Ok, poll time. Who's worse,
whoever the hell these people are
or
the Barmitzvah Brothers?
Hmmm, something tells me I should have called this Battle of the Bads instead.
1 day ago
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Somebody Please Tell Me! Part II
Maybe I'm just bitchy today, but I saw something in my email that made me think about something else that bugs me to no end. I received an email message that said it was from Ron or Susan. Ron or Susan? So not only do I not know who's sending email, neither do they! And when I write back, either Ron or Susan might reply. This might be fine if they were exact clones of each other, but they're not! Maybe I like Susan but hate Ron. Or vice versa. What if I want to tell Susan how much I hate Ron. Do I want Ron seeing that? I don't think so. What if Susan is shitty at telling Ron that Ron's sick mom emailed to say get to my bedside now? Ron might never know that mommy croaked because Susan could see and delete his email before Ron had a chance to so much as read the subject line. Do you see my point?
My parents do this. they have one email account between them, and refuse to get separate ones because dad is afraid that we *might* not email him anymore if he had his own acount. So if I want to email dad and ask what mom wants for Christmas, I can't, because mom might read the email. And I can't ask him on the phone because they're both on the phone too. Can't people realize that they need a shred of privacy, even if what's yours is mine and what's mine is yours?
My parents do this. they have one email account between them, and refuse to get separate ones because dad is afraid that we *might* not email him anymore if he had his own acount. So if I want to email dad and ask what mom wants for Christmas, I can't, because mom might read the email. And I can't ask him on the phone because they're both on the phone too. Can't people realize that they need a shred of privacy, even if what's yours is mine and what's mine is yours?
Somebody Please Tell Me!
What in christ is so good about the Barmitzvah Brothers? I don't get it. Just listen! Listen and tell me what you hear! Does it make you want to remove all means of sound from your computer and go deaf? I have heard them on CD, I have heard them live, it all makes me gag, but all I hear on CFRU is everyone going gaga over them and raving about the next concert listing which involves them. Why! Why! Whyyyyyy!
Monday, January 30, 2006
Ya Think?
Well, excuse me for being a supreme asshole. Come listen to my story about a neighbour named let's call her...Stupidhead. At first I noticed that she liked to smoke a lot. So much that it seeped into my house. Then I noticed that she had a lot of loud friends. I started to learn that these friends were...well..members of the more unsavory crowd. Some had just gotten out of jail, others were not below pulling a knife on Stupidhead, others liked to threaten to beat up her friends, and others were just plain crackheads! This parade of slime has been going in and out of her house for months now.
Now, yesterday, I hear, knock knock knock. it's a distraught Stupidhead. She's been robbed...again. This is the third time she's been robbed in two months. She claims that the other two times she's been robbed, they've climbed through her window, but she has not tried to lock all her windows. This time, the thieves meant business. Along with taking all of Stupidhead's food, they also took all of Stupidhead's money, which includes a couple months' worth of rent...just before her eviction hearing. Hey Stupidhead, maybe instead of holding onto your rent money, maybe you should, um, pay the rent. Or at the very least, maybe you should put it in the bank. Oh yeah, despite the fact you've been robbed twice before, you still don't have a bank account, and you put all your money in a hole in your mattress! Do you see, boys and girls, why Stupidhead is an apt name?
So, it's very hard to have sympathy for her. She claims it's all because she lives downtown in an apartment building with no surveillance. I have a better theory, chief. I think it's caused by associating with slime! I have lived here much longer than her, and I've never had random thieves slipping through my window and stripping my house bare. The tenant she replaced, sob sob, lived here for upwards of ten years, and nothing happened to him. And I am to believe this load of crap? I don't think so. Sure I think it sucks that all of Stupidhead's food is gone. I think it's a horrible lesson...oh wait, it's not a lesson because she'll never learn. She's Stupidhead, remember?
Now, yesterday, I hear, knock knock knock. it's a distraught Stupidhead. She's been robbed...again. This is the third time she's been robbed in two months. She claims that the other two times she's been robbed, they've climbed through her window, but she has not tried to lock all her windows. This time, the thieves meant business. Along with taking all of Stupidhead's food, they also took all of Stupidhead's money, which includes a couple months' worth of rent...just before her eviction hearing. Hey Stupidhead, maybe instead of holding onto your rent money, maybe you should, um, pay the rent. Or at the very least, maybe you should put it in the bank. Oh yeah, despite the fact you've been robbed twice before, you still don't have a bank account, and you put all your money in a hole in your mattress! Do you see, boys and girls, why Stupidhead is an apt name?
So, it's very hard to have sympathy for her. She claims it's all because she lives downtown in an apartment building with no surveillance. I have a better theory, chief. I think it's caused by associating with slime! I have lived here much longer than her, and I've never had random thieves slipping through my window and stripping my house bare. The tenant she replaced, sob sob, lived here for upwards of ten years, and nothing happened to him. And I am to believe this load of crap? I don't think so. Sure I think it sucks that all of Stupidhead's food is gone. I think it's a horrible lesson...oh wait, it's not a lesson because she'll never learn. She's Stupidhead, remember?
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Super 7
Carin did this and said I had to do it too, so here I go.
