti-vaccination trend, among North Amricans who grew up without fear of childhood disease, but I'll save that for next time.
1/30/2004
Religion's Turn
I know this is going to upset people but I'm just so fed up with religion. Actually religion can't be held responsible for the actions of its practitioners. Let me refine this idea. What I'm truly tired of is people who use religion to justify any sort of inhumane, self-serving, narrow-minded agenda. Having stated this I realize that religion itself is not the problem it's people. If you remove religion from the stage people will use political affiliation, ideology, race, ethnicity, or whether you like Star Trek or not as a platform from which they will launch their abuse upon others.
I initially began this blog with the thought that religion is all mythology (which I still think is true) and that the false nature of religious beliefs was responsible for injustice. I don't think that really is the case. There are many decent people who do immeasurable good and are religious. My feeling however is that they would likely be decent with or without religious concepts.
What I really am fed up with then is thoughtlessness. Monotheism was an invention that seems to have begun in the Middle East. It took the forms of Judaism, Christianity and Islam (and Zoroastrianism). Prior to this people believed in many deities and accepted the existence of other gods and goddesses. At some point the idea that there was a single correct way to be religious entered into civilizations practices: One God, Sin, Heathen, 'I'm right, you are wrong'. Warfare was simply about conquering people and benefiting from the resources in pre-biblical times in the ancient Middle East. Conquerors even adopted the religions of the people they conquered. Commencing with monotheism came warfare based on belief. Persecution.
The Romans persecuted Christians and Jews for their beliefs. They didn't persecute Egyptians, Greeks, Gauls etc for their beliefs the simply oppressed them to control their land and wealth. Monotheists presented a new threat to the Romans in that they presented a divide based on religious belief. "You are with us or you are against us." You believed only in THE GOD and all his trappings or you were a pagan.
In other words the Romans could not accept Christians (whereas they could accept Egyptian, Persian, Germanic, Pictish, Greek, Phoenician, Syrian, and Indian religious notions among others), because Christians could not accomodate pagans. The history books are full of examples of Roman Christians who refused, based on their religious convictions, to accept Roman, Egyptian , Greek religious traditions. All the while these peoples did not fight over religious ideas. They fought over trade routes, resources, and land, but not over Zeus, Isis, Neptune or Vishnu.
So it's not religion I'm fed up with; it's a mindset. May Freya smile upon you and St. Christopher guide you safely home.
I initially began this blog with the thought that religion is all mythology (which I still think is true) and that the false nature of religious beliefs was responsible for injustice. I don't think that really is the case. There are many decent people who do immeasurable good and are religious. My feeling however is that they would likely be decent with or without religious concepts.
What I really am fed up with then is thoughtlessness. Monotheism was an invention that seems to have begun in the Middle East. It took the forms of Judaism, Christianity and Islam (and Zoroastrianism). Prior to this people believed in many deities and accepted the existence of other gods and goddesses. At some point the idea that there was a single correct way to be religious entered into civilizations practices: One God, Sin, Heathen, 'I'm right, you are wrong'. Warfare was simply about conquering people and benefiting from the resources in pre-biblical times in the ancient Middle East. Conquerors even adopted the religions of the people they conquered. Commencing with monotheism came warfare based on belief. Persecution.
The Romans persecuted Christians and Jews for their beliefs. They didn't persecute Egyptians, Greeks, Gauls etc for their beliefs the simply oppressed them to control their land and wealth. Monotheists presented a new threat to the Romans in that they presented a divide based on religious belief. "You are with us or you are against us." You believed only in THE GOD and all his trappings or you were a pagan.
In other words the Romans could not accept Christians (whereas they could accept Egyptian, Persian, Germanic, Pictish, Greek, Phoenician, Syrian, and Indian religious notions among others), because Christians could not accomodate pagans. The history books are full of examples of Roman Christians who refused, based on their religious convictions, to accept Roman, Egyptian , Greek religious traditions. All the while these peoples did not fight over religious ideas. They fought over trade routes, resources, and land, but not over Zeus, Isis, Neptune or Vishnu.
So it's not religion I'm fed up with; it's a mindset. May Freya smile upon you and St. Christopher guide you safely home.
1/29/2004
1/27/2004
Chairman of the Board
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Call me irresponsible - call me unreliable |
1/26/2004
Welcome Baby Girl!
My dear friends Bob and Anna brought a sweet baby girl into this world last Saturday while I was eating homemade pizza and drinking beer and playing Rummy. I wish the three of them a whole lot of love and bliss.
1/24/2004
My Fingers Are Numb
I walked home this morning, I walked to the grocery store and back, I went for a walk through Parc LaFontaine with Sophie, we walked down Mt. Royal and ran into her ex. I walked home from Sophie's and I'm only thawing out now. Alefia just called and invited me over, but I'm not walking. I'm taking the 24 and then I've got a ride home with Mappie. Yes the world needs to know this. I'm only blogging this because I was going to blog something else when the phone rang. I hate this entry but I've done it now so it's staying. Goodnight.
1/23/2004
My Other Job
I've been reading a lot of history lately, mostly things about the ancient Mediterranean world. I think this explains why I had this dream last night in which I was a member of a family that produced olive oil. I was filling up urns and jars with freshly pressed oil for shipping to Anatolia. The sun was shining and I felt that this was a good life. It's -15 C in real life but the sun is shining and I do have greek olive oil but that's where the connection between dream and life ends.
1/22/2004
1/19/2004
The Perfect
We can probably all remember those days when everything just seems to go wrong, but once in a while the gods bless with a day in which everything is right I was fortunate enough today to have one of those. Of course it began with a nice weekend so that when I woke up this morning I was brimming with 'penso positivo'. The sun was shining, the sky was blue and I felt this utter calm through and through.
I had to some research for a client downtown and I hadn't really been out of my neighbourhood since I returned to Montreal after Christmas. It's just been that cold. So it was a thrll to see all the faces and the beautiful Montreal women as I rode the 24. I don't know how these things work. There are beautiful women all over this world but it just seems that Montreal has a higher percentage of them for some reason.
I also met my financial advisor for the first time and opened up a new mutual fund account and realized I'm not afraid of money and numbers anymore (I know it sounds weirder than it is). I did some grocery shopping, found the $80.00 O'Reilly DHTML book I wanted on sale for under $20.00, did my research and came home to a message from Sophie telling me that the events in the dream that woke her up in the middle of the night Saturday had in fact been verified.
I walked over to Sophie's for dinner and on my way met JP. He had his gall bladder removed last week but he was feeling great he said. Sophie and I spent a quiet evening eating, drinking, talking, laughing and playing games and it was so nice. So simple a day. Really nothing special except everything was so easy and pleasant and satisfying.
On the way home I was walking through the park. The snow was deep and soft and the wind blew whispy tails of snow along the ground between the trees. I was listening to the song 'Electricity' by Joni Mitchell and the stars were all twinkling in the clear frozen sky. The chord changes matched perfectly with my environment. From across the park I could see the light of my door and when I entered the house it was toasty and welcoming.
I checked my e-mail and found more praise for the chinook dog training site that I built for Trish. But the capper of the entire day were the tears and belly laughs that Bob of Filbert provided via this web site. Yes a perfect ending to a perfect day.
I had to some research for a client downtown and I hadn't really been out of my neighbourhood since I returned to Montreal after Christmas. It's just been that cold. So it was a thrll to see all the faces and the beautiful Montreal women as I rode the 24. I don't know how these things work. There are beautiful women all over this world but it just seems that Montreal has a higher percentage of them for some reason.
I also met my financial advisor for the first time and opened up a new mutual fund account and realized I'm not afraid of money and numbers anymore (I know it sounds weirder than it is). I did some grocery shopping, found the $80.00 O'Reilly DHTML book I wanted on sale for under $20.00, did my research and came home to a message from Sophie telling me that the events in the dream that woke her up in the middle of the night Saturday had in fact been verified.
I walked over to Sophie's for dinner and on my way met JP. He had his gall bladder removed last week but he was feeling great he said. Sophie and I spent a quiet evening eating, drinking, talking, laughing and playing games and it was so nice. So simple a day. Really nothing special except everything was so easy and pleasant and satisfying.
On the way home I was walking through the park. The snow was deep and soft and the wind blew whispy tails of snow along the ground between the trees. I was listening to the song 'Electricity' by Joni Mitchell and the stars were all twinkling in the clear frozen sky. The chord changes matched perfectly with my environment. From across the park I could see the light of my door and when I entered the house it was toasty and welcoming.
I checked my e-mail and found more praise for the chinook dog training site that I built for Trish. But the capper of the entire day were the tears and belly laughs that Bob of Filbert provided via this web site. Yes a perfect ending to a perfect day.
Jesus Scares My Dog
Tonight I was coming home from Sophie's and I passed one of the numerous Catholic churches that seem to be on every corner of Montreal streets. There is an oversized statue of Jesus in front, his arms outstretched to embrace the world with his divine love, and as we passed it my dog arched her back and slunk her head low fixing her gaze on him. She kept checking to make sure Jesus wasn't following us.
1/17/2004
My Pal Foot Foot
Legend has it that in 1969 1000 copies of an album called Philosophy of the World were pressed of which only 100 were made available to the general public. The recording which included mysterious songs such as 'My Pal Foot Foot' and 'Who Are Parents?' was made by the three Wiggins sisters at the prompting of their fame obsessed father.
Thanks to the "magic" of the Internet I was able to experience the sonic thrills of the Wiggins sisters the other evening. This is what I have to say on the matter:
They are the best bad musicians I have ever heard. That's not an original statement. They can't play their instruments, but somehow they are using these atonal melodies to hold the chaos together to make highly original and sickly tender music. The name of the group was the Shaggs
Thanks to the "magic" of the Internet I was able to experience the sonic thrills of the Wiggins sisters the other evening. This is what I have to say on the matter:
They are the best bad musicians I have ever heard. That's not an original statement. They can't play their instruments, but somehow they are using these atonal melodies to hold the chaos together to make highly original and sickly tender music. The name of the group was the Shaggs
1/15/2004
It was a Dark and Bloggy Night
Some rumination on Paul Martin's new Liberal Party; I never liked the way that a new party leader steps into the shoes of Prime Minister simply because it was held by the previous leader. Nobody elected Paul Martin Prime Minister. He'll surely call an election soon but I won't be voting for him. Even before his little dance with the idiot king of the south I had made up my mind about this. He is a man "to the manor born". At least Chretien worked his way up the hard way.