Seven things I'd like to do before I die:
1. Go to at least 1 WrestleMania or see 1 wrestling event in Madison Square Garden.
2. Spend some time working in big time commercial radio so that I can get a truly firsthand understanding of what it must feel like to be a disrespected, under-appreciated creatively handcuffed cog in a machine run by idiots who are always looking for a chance to "restructure" me out of the organization with little or no notice. Maybe then I could finally let go of that stupid dream and get on with my life.
3. Play in another band and get a chance to record something that I could actually be proud of.
4. Invent something that people take for granted but would find it hard to get through their daily lives without.
5. Work for myself doing something I love.
6. Have what some people like to call "fuck you money."
7. Get the chance to explain to 1 specific individual how shittily she treats people and help her understand why manipulating those you claim to care about and doing nice things for others only when there's some kind of self-benefit involved isn't going to win her friends or help her keep the ones she has.
Seven things I can't do:
1. See.
2. Drive. At least not legally or very well.
3. Truly enjoy vegetarian food.
4. Understand the appeal of a lot of what's on TV these days.
5. Like most of the stuff that passes for music on hit music radio stations.
6. Not laugh at something even if it might not be the most appropriate time to do so. Ok, I can actually do that, but it's not easy.
7. Chug a beer without stopping.
Seven things I like about blogging:
1. It's great for people like me who aren't smart enough to code an entire website by hand.
2. The idea that at any given moment, somebody could be reading something I wrote and maybe even enjoying it.
3. Getting hatemail and compliments from people I don't know. Funny thing is that there's actually less of that now even though more people are reading.
4. The ability to look back on things you've written months or even years after the fact and think about how much things have changed or stayed the same.
5. The only thing that can stop me from saying something is my own judgment. Ok, that and maybe a server outage or a legal notice.
6. Believe it or not, there's actually a wee bit of money involved.
7. It's a better way to channel your negative feelings than oh I dunno, let's say killing people.
Seven things I say a lot:
1. Fuck that noise.
2. Not so much.
3. Are you high?!
4. I'm hearin' your noise.
5. Well my friend...
6. I can't be assed to do that.
7. You know...
Seven Books I'm a fan of:
1. Stupid White Men. Michael Moore can be a bit extreme at times, but like him or not, he makes some good points.
2. Arrogance. Again, Bernard Goldberg can be a bit extreme, but there are still some good points to be made here and it's a pretty well-written book.
3. When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?
4. Braindropppings.
5. Napalm & Silly Putty. Yes, the last 3 are all by George Carlin.
6. 1984.
7. The Matarese Countdown.
Seven movies I like enough to watch over and over again:
Ok, I'm about to break a rule here. I'm going to do TV shows instead of movies. I'm doing this because I find that a lot of movies these days have a tendency to suck bowls of dick soup through a straw, and even the ones I've really dug can't come close to Happy Gilmore for repeated watchability. So since doing a list of 7 that I claim to like that much would just be plain dishonest, the small screen it is.
1. Cold Case Files.
2. American Justice.
3. This Hour Has 22 Minutes. No matter who's in the cast, it's always been funny.
4. The Local News.
5. Cops.
6. To Serve And Protect.
I wasn't very nice to that show
in the past, and for that I'm sorry. Definitely one of the best TV shows ever.
7. The Royal Canadian Air Farce. Not as funny as it used to be but still pretty great.
Seven people that I'm going to make do this just like I had to:
This is a hard one. Kind of makes me wish that I cared what other people thought about things. Ok, I'll pick 2, and if anybody else wants to join in, you can feel free to
send it to me
and I'll think about posting it for you, that could be fun.
Now for my victim...er...um...lucky friends.
1. Matt if he wants to. Do it man, that'll mean all 3 of us will have done it.
2.
Tim
because he's an interesting guy and I'd like to see what he might come up with.
Ok, I think that's everything. I'm sure one of us will be back sooner or later with something, and until then, feel free to check out all of the new links we put up
Seven things I'd like to do before I die:
1. Go to at least 1 WrestleMania or see 1 wrestling event in Madison Square Garden.
2. Spend some time working in big time commercial radio so that I can get a truly firsthand understanding of what it must feel like to be a disrespected, under-appreciated creatively handcuffed cog in a machine run by idiots who are always looking for a chance to "restructure" me out of the organization with little or no notice. Maybe then I could finally let go of that stupid dream and get on with my life.
3. Play in another band and get a chance to record something that I could actually be proud of.
4. Invent something that people take for granted but would find it hard to get through their daily lives without.
5. Work for myself doing something I love.
6. Have what some people like to call "fuck you money."
7. Get the chance to explain to 1 specific individual how shittily she treats people and help her understand why manipulating those you claim to care about and doing nice things for others only when there's some kind of self-benefit involved isn't going to win her friends or help her keep the ones she has.
Seven things I can't do:
1. See.
2. Drive. At least not legally or very well.
3. Truly enjoy vegetarian food.
4. Understand the appeal of a lot of what's on TV these days.
5. Like most of the stuff that passes for music on hit music radio stations.
6. Not laugh at something even if it might not be the most appropriate time to do so. Ok, I can actually do that, but it's not easy.