Today Jack Layton contacted Sheila Copps over the riding redistribution in Stoney Creek. I don't like Sheila Copps myself every since she weasled out of her resignation over Free Trade promises, but I see what Jack is doing. He's spotlighting for the country Mr. Martin's Machiavellianism.
(then the phone rang and I lost my train of thought)
Today Jack Layton contacted Sheila Copps over the riding redistribution in Stoney Creek. I don't like Sheila Copps myself every since she weasled out of her resignation over Free Trade promises, but I see what Jack is doing. He's spotlighting for the country Mr. Martin's Machiavellianism.
(then the phone rang and I lost my train of thought)
Super-sized Dowry
Conservatives in Washington have managed to dig up 1.5 Billion dollars to be spent on the promotion of Marriage Compare that to what the federal government's budget for Education was for 2003 (3.5 billion).
The thing that irks me is that conservative rhetoric consistently berates government interference in peoples lives and browbeats those 'liberals' who are always trying to legislate morality. Here we have some juicy hypocrisy.
In fact Republicans are as guilty as anyone of wanting to engineer society, whether it's tax cuts for the wealthy 10% or trying to force 'creationism' into school science curriculums. It's what politics is about.
Granted there is a distinction that can be made between social conservatives and economic conservatives, and it's primarily social conservatives that I am referring to here. Economic conservatives have there own set of issues connected to the mythology of the self-regulating market, but that's another topic.
Marriage is a something that two people (or more in some societies) enter into of their own volition. Why a penny of tax money should be spent on anything other than data management in regards to marriage is beyond me.
The thing that irks me is that conservative rhetoric consistently berates government interference in peoples lives and browbeats those 'liberals' who are always trying to legislate morality. Here we have some juicy hypocrisy.
In fact Republicans are as guilty as anyone of wanting to engineer society, whether it's tax cuts for the wealthy 10% or trying to force 'creationism' into school science curriculums. It's what politics is about.
Granted there is a distinction that can be made between social conservatives and economic conservatives, and it's primarily social conservatives that I am referring to here. Economic conservatives have there own set of issues connected to the mythology of the self-regulating market, but that's another topic.
Marriage is a something that two people (or more in some societies) enter into of their own volition. Why a penny of tax money should be spent on anything other than data management in regards to marriage is beyond me.
1/13/2004
When He wasn't Burning Crosses He Invented Sea Monkeys
Last November the "inventor" of Sea Monkeys, Harold von Braunhut, passed away. He was also a member of the KKK and Aryan Nations. He also ripped my cousins and I off when we sent away for some of his lovable sea critters and they never showed up (although Ben did bust Shawn's piggy bank to get the dough. Maybe we shouldn't have sent cash).
Eventually Ben bought some in a packet from the local hobby store. They were dried up brine shrimp. It was pretty cool that they came to life when you put them in water, but they were pretty boring after that and they didn't live long. We should have tried drying them out and rehydrating them again. A zombie sea monkey family that would have been even cooler.
I wonder what would happen if von Braunhut were dunked in water? But how do you stop a vampire sea-nazi. Somethings are better left unknown.
Eventually Ben bought some in a packet from the local hobby store. They were dried up brine shrimp. It was pretty cool that they came to life when you put them in water, but they were pretty boring after that and they didn't live long. We should have tried drying them out and rehydrating them again. A zombie sea monkey family that would have been even cooler.
I wonder what would happen if von Braunhut were dunked in water? But how do you stop a vampire sea-nazi. Somethings are better left unknown.
1/12/2004
1/10/2004
My Big Brother's Bigger than your Big Brother.
What if governments quietly approached software companies and asked them to include specially written codes in their product that was beneficial to the governments needs? What if this was all done secretly, the consumer never informed that the product they have purchased includes this third party code provided by the government?
Well there's no need to ask 'what if'? It's already been done by Adobe with recent releases of their famed Adobe Photoshop image editing software. It includes code to prevent the copying and thus counterfeiting of some currencies. It was only discovered by accident. What a wonderful precedent. Would the conspiracy theorists in the back please use the drool cups provided.
Read the details.
Well there's no need to ask 'what if'? It's already been done by Adobe with recent releases of their famed Adobe Photoshop image editing software. It includes code to prevent the copying and thus counterfeiting of some currencies. It was only discovered by accident. What a wonderful precedent. Would the conspiracy theorists in the back please use the drool cups provided.
Read the details.
1/09/2004
Vixen Love
"Read the logs of poor internet junkies tricked into a relationship with a mindless program"
It's what it says. Guess which one is me! No, not really.
My favourite line: "Judge Demolition: i am sorry to have confused such a vibrant woman"
It's what it says. Guess which one is me! No, not really.
My favourite line: "Judge Demolition: i am sorry to have confused such a vibrant woman"
My Niece
Last Christmas she was a pink blob in a blanket, now she walks and "talks" and has firm opnions on things.
1/07/2004
Time Capsule
I found a folder full of pictures that Steve and I did when we were 12-13. There were different drawing games we played. One was to draw a squiggle and see what the other could turn it into. Another was like the surrealist Exquisite Corpse game. One would draw a head and fold it back leaving only the lines where the nuck joined the torso showing. The other would add to this and so forth. We folded it in four sections so we each drew two sections. Another game was one would draw a goofy character and the other would select a phrase from a comic book or magazine and put the words in a dialogue balloon for the character to speak. And then there was just doodling. This Shark scene is a reference to Jaws. It was drawn in the summer of 1977 or 1978.
1/04/2004
Paul Harvey Riddle
Here's the answer to the following e-mail I recieved this evening.
The answer is "Nothing", at least that's what happens if you press shift whether you send 10 e-mails or none. The riddle is prefaced by a long list of nostalgic advice for an idealized childhood and seems to be set up as a way to get people to spread the list. Very odd, but at least it's not asking for money.
What is greater than God, More evil than the devil, The poor have it,
The rich need it, And if you eat it, you'll die?
Send this to 10 people and then press shift and you will get the answer.
P.S. You won't believe this, but this really does give you the answer!!!!
The answer is "Nothing", at least that's what happens if you press shift whether you send 10 e-mails or none. The riddle is prefaced by a long list of nostalgic advice for an idealized childhood and seems to be set up as a way to get people to spread the list. Very odd, but at least it's not asking for money.
Goodbye Film We Hardly Knew Yee.
I was given a great little digital camera for Christmas so things may be going in a photo direction for a while. I began with the Sophie and Luna New Years greeting. Now here's a sweet shot I took to day of Lu.
1/02/2004
12/20/2003
What the Hell?
Make of this what you will. This is CNN footage of what appears to be the murder of a wounded Iraqi by some US Marines. It's difficult to know the context of the situation, but the cheering is nonetheless as disturbing as it is pathetic.
Citizenship Confirmed
Dear James,
Your confirmation of your citizenship is to be found enclosed.
Best wishes
Lars Vilks
state secr
What you should know about your country
Ladonia is a remony, a republican monarchy, with at queen and a president,
who, together with the ministers rules the country in the cabinet. The
president is elected by the people every third year. Ladonia became
independant in 1996 and is situated in the south of Sweden, close to
Denmark. The area is 1 square km. Nobody lives in Ladonia, but around 30.000
people is every year visiting the country.
Anyone can propose a new ministry, proposals are handled by the cabinet. The
ministers are presented on Ladonia home page www.ladonia.com - link
"administration".
The flag of Ladonia is green with a green cross in the same colour. The
national anthem is performed when throwing (gently) a stone into water. The
currency is Oertug (1 OT is about 1 $). Ladonian language has two words:
"waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaallll" (can be spelt in many ways) and "ÿp".
The number of citizens is growing rapidly, right now approximately 10 000.
12/19/2003
What Spitzer Saw
photo: NASA/JPL - Caltech
See the latest images of space from the Spitzer telescope.
12/17/2003
Creative Nationalism
I just noticed Jack's link to the Rogue Nation of Capgas. It's funny because just a few weeks ago I decided to become a citizen of Ladonia. A brief history of Ladonia
It's my ambition to create the Ministry of Unimaginable Things.
The artist and arthistorian Lars Vilks had since 1980 had a long fight with the Swedish authorities about the two huge monuments Nimis and Arx. Though uncountable trials had been going on for more than a decade, the authorities were not capable of removing the pieces.
In 1996 the situation seemed to be under control and Vilks took the advantage of what had happened and made contacts with a lot of persons. The victory, at least so far, could be used in a wider scale: The nation of Ladonia was proclaimed among the stones and cliffs on a piece of headland in the south of Sweden. The surface was 1 square km.
It's my ambition to create the Ministry of Unimaginable Things.
Burning the Candle at Both Ends
What is this thing called sleep? this meandering rumour that winds it's way around me but never through me.
I've been working day and night and it feels like Friday but it's only Wednesday and I feel sick and burnt to a crisp.
I've been working day and night and it feels like Friday but it's only Wednesday and I feel sick and burnt to a crisp.
12/16/2003
Sngis
We had a beautiful bountiful bluster of snow come drifting in yesterday evening. It fell through most of today and now there's no denying that the holiday season is here. I swear I never saw so many smiles. Maybe it was just me smiling and getting smiles back, but there was a frolicking feel to the day. The nice thing about my neighbourhood is that it has a town feel to it. I know my neighbours and the baker and the girls at the checkout in the grocery (they are girls nary a woman or boy or man in sight).