7. Chug a beer without stopping.
Seven things I like about blogging:
1. It's great for people like me who aren't smart enough to code an entire website by hand.
2. The idea that at any given moment, somebody could be reading something I wrote and maybe even enjoying it.
3. Getting hatemail and compliments from people I don't know. Funny thing is that there's actually less of that now even though more people are reading.
4. The ability to look back on things you've written months or even years after the fact and think about how much things have changed or stayed the same.
5. The only thing that can stop me from saying something is my own judgment. Ok, that and maybe a server outage or a legal notice.
6. Believe it or not, there's actually a wee bit of money involved.
7. It's a better way to channel your negative feelings than oh I dunno, let's say killing people.
Seven things I say a lot:
1. Fuck that noise.
2. Not so much.
3. Are you high?!
4. I'm hearin' your noise.
5. Well my friend...
6. I can't be assed to do that.
7. You know...
Seven Books I'm a fan of:
1. Stupid White Men. Michael Moore can be a bit extreme at times, but like him or not, he makes some good points.
2. Arrogance. Again, Bernard Goldberg can be a bit extreme, but there are still some good points to be made here and it's a pretty well-written book.
3. When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?
4. Braindropppings.
5. Napalm & Silly Putty. Yes, the last 3 are all by George Carlin.
6. 1984.
7. The Matarese Countdown.
Seven movies I like enough to watch over and over again:
Ok, I'm about to break a rule here. I'm going to do TV shows instead of movies. I'm doing this because I find that a lot of movies these days have a tendency to suck bowls of dick soup through a straw, and even the ones I've really dug can't come close to Happy Gilmore for repeated watchability. So since doing a list of 7 that I claim to like that much would just be plain dishonest, the small screen it is.
1. Cold Case Files.
2. American Justice.
3. This Hour Has 22 Minutes. No matter who's in the cast, it's always been funny.
4. The Local News.
5. Cops.
6. To Serve And Protect.
I wasn't very nice to that show
in the past, and for that I'm sorry. Definitely one of the best TV shows ever.
7. The Royal Canadian Air Farce. Not as funny as it used to be but still pretty great.
Seven people that I'm going to make do this just like I had to:
This is a hard one. Kind of makes me wish that I cared what other people thought about things. Ok, I'll pick 2, and if anybody else wants to join in, you can feel free to
send it to me
and I'll think about posting it for you, that could be fun.
Now for my victim...er...um...lucky friends.
1. Matt if he wants to. Do it man, that'll mean all 3 of us will have done it.
2.
Tim
because he's an interesting guy and I'd like to see what he might come up with.
Ok, I think that's everything. I'm sure one of us will be back sooner or later with something, and until then, feel free to check out all of the new links we put up
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Well, I guess I'm a sucker.
Thordora of the other vomit comit did this little questionnaire and asked me to do it too, calling me a sucker, so here goes. Hell, it gave me another idea for a post, so this should be fun.
Seven things I'd like to do before I die: Not like I like to think about dying, but...
see more of the world.
Meet the guy I tried to help come and study here. God that's a long story.
Have enough money to be financially independent. Oh god I sound boring.
be able to have a kid. What is this, long story central?
Convince my Aunt and everyone else who is like-minded that my eyes are not clones of those of Stevie Wonder, and what worked for him will *not* work for me, but thanks for the thought.
Become less fucking confrontational.
tell at least one person who, for one reason or another, I've kicked from my life, why they're on the wrong side of the door.
Seven things I cannot do:
drive
sing harmony
put up with bullshit from people.
stand on one foot (just ask my yoga teacher).
stomach vegan pie.
drink a ton without sounding like a blithering idiot (My sentences are startin' to pop!).
laugh without waking the dead.
Seven things I like about blogging:
I get to write down whatever I want whenever I want without someone getting out the old red pen.
If something makes me really mad, I know I have an audience.
It's cool to look back on.
Ya can't beat the funky comments. (Hey Steve, how about some infighting?)
ya never know who you might meet.
Woohoo! A lot less html!
I always tried to keep a diary, it seems I'm a lot more consistent with a blog.
Seven things I say most often:
Murphy!
Fuck on a pole! (no it's not what you thinkk)
Crap on a piss hell. Aren't I an incoherent freak?
Wait a minute there chief!
Dude!
Freaky!
And here's the weirdest one. Sa-boo! My strange way of saying Jesus Christ! God I feel like I live in my own little nonsensical world.
Seven books I have loved:
The Stone Angel. God Margaret Laurence could write sentences that could span the 401, but it did make me think.
Dolores Claiborne. I can never vacuum without thinking about that book.
Brave New World. Another make me think book.
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. You should listen to it in audio. Makes the Vogons much cooler.
Michael Crichton's Sphere. The idea of twisting reality with your mind may be more real than we think.
John Grisham's The Testament. Really shows how stupid people can get when they think they're going to get a pile of dough.
And I guess this is an old favourite, feel free to laugh, Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery day. I can hear the cackles now.
Seven Cool movies:
The cackles can continue...Aladdin. I dunno, I just like the songs.
The Hours. Wow, didn't the mood just go straight down the shitter?
Rain Man
The Green Mile (except for the part where they're frying that guy without wetting the sponge. *shiver*)
Ghost (not for the infamous scene. Hey, I didn't even know it existed until I saw it when I was older. I love mom's description. Yep, they're making pottery...and more pottery...and more pottery.)