At the end of the day I was supposed to drop by the video store, pick out a few choices, call Sophie and confer with her over what to watch this evening. My numeric dyslexia came out when I gave the woman at the cash Sophie's phone number and rearranged the numbers in my head incorrectly four times consecutively. Finaly I asked for the phone book and had to copy Sophie's number down. I've always had this issue with numbers They dance around do-si-do style in my mind so that 1607 becomes 6701 or 0617 or 6710 etc.
After all that they wouldn't let me take the movie out on Sophie's membership even though they spoke with her on the phone confirming it was the correct number. It was then that I realized I was in a chain store and that I had my own membership at another branch. So...
The movie turned out to be the most tepid time vaccuum i've ever had the misfortune to be sucked into. It was a movie in which everyone whispered and mumbled and nothing interesting or meaningful happened and it starred Mel Gibson and it was called Signs.
If you saw this movie and found something positive in your viewing experience feel free to share this with me because it will be a revelation.
At the end of the day I was supposed to drop by the video store, pick out a few choices, call Sophie and confer with her over what to watch this evening. My numeric dyslexia came out when I gave the woman at the cash Sophie's phone number and rearranged the numbers in my head incorrectly four times consecutively. Finaly I asked for the phone book and had to copy Sophie's number down. I've always had this issue with numbers They dance around do-si-do style in my mind so that 1607 becomes 6701 or 0617 or 6710 etc.
After all that they wouldn't let me take the movie out on Sophie's membership even though they spoke with her on the phone confirming it was the correct number. It was then that I realized I was in a chain store and that I had my own membership at another branch. So...
The movie turned out to be the most tepid time vaccuum i've ever had the misfortune to be sucked into. It was a movie in which everyone whispered and mumbled and nothing interesting or meaningful happened and it starred Mel Gibson and it was called Signs.
If you saw this movie and found something positive in your viewing experience feel free to share this with me because it will be a revelation.
12/14/2003
It's Not "Bad Santa"
photo:ap/us army HO
They captured Saddam Hussein. They took him alive. Now what? This bodes well for Bush no doubt. Weapons of Mass Destruction? What about them?
I doubt that this will end the violence in Iraq. Despite attempts to portray the insurgencey as coming from the old guard and imported terrorists, there is also resistance to the American occupation. It was an invasion after all. People don't like being invaded and occupied. It really doesn't matter what the motivations behind it are it's a matter of principle.
There was an interesting report on this by an African journalist last October, I forget on which network. He showed a world in Iraq that doesn't get reported on in western mainstream media and it was interesting to see how people felt about the US occupation. It wasn't this black and white thing, but there was a persistent fear that if the US didn't let the Iraqi's run their own country that violence would escalate. In other words the violence that occurs daily in Iraq shouldn't be assumed to be pro-Saddam.
12/12/2003
Friday Means Cat Cams and the Human Fly
Here's Norbert's latest endevour: The Maxicatcam
and this drawing I made while on the phone of the Human Fly
and this drawing I made while on the phone of the Human Fly
12/10/2003
The Con Man Returns to Montreal
Back in the year 2000 (sounds funny to say that) my roomate followed up an ad for a job placement service that she found at the Youth Employment Services of Montreal. She suggested that I go with her as I was looking for work too. We were immediately suspicious of the interviewer when she seemed quite uninterested in our portfolios and focused on getting us to sign documents to get on board. The final straw was when she asked us for a $250.00 deposit for their services with a commitment to pay another $250.00 when we got our first job. It felt wrong, but when you are looking for work, especially work in a field in which you are new, you are vulnerable. Neither of us paid a cent and on our way home we couldn't believe that we had almost been conned.
When I got home I typed the name on the business card into a search engine and came up with this site: Harris Black Watch. It turned out he was in the fraud business for sometime.
The night I cam home from Steven's funeral last Feb. one of his friends told me about Steven's last days. He had not been emotionally well and one of the events that had marked his down turn was that he had lost a large sum of money to a fraudulent job-service agency.
What really hurt she said, was that his pride had been damaged. Steven was always very sensitive. He was immensely talented, but he was shy and I suspect not very confident about his talents which were obvious to others. It wasn't this event that broke him. It was an accumulation of things it seems, but this surely didn't help.
Harris Black, who is a convicted sexual assault offender in Quebec, fled Montreal sometime ago. Tonight on CFCF 12 they documented his return to this city. Now he is posing as a pediatrician on internet dating services. A dangerous piece of human filth to be on the look out for.
When I got home I typed the name on the business card into a search engine and came up with this site: Harris Black Watch. It turned out he was in the fraud business for sometime.
The night I cam home from Steven's funeral last Feb. one of his friends told me about Steven's last days. He had not been emotionally well and one of the events that had marked his down turn was that he had lost a large sum of money to a fraudulent job-service agency.
What really hurt she said, was that his pride had been damaged. Steven was always very sensitive. He was immensely talented, but he was shy and I suspect not very confident about his talents which were obvious to others. It wasn't this event that broke him. It was an accumulation of things it seems, but this surely didn't help.
Harris Black, who is a convicted sexual assault offender in Quebec, fled Montreal sometime ago. Tonight on CFCF 12 they documented his return to this city. Now he is posing as a pediatrician on internet dating services. A dangerous piece of human filth to be on the look out for.
Worst Case Scenario
Imagine this: Canadians are tired of the Liberal monopoly of the government. The Canadian Alliance wins enough seats that Stephen Harper (or whoever is party leader at the time) becomes the Prime Minister of Canada. Our friends to the south legitimately elect Mr. Bush into office as President. Can you imagine given the Alliance's policies what a shift towards Bushism this would be for Canada. I shudder to think about it. Certainly we would have gone to war against Iraq in the coalition of shame had this been the case last spring.
Lets go to Legosland!
Anzo is right in so far as "Lego" being a trademark, the word "Legos" however is not trademarked according to the Canadian Intellectual Property Office which has a data-base of international and Canadian trademarks. So you may want to try to trademark Legos.
However a trademark which is a word is still part of language and can be described in terms of it's grammatical usage. Lego is used by the company of the same name as an adjective. Regarding Anzo's comment: Scrabble rules are not the rules of language but of a board game. For instance Ottawa is a noun and cannot be used in Scrabble.
As for Lego as the plural sounding like what the lonely kid would say. Exactly how "Legos" sounds to me. Legos is a colloquial usage I suspect, and really there is nothing right or wrong about it except Legos sounds ridiculous to my ear. Like someone saying "I like when you play musics."
There's nothing like being didactic about trivial matters. If we can't find common ground with our "Legos" and "Lego" what hope have they in the Middle East? I am curious however to hear from others on this matter: Is it Legos, Lego or as the company itself says, Lego bricks where you come from?
By the way Cacoa what is Legoland like and is it true they put you in a Lego jail if you use the word "Legos" there?
However a trademark which is a word is still part of language and can be described in terms of it's grammatical usage. Lego is used by the company of the same name as an adjective. Regarding Anzo's comment: Scrabble rules are not the rules of language but of a board game. For instance Ottawa is a noun and cannot be used in Scrabble.
As for Lego as the plural sounding like what the lonely kid would say. Exactly how "Legos" sounds to me. Legos is a colloquial usage I suspect, and really there is nothing right or wrong about it except Legos sounds ridiculous to my ear. Like someone saying "I like when you play musics."
There's nothing like being didactic about trivial matters. If we can't find common ground with our "Legos" and "Lego" what hope have they in the Middle East? I am curious however to hear from others on this matter: Is it Legos, Lego or as the company itself says, Lego bricks where you come from?
By the way Cacoa what is Legoland like and is it true they put you in a Lego jail if you use the word "Legos" there?
12/09/2003
You may have Legos, but I have Lego.
Well as you may have seen, the Chiseller is a user of the term "Legos". I didn't mean to offend anyone, but I didn't think anyone I was acquainted with would be the victim of this grammatical tragedy. Maybe it's an American thing to say Legos. Is that possible? I never heard a soul say "Legos" until I was as an adult. My best buddy when I was a kid was Danish and he had all these great Lego sets straight from the motherland (Lego is the invention of a Dane). And not once in all those years of building cities to bring tears to the eyes of an architect (of joy, of sorrow, take your pick) was the word "Legos" imagined let alone uttered. You really should add this to the Blog of Shame dear Chiseller (unless it's an American thing then I give up just like the BC government did on the softwood lumber issue).
For anyone who really cares I offer the following link: Lego Homesite
nowhere on this site will you find the word "Legos" or even the word "Lego" used as anything but an adjective so far as I've been able to see. If there's one thing I learned in all those years of linguistics it's this: "Usage trumps all!" It still sounds hmm...hmm... "retarded" to my childhood ear. Sorry. Oh the misery of existence. Will peace ever come to this lonely blue marble.
For anyone who really cares I offer the following link: Lego Homesite
nowhere on this site will you find the word "Legos" or even the word "Lego" used as anything but an adjective so far as I've been able to see. If there's one thing I learned in all those years of linguistics it's this: "Usage trumps all!" It still sounds hmm...hmm... "retarded" to my childhood ear. Sorry. Oh the misery of existence. Will peace ever come to this lonely blue marble.
The New Political Landscape
Yesterday Canada's oldest political party , the Progressive Conservatives in effect ceased to be by agreeing to merge with one of Canada's newer political entities, the Canadian Alliance. After a decades worth of governance Jean Chretien has resigned as Liberal party leader, being replaced by former finance minister Paul Martin. The NDP is now lead by former Toronto city counciller Jack Layton.
What this all means for Canada remains to be seen, but it is certainly a different blend of politics than we have had over the past decade. I suspect we shall see the Canadian Alliance moving towards the center in it's social policy as it tries to accomodate a greater diversity of sentiments from coast to coast. Likely they will restyle themselves as less of a rogue party, less of a regional thumbing of the nose to the eastern establishment as they face the realities of what is required to defeat the Liberals.
Paul Martin cannot take his place in the Prime Minister's office for granted and I'm betting that Jean Chretien would secretly like to see him denied just that. Like him or not Chretien's earthiness carried him along way whereas Martin is obviously of the moneyed class. He reeks of big business and all that entails.