Jumanji just because I kept hearing that one line in my dreams. "They grow faster than bamboo. Better run, they're after you!"
Fried Green Tomatoes.
Seven more people. I don't know if I can think of seven though.
Steve
Barbie
I really can't think of anyone else.
Well there ya go, Thordora, I did it. I don't know if you'll be happy, sad, disgusted, or wishing you never asked. But the damage is done.
Seven things I'd like to do before I die: Not like I like to think about dying, but...
see more of the world.
Meet the guy I tried to help come and study here. God that's a long story.
Have enough money to be financially independent. Oh god I sound boring.
be able to have a kid. What is this, long story central?
Convince my Aunt and everyone else who is like-minded that my eyes are not clones of those of Stevie Wonder, and what worked for him will *not* work for me, but thanks for the thought.
Become less fucking confrontational.
tell at least one person who, for one reason or another, I've kicked from my life, why they're on the wrong side of the door.
Seven things I cannot do:
drive
sing harmony
put up with bullshit from people.
stand on one foot (just ask my yoga teacher).
stomach vegan pie.
drink a ton without sounding like a blithering idiot (My sentences are startin' to pop!).
laugh without waking the dead.
Seven things I like about blogging:
I get to write down whatever I want whenever I want without someone getting out the old red pen.
If something makes me really mad, I know I have an audience.
It's cool to look back on.
Ya can't beat the funky comments. (Hey Steve, how about some infighting?)
ya never know who you might meet.
Woohoo! A lot less html!
I always tried to keep a diary, it seems I'm a lot more consistent with a blog.
Seven things I say most often:
Murphy!
Fuck on a pole! (no it's not what you thinkk)
Crap on a piss hell. Aren't I an incoherent freak?
Wait a minute there chief!
Dude!
Freaky!
And here's the weirdest one. Sa-boo! My strange way of saying Jesus Christ! God I feel like I live in my own little nonsensical world.
Seven books I have loved:
The Stone Angel. God Margaret Laurence could write sentences that could span the 401, but it did make me think.
Dolores Claiborne. I can never vacuum without thinking about that book.
Brave New World. Another make me think book.
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. You should listen to it in audio. Makes the Vogons much cooler.
Michael Crichton's Sphere. The idea of twisting reality with your mind may be more real than we think.
John Grisham's The Testament. Really shows how stupid people can get when they think they're going to get a pile of dough.
And I guess this is an old favourite, feel free to laugh, Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery day. I can hear the cackles now.
Seven Cool movies:
The cackles can continue...Aladdin. I dunno, I just like the songs.
The Hours. Wow, didn't the mood just go straight down the shitter?
Rain Man
The Green Mile (except for the part where they're frying that guy without wetting the sponge. *shiver*)
Ghost (not for the infamous scene. Hey, I didn't even know it existed until I saw it when I was older. I love mom's description. Yep, they're making pottery...and more pottery...and more pottery.)
Jumanji just because I kept hearing that one line in my dreams. "They grow faster than bamboo. Better run, they're after you!"
Fried Green Tomatoes.
Seven more people. I don't know if I can think of seven though.
Steve
Barbie
I really can't think of anyone else.
Well there ya go, Thordora, I did it. I don't know if you'll be happy, sad, disgusted, or wishing you never asked. But the damage is done.
This Made Me Laugh
There is a knock on St. Peter's door. He looks out and a man is standing there. St. Peter is about to begin his interview when the man disappears.
A short time later there's another knock. St. Peter gets the door, sees the man, opens his mouth to speak, and the man disappears once again.
"Hey, are you playing games with me?" St. Peter calls after him.
"No," the man's distant voice replies anxiously. "They're trying to resuscitate me."
A short time later there's another knock. St. Peter gets the door, sees the man, opens his mouth to speak, and the man disappears once again.
"Hey, are you playing games with me?" St. Peter calls after him.
"No," the man's distant voice replies anxiously. "They're trying to resuscitate me."
Who Put the Car in Career Fair?
Does this annoy you as much as it annoys me? I'm a university graduate. I'm looking for a job. I get an email and it says, "Guelph career fair." I get excited! Woo! I can go and look at things. Then I read a little further down, and the damn thing is in Waterloo!
That's about a half-hour's drive, if you're lucky, and there are only a few buses a day that would get you to Waterloo, and then I don't know how you'd get to this stupid park where the thing is held. What? Are we all supposed to be able to drive? If I'm looking for a *job*, how would I afford a car, even if I could use one? And if it's a Guelph career fair, why do all the employers have to go all the way to Waterloo? Are they trying to tell us something? Is there no work in Guelph? And, when did Guelph become part of Waterloo? How did I miss that? I must have been sleeping or something. Why can't a *Guelph* career fair be held, um, in *Guelph*?
That's about a half-hour's drive, if you're lucky, and there are only a few buses a day that would get you to Waterloo, and then I don't know how you'd get to this stupid park where the thing is held. What? Are we all supposed to be able to drive? If I'm looking for a *job*, how would I afford a car, even if I could use one? And if it's a Guelph career fair, why do all the employers have to go all the way to Waterloo? Are they trying to tell us something? Is there no work in Guelph? And, when did Guelph become part of Waterloo? How did I miss that? I must have been sleeping or something. Why can't a *Guelph* career fair be held, um, in *Guelph*?