Then there is the NDP. Jack Layton is an outspoken and articulate politician. I find him appealing, but the NDP carries a large stigma in Ontario after the Bob Rae years and of course Ontario is important as far as winning seats in the house. Still I'm inclined to think they will do better than under Alexa McDonough who always seemed to come across as the goody two shoes girl with perfect attendance but was never invited to any parties. A sort of Lisa Simpson with no soul.
Personally I will never vote for the party that brought Stockwell Day to the national political stage and I realy don't like Paul Martin. I think it was a huge mistake for the liberals to annoint him the way they did. It hardly felt like a democratic process at all. That leaves me with Layton. Time to do some homework.
What this all means for Canada remains to be seen, but it is certainly a different blend of politics than we have had over the past decade. I suspect we shall see the Canadian Alliance moving towards the center in it's social policy as it tries to accomodate a greater diversity of sentiments from coast to coast. Likely they will restyle themselves as less of a rogue party, less of a regional thumbing of the nose to the eastern establishment as they face the realities of what is required to defeat the Liberals.
Paul Martin cannot take his place in the Prime Minister's office for granted and I'm betting that Jean Chretien would secretly like to see him denied just that. Like him or not Chretien's earthiness carried him along way whereas Martin is obviously of the moneyed class. He reeks of big business and all that entails.
Then there is the NDP. Jack Layton is an outspoken and articulate politician. I find him appealing, but the NDP carries a large stigma in Ontario after the Bob Rae years and of course Ontario is important as far as winning seats in the house. Still I'm inclined to think they will do better than under Alexa McDonough who always seemed to come across as the goody two shoes girl with perfect attendance but was never invited to any parties. A sort of Lisa Simpson with no soul.
Personally I will never vote for the party that brought Stockwell Day to the national political stage and I realy don't like Paul Martin. I think it was a huge mistake for the liberals to annoint him the way they did. It hardly felt like a democratic process at all. That leaves me with Layton. Time to do some homework.
12/08/2003
Lego Grammar Update
Okay while saying Legos is definitely wrong, having given a great amount of thought to the matter I realize that one might argue that Lego, properly used is not even a noun, but an adjective and therefore there is no singular or plural of Lego (excluding the company named Lego itself). Strictly speaking one has Lego sets and Lego pieces, but it is common usage to refer to these pieces and sets as Lego. However when people call it Legos they sound daft. It's like saying " Gee I'm thirsty I'd love a glass of waters". I expect we shall soon find world peace now that this issue has been resolved.
Lego is the Plural of Lego
This is very important to set straight. Lego is the plural of Lego. There is no such thing as Legos. You pick up the Lego all of it. I suppose it's because of the holiday season, but in the past week I've heard or read reference to "Legos" umpteen times. In the name of all that is good in this world it's so important that everyone gets that right.
12/07/2003
Of Threats and Pointing Fingers
This past week a Canadian citizen, Abdurahman Khadr, who was interned for two years in Camp X-Ray at Guantanamo Bay Cuba by the US government, returned to Canada. There are a number of questions that remain unanswered. Khadr admitted to having trained in an al-Qaeda affiliated camp while in Afghanistan, but qualified this by saying it was a common experience among Afghani's in the war-torn country and had nothing to with anti-Americanism.
The other part to his story, is that his lawyer Rocco Galati stepped down from representing Kadhr in his case against the Canadian government for what he claims was negligence in helping him return to Canada. Galati recieved death threats last week which he is taking seriously and most disturbingly of all is claiming that he believes that the source of the threats is American or Canadian security agents. How he knows this he won't say. I don't know what to make of this. Is it grandstanding on his part? Is he jumping making assumptions that reflect his own "paranoid" narrative about the security agenda and how things have changed since Sept. 11th? or is this a correct statement based on experience and knowledge that he is not sharing?
The thing that I find most puzzling about the Galati withdrawl from the Khadr case is that he says he genuinely fears for his life to the point of following the threat makers instructions to step-down, but isn't afraid to point the finger even if it's an ambiguous pointing.
The other part to his story, is that his lawyer Rocco Galati stepped down from representing Kadhr in his case against the Canadian government for what he claims was negligence in helping him return to Canada. Galati recieved death threats last week which he is taking seriously and most disturbingly of all is claiming that he believes that the source of the threats is American or Canadian security agents. How he knows this he won't say. I don't know what to make of this. Is it grandstanding on his part? Is he jumping making assumptions that reflect his own "paranoid" narrative about the security agenda and how things have changed since Sept. 11th? or is this a correct statement based on experience and knowledge that he is not sharing?
The thing that I find most puzzling about the Galati withdrawl from the Khadr case is that he says he genuinely fears for his life to the point of following the threat makers instructions to step-down, but isn't afraid to point the finger even if it's an ambiguous pointing.
Mind Reader
This from the NYTimes from an article on the new "Get Tough" American policy in Iraq:
Nothing like the mind of an American captain of an occupying army.
"You have to understand the Arab mind," Capt. Todd Brown, a company commander with the Fourth Infantry Division, said as he stood outside the gates of Abu Hishma. "The only thing they understand is force — force, pride and saving face."