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Judge Not, Lest Yee Be Judged
Ok, this just makes no sense, and makes me mad in the process.
Pastor urges stock dumping over firms' support of gay rights
Ok, for once, Microsoft does something right. Along with a few other companies, it wants to add sexual orientation to a civil rights bill that prevents descrimination based on gender, age, disability,
religion, marital status and other factors. Now here comes the infuriating part. A pastor in Microsoft's own neighbourhood, Ken Hutcherson, doesn't like this. Does this strike you as strange? religious discrimination is one of the things the bill fights to outlaw. Why would someone benefitting from this bill fight to keep another group from having the same protections? The worst part is if any other group receiving protection from this bill protested, it would suck and would look pretty low. But it looks especially bad when the one screaming is a representative of an entity who spends a lot of time telling people to accept others no matter what. How about leading by example? Oh wait, that's something most religious leaders don't do.
And it gets better. He is actually encouraging people who agree with him to buy Microsoft stocks and then all sell them on the 1st of May, driving prices down, or so he thinks. Ok, let's forget for a second that he will have absolutely 0 effect on Microsoft. Let's just focus on the fact that he is intending and planning to do harm to someone. Does that sound very fitting with "Love Thy neighbour" and "turn the other cheek" to you? If he doesn't agree with Microsoft's position on gay rights, he can go ahead and rail against it at church if he wants. Hell, he and like-minded people can boycott Microsoft if they feel so strongly about this. In fact, he encouraged boycotting them at first, but now he's saying that would be stupid. May I ask why? Is it more likely that you can't part with your Windows and Office and everything else microsoft on that church computer? So instead of encouraging people to make a choice based on principles, something everybody is free to do, he's decided to encourage them to try to hurt the company by driving prices down, which is borderline criminal. I hope that next week, someone comes and vandalizes his church. What's wrong, Rev. Hutcherson, you don't think it's right? Well shut up, because you just did the exact same thing. Maybe the lord works in mysterious ways.
Pastor urges stock dumping over firms' support of gay rights
Ok, for once, Microsoft does something right. Along with a few other companies, it wants to add sexual orientation to a civil rights bill that prevents descrimination based on gender, age, disability,
religion, marital status and other factors. Now here comes the infuriating part. A pastor in Microsoft's own neighbourhood, Ken Hutcherson, doesn't like this. Does this strike you as strange? religious discrimination is one of the things the bill fights to outlaw. Why would someone benefitting from this bill fight to keep another group from having the same protections? The worst part is if any other group receiving protection from this bill protested, it would suck and would look pretty low. But it looks especially bad when the one screaming is a representative of an entity who spends a lot of time telling people to accept others no matter what. How about leading by example? Oh wait, that's something most religious leaders don't do.
And it gets better. He is actually encouraging people who agree with him to buy Microsoft stocks and then all sell them on the 1st of May, driving prices down, or so he thinks. Ok, let's forget for a second that he will have absolutely 0 effect on Microsoft. Let's just focus on the fact that he is intending and planning to do harm to someone. Does that sound very fitting with "Love Thy neighbour" and "turn the other cheek" to you? If he doesn't agree with Microsoft's position on gay rights, he can go ahead and rail against it at church if he wants. Hell, he and like-minded people can boycott Microsoft if they feel so strongly about this. In fact, he encouraged boycotting them at first, but now he's saying that would be stupid. May I ask why? Is it more likely that you can't part with your Windows and Office and everything else microsoft on that church computer? So instead of encouraging people to make a choice based on principles, something everybody is free to do, he's decided to encourage them to try to hurt the company by driving prices down, which is borderline criminal. I hope that next week, someone comes and vandalizes his church. What's wrong, Rev. Hutcherson, you don't think it's right? Well shut up, because you just did the exact same thing. Maybe the lord works in mysterious ways.
Monday, January 23, 2006
Happy Election Day
Hello, Friends. And Happy Election Day to you all here in Canada.
Let's talk politics shall we. For those of you not in Canada this will come down to 2 parties. the Liberals and the Conservatives. There's a third party called the NDP which is way out to the left but they won't have enough support to make a run at this. the main issues here are an ultra-right wing Harper (leader of conservative party) who is very pro-America against a scandalous Paul Martin (head of Liberal party).
An interesting side note on this before I get in to my opinions. I was just speaking to a friend of mine and we talked about how many people we know that have said they would have voted for the NDP but they know they won't win. Can't help but wonder if that stigma about the NDP party could be whiped out and everyone who wanted to vote for them but voted Liberal just to block Conservatives actually did vote NDP if they could actually make a run at it. Maybe not right away but as people started to see the party gain steam maybe they could eventually be a realistic contender. Something to think about.
I voted Liberal to get that out of the way. I don't think I have the right to get up here and spout off about this without saying what I did. No one is more pissed with the Liberals than I am but I will never be a Conservative and I unfortunately felt I had to vote for the Liberals rather than the NDP to help prevent a majority for the Conservatives. (see above)
It seems to be consensus (with most people that I have spoken to anyway) that we will be looking at a Conservative government. The question will be whether or not it's a majority. I tend to believe that it will be a minority. I think there are too many Canadians that are too afraid of a majority government that is so pro-Bush. In my opinion, too many Canadians are afraid of heading to Iraq or wherever G.W.'s next crusade is going to be. I think too many Canadians are afraid of what could happen to public health care. I believe that Canada is, and always will be, a more left wing or centrist country. And let's face it. A Candian centrist is an American left winger so for us to allow a majority right wing government is probably not in the cards here. At least that's my take.
Lastly - I'd like to say I'm a big fan of the commercials that started before the last American election election and continued for our election north of the border that are all about getting young people to vote. Saying that they dont' care who you vote for - just vote. All of my friends have been talking about this election as passionately as we argue about the Leafs. it has become important for young people and I think it's great. So if you haven't yet - go vote - for anyone. With things being as close as they seem to be this time around - your vote actually might mean something.
Let's talk politics shall we. For those of you not in Canada this will come down to 2 parties. the Liberals and the Conservatives. There's a third party called the NDP which is way out to the left but they won't have enough support to make a run at this. the main issues here are an ultra-right wing Harper (leader of conservative party) who is very pro-America against a scandalous Paul Martin (head of Liberal party).
An interesting side note on this before I get in to my opinions. I was just speaking to a friend of mine and we talked about how many people we know that have said they would have voted for the NDP but they know they won't win. Can't help but wonder if that stigma about the NDP party could be whiped out and everyone who wanted to vote for them but voted Liberal just to block Conservatives actually did vote NDP if they could actually make a run at it. Maybe not right away but as people started to see the party gain steam maybe they could eventually be a realistic contender. Something to think about.
I voted Liberal to get that out of the way. I don't think I have the right to get up here and spout off about this without saying what I did. No one is more pissed with the Liberals than I am but I will never be a Conservative and I unfortunately felt I had to vote for the Liberals rather than the NDP to help prevent a majority for the Conservatives. (see above)
It seems to be consensus (with most people that I have spoken to anyway) that we will be looking at a Conservative government. The question will be whether or not it's a majority. I tend to believe that it will be a minority. I think there are too many Canadians that are too afraid of a majority government that is so pro-Bush. In my opinion, too many Canadians are afraid of heading to Iraq or wherever G.W.'s next crusade is going to be. I think too many Canadians are afraid of what could happen to public health care. I believe that Canada is, and always will be, a more left wing or centrist country. And let's face it. A Candian centrist is an American left winger so for us to allow a majority right wing government is probably not in the cards here. At least that's my take.
Lastly - I'd like to say I'm a big fan of the commercials that started before the last American election election and continued for our election north of the border that are all about getting young people to vote. Saying that they dont' care who you vote for - just vote. All of my friends have been talking about this election as passionately as we argue about the Leafs. it has become important for young people and I think it's great. So if you haven't yet - go vote - for anyone. With things being as close as they seem to be this time around - your vote actually might mean something.
And I Thought Springer Was Bad!
My god, TV is just filling up with this crap. It shouldn't surprise me. Nothing should surprise me anymore. But for some reason, this show did.
I had the TV on in the background, and this show called Cheaters came on. Basically, the premise is people who suspect their significant other is cheating contact the show. Then, the show sends out private investigators to follow the suspected cheater, and of course, the only ones that make it on the show are the ones that get caught. Then, the guy who runs, or at least narrates the program, comes to talk to the cheated on, and shows them the proof. And it doesn't end there. The narrator then urges the cheated on to confront the cheater. He then contacts the detectives, who inform him that the guilty one just happens to be up to no good at the current moment. So, cheated on and narrator show up in a public place where the cheater is, and make the biggest scene possible.
Ok, first of all, it makes me laugh how these shows all try and make themselves seem like they're doing good and moral things and they care about the supposed poor unfortunate souls who ask for their help. No no no, we're not using slime to serve as entertainment. That's not it at all. We're trying to save them. Hey, the slime asked for it by coming on the show, but I love how these shows try to make themselves seem like some sort of do-gooders. Cheaters said they did this only to lay bare the pain caused by cheating. No guys, you're just trying to profit off the worst aspects of people. Springer does it too, going into a big sermon at the end of the show about how they should take care of themselves and each other. But that doesn't stop him, during the show, from encouraging the audience to yell whore and other insults at the participants.
And then there is the slime themselves. At the beginning of this show, they explain why they think their boyfriend/girlfriend is cheating. By the time they're done their little monolog, I'm thinking, don't you have enough stuff on him/her already to confront him/her without having surveillance teams tail cheater and company for days and days? Wouldn't that be a hell of a lot simpler and more straightforward? I mean, this one woman was having women calling him late at night and the guy would get all sheepish when they'd call. Isn't that enough to sit down and go, hey dude, I think you're cheating? Do these people really doubt themselves so much that they need to see pictures? Or do they just like the drama? Do they like to have it rubbed in their faces over and over again? I'm starting to think it's the second.
So after the cheating suspect gets tailed for a while, there's the big meeting between the dude from Cheaters and the cheated on, which is filmed. He doesn't just hand the person the report and say, here's your stuff. No no no. We get to see the guy showing the stupid idiot the dirty pictures, which we've already seen. So we get to see the person either break down or fly into a rage, in public of course.