Nothing like the mind of an American captain of an occupying army.
Word Warrior
In the tradition of the Mighty Korak I took an on-line IQ test with their results stating the following:
Type is a Word Warrior.
How nice. Then they try to sell me an extensive report. Oh but I'm too clever for that the fools. Anyway my numeric score was 135, so like a hundred other people with the same score I had the same idea to type "IQ 135" into google and join the 135er's.
Type is a Word Warrior.
This means you have exceptional verbal skills. You can easily make sense of complex issues and take an unusually creative approach to solving problems. Your strengths also make you a visionary. Even without trying you're able to come up with lots of new and creative ideas.
How nice. Then they try to sell me an extensive report. Oh but I'm too clever for that the fools. Anyway my numeric score was 135, so like a hundred other people with the same score I had the same idea to type "IQ 135" into google and join the 135er's.
12/06/2003
Snow is Falling
Sophie came over and we sat at the computers working on the Mama-africa website. I didn't go to sleep until 11:00 a.m. this morning so I was almost hallucinating, but the kicker was when she left and I opened the front door to see the world covered in wonderful snow. I didn't notice a flake fall outside the window to my office while we toiled.
Looks nice.
Looks nice.
Christmas is Pagan
Here's an interesting take on Christmas celebrations. Maybe they're even right, but everyone knows that Santa Claus is the baby Jesus' father.
12/03/2003
Baby It's Cold Outside
Did you see the new Burning Ring of Fire page? I'm going to add a Sideburn Two page soon. I have to say I really love my "Home? I Have no Home." discs. Nice work there Korak and Jack.
The temperature has dropped to below zero and I'm feeling it more than I thought I would. The cold doesn't usually bother me but this year it was relatively warm and then BOOM! Winter fell on us like a block of ice. Speaking of which I was talking to a guy the other day who is going ice climbing this weekend. Ice climbing? That sounds crazy. They use little picks and things, but you know ice has at least two things going against so far as a climbing surface: It cracks and it's slippery. I'll stick to prefabricated grips bolted securely to the wall thanks.
So to summarize: It's cold and dark and winter is here to stay for sometime and some people are climbing ice.
The temperature has dropped to below zero and I'm feeling it more than I thought I would. The cold doesn't usually bother me but this year it was relatively warm and then BOOM! Winter fell on us like a block of ice. Speaking of which I was talking to a guy the other day who is going ice climbing this weekend. Ice climbing? That sounds crazy. They use little picks and things, but you know ice has at least two things going against so far as a climbing surface: It cracks and it's slippery. I'll stick to prefabricated grips bolted securely to the wall thanks.
So to summarize: It's cold and dark and winter is here to stay for sometime and some people are climbing ice.
12/02/2003
Mysterious Disease Identified
Sophie found out that her mysterious symptoms are a result of a rare incidence of the child-hood disease commonly known as Roseola. This is a relief if only to know that is not life threatening and will take it's course, even if that is a couple of months.
The Firebird and the Explorer.
Yet another security compromise in IE explorer 6.0 has been pointed out. There is as of yet no fix. As an alternative I highly recommend Mozilla's free browser Firebird. It has a built in feature that blocks pop-ups as well as a Google search field integrated into the tool bar among other features.
12/01/2003
The First Snow Fell
There's changes all about some better than others. Sophie will be moving to Boston in the new year to join a microbiology lab at Harvard. Sophie has developed a mysterious malady. The test results should be back sometime this week and I pray it is nothing out of hand. Working in an environment where handling deadly viruses is a part of the daily routine has got to be stressful at times.
Alefia and Norbert wil be moving to my side of town soon. It's not really far when you live here is it?
I discovered last week that Chester's owner has co-edited a collection of short fiction. The book launch was last Saturday evening, and I wanted to go, I should have gone but our first snow of the season fell and the winds were roaring and it was so nice to stay home and read the paper. I just wasn't in the mood.
The woman upstairs hasn't been paying her rent for sometime now. She recieved an eviction notice this week. Nobody in the building will be sad to see her gone. She has no respect for anyone who lives here. Even the people in the residence next door have complained about her yelling and noise in general. Not to mention the shady characters that drop in at any given hour.
I think Frederique is planning on moving out in the new year as well. A man called in reply to her inquiry about a loft yesterday.
Alefia and Norbert wil be moving to my side of town soon. It's not really far when you live here is it?
I discovered last week that Chester's owner has co-edited a collection of short fiction. The book launch was last Saturday evening, and I wanted to go, I should have gone but our first snow of the season fell and the winds were roaring and it was so nice to stay home and read the paper. I just wasn't in the mood.
The woman upstairs hasn't been paying her rent for sometime now. She recieved an eviction notice this week. Nobody in the building will be sad to see her gone. She has no respect for anyone who lives here. Even the people in the residence next door have complained about her yelling and noise in general. Not to mention the shady characters that drop in at any given hour.
I think Frederique is planning on moving out in the new year as well. A man called in reply to her inquiry about a loft yesterday.