Then there's the big confrontation. The part that cracks me up is when they have this little rendezvous, the cheater is *always* having his/her own rendezvous, perfectly timed so they can go make a scene. This makes me wonder if the whole thing is as fake as springer. And they're never at a motel, or at one of their houses. They're at a public place like a restaurant, or my personal favourite, buying a Christmas tree. They walk up to them, and screaming ensues. This really tells me they must like drama. I mean, these people forget that not only are they humiliating the cheater, they're humiliating themselves by airing their own dirty laundry! And maybe I'm weird, but this almost seems worse than the people who get up on talk shows. Yeah, they're on national TV, but the chances of nextdoor neighbour Joe being home and watching are...possible, but not nearly as likely as him strolling down the street when you're having this little free-for-all in the mall parking lot. People in the mall parking lot aren't choosing to watch this crap. They're just going about their business, and there you are. And it's likely that they know you.
And that's not good enough for the narrator guy. he has to get in there and try and ask the cheater questions like, "What were you thinking?" and "How can you explain this?" I don't know about you, but nothing makes me more angry than an outside person sticking his nose where it doesn't belong.
The whole thing, from start to finish, is just so trashy. We don't need any more of this shit on TV!
I had the TV on in the background, and this show called Cheaters came on. Basically, the premise is people who suspect their significant other is cheating contact the show. Then, the show sends out private investigators to follow the suspected cheater, and of course, the only ones that make it on the show are the ones that get caught. Then, the guy who runs, or at least narrates the program, comes to talk to the cheated on, and shows them the proof. And it doesn't end there. The narrator then urges the cheated on to confront the cheater. He then contacts the detectives, who inform him that the guilty one just happens to be up to no good at the current moment. So, cheated on and narrator show up in a public place where the cheater is, and make the biggest scene possible.
Ok, first of all, it makes me laugh how these shows all try and make themselves seem like they're doing good and moral things and they care about the supposed poor unfortunate souls who ask for their help. No no no, we're not using slime to serve as entertainment. That's not it at all. We're trying to save them. Hey, the slime asked for it by coming on the show, but I love how these shows try to make themselves seem like some sort of do-gooders. Cheaters said they did this only to lay bare the pain caused by cheating. No guys, you're just trying to profit off the worst aspects of people. Springer does it too, going into a big sermon at the end of the show about how they should take care of themselves and each other. But that doesn't stop him, during the show, from encouraging the audience to yell whore and other insults at the participants.
And then there is the slime themselves. At the beginning of this show, they explain why they think their boyfriend/girlfriend is cheating. By the time they're done their little monolog, I'm thinking, don't you have enough stuff on him/her already to confront him/her without having surveillance teams tail cheater and company for days and days? Wouldn't that be a hell of a lot simpler and more straightforward? I mean, this one woman was having women calling him late at night and the guy would get all sheepish when they'd call. Isn't that enough to sit down and go, hey dude, I think you're cheating? Do these people really doubt themselves so much that they need to see pictures? Or do they just like the drama? Do they like to have it rubbed in their faces over and over again? I'm starting to think it's the second.
So after the cheating suspect gets tailed for a while, there's the big meeting between the dude from Cheaters and the cheated on, which is filmed. He doesn't just hand the person the report and say, here's your stuff. No no no. We get to see the guy showing the stupid idiot the dirty pictures, which we've already seen. So we get to see the person either break down or fly into a rage, in public of course.
Then there's the big confrontation. The part that cracks me up is when they have this little rendezvous, the cheater is *always* having his/her own rendezvous, perfectly timed so they can go make a scene. This makes me wonder if the whole thing is as fake as springer. And they're never at a motel, or at one of their houses. They're at a public place like a restaurant, or my personal favourite, buying a Christmas tree. They walk up to them, and screaming ensues. This really tells me they must like drama. I mean, these people forget that not only are they humiliating the cheater, they're humiliating themselves by airing their own dirty laundry! And maybe I'm weird, but this almost seems worse than the people who get up on talk shows. Yeah, they're on national TV, but the chances of nextdoor neighbour Joe being home and watching are...possible, but not nearly as likely as him strolling down the street when you're having this little free-for-all in the mall parking lot. People in the mall parking lot aren't choosing to watch this crap. They're just going about their business, and there you are. And it's likely that they know you.
And that's not good enough for the narrator guy. he has to get in there and try and ask the cheater questions like, "What were you thinking?" and "How can you explain this?" I don't know about you, but nothing makes me more angry than an outside person sticking his nose where it doesn't belong.
The whole thing, from start to finish, is just so trashy. We don't need any more of this shit on TV!
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Randomly Offensive Funny Email Of The Day
Hellen Keller went to town
riding on a pony
stuck a feather in her cap
and called it BLEEEEEEAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHGHGHAG
riding on a pony
stuck a feather in her cap
and called it BLEEEEEEAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHGHGHAG
Stand Up For Canada
I missed out big time yesterday. Really, really big time. I was just a few short steps and a few short seconds away from snagging myself one of the coolest political souvenirs in history, but stupid me decided to stand out in the shitty freezing rain and wait for the bus instead. God, I'm such an idiot. Let me explain.
There was some sort of an exhibition type thing going on yesterday in the building where my radio station is, [yep that's me, Mr. Aware Of My Surroundings], so of course there were all kinds of tables set up where different people were promoting different things as tends to happen during events like this. I didn't pay them much attention on my way in beyond thinking to myself "wholly crap, where did all of these people come from," but looking back on it now, I kind of wish I had.
Fast forward to a couple hours later. I'm sitting in the studio doing my usual thing when somebody comes in and says "hey, they're handing out condoms downstairs that say "Liberal Party of Canada" on them." Obviously the first words out of my mouth were "they are?" And of course they were closely followed by "did you bring me one?" He didn't, but through time and distance I've managed to forgive him.
But even though he's off the hook, I'm not. I'll never forgive myself for not trying to find that table on my way out. I honestly consider it a lost opportunity, and now all I have to look back on is that lost opportunity and a head full of questions, questions that will now most likely go unanswered until the end of time. Questions such as who thought that was a good idea? Or did nobody consider that the first thing that 97 people out of 100 would think when they heard about this was going to be well, if you've ever wanted to be personally and directly screwed by the government, here's your chance? And how did they manage to fit "Liberal Party of Canada" on those things? I mean that's a lot of letters. I'm counting 20, and then you still have to factor in the spaces. Wouldn't a slogan of that size look really funny once the guy goes limp? Or did they print it on those extra large magnum condoms that some guys like to buy to impress the girl behind the counter at the drugstore? I'll probably never know any of this stuff now, and that's a shame. It's a shame and it's my own fault.
I'm not sure if there's supposed to be a lesson in all of this, but if there is, I suppose it would have to be don't let opportunity pass you bye, or maybe have safe sex and vote, or perhaps even have safe sex while voting, I don't really know. All I know is that I'm a broken man, a broken man who's short 1 political condom.
There was some sort of an exhibition type thing going on yesterday in the building where my radio station is, [yep that's me, Mr. Aware Of My Surroundings], so of course there were all kinds of tables set up where different people were promoting different things as tends to happen during events like this. I didn't pay them much attention on my way in beyond thinking to myself "wholly crap, where did all of these people come from," but looking back on it now, I kind of wish I had.
Fast forward to a couple hours later. I'm sitting in the studio doing my usual thing when somebody comes in and says "hey, they're handing out condoms downstairs that say "Liberal Party of Canada" on them." Obviously the first words out of my mouth were "they are?" And of course they were closely followed by "did you bring me one?" He didn't, but through time and distance I've managed to forgive him.
But even though he's off the hook, I'm not. I'll never forgive myself for not trying to find that table on my way out. I honestly consider it a lost opportunity, and now all I have to look back on is that lost opportunity and a head full of questions, questions that will now most likely go unanswered until the end of time. Questions such as who thought that was a good idea? Or did nobody consider that the first thing that 97 people out of 100 would think when they heard about this was going to be well, if you've ever wanted to be personally and directly screwed by the government, here's your chance? And how did they manage to fit "Liberal Party of Canada" on those things? I mean that's a lot of letters. I'm counting 20, and then you still have to factor in the spaces. Wouldn't a slogan of that size look really funny once the guy goes limp? Or did they print it on those extra large magnum condoms that some guys like to buy to impress the girl behind the counter at the drugstore? I'll probably never know any of this stuff now, and that's a shame. It's a shame and it's my own fault.
I'm not sure if there's supposed to be a lesson in all of this, but if there is, I suppose it would have to be don't let opportunity pass you bye, or maybe have safe sex and vote, or perhaps even have safe sex while voting, I don't really know. All I know is that I'm a broken man, a broken man who's short 1 political condom.
Monday, January 16, 2006
I'm A Lumberjack And I'm Not Gay, But Ever Since The Surgery It Seems That Way
Female kidney turns lumberjack on to housework.
Maybe it's just me, but this is by far the funniest thing I've read all day.
Maybe it's just me, but this is by far the funniest thing I've read all day.
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Let's Help a Guy Out!
Ok boys and girls, story time. Have you ever noticed that when you sign up for hotmail, or yahoo, or payPpal, or pretty much everything anymore, thanks to the spammers, *curse you all*, you have to tell the website what letters and numbers are in that little picture box thingy? I understand why the measure is there. It's there to increase security so automated piece of shit bots can't sign up for a million accounts and then use them to proliferate the internet with message upon message about how to make my absent weener bigger, buy cheap pills and remortgage my absent house. Perfectly cool. But what they and you might not know is that my thing that makes the computer talk can't read those picture thingies. It just says graphic whatever they've decided to call it. The same goes for every blind person's thing that makes the computer talk. They just can't interpret pictures without captions.
So what some companies have decided to do is beside the picture, they have a link that says I can't see this picture, and then you get an audio representation of what's in the picture. So a garbled voice says the numbers and letters you're supposed to type and they even are nice enough to give us a spot on that page to put them in. If we're not lucky enough to have that, some companies tell us a place to phone or tell us to email or ask for our phone number and phone us.
However, some companies don't even acknowledge that we might have a problem with that fuzzy picture in the box, and one of them, unfortunately, is google. I'm lucky that Steve and Matt started this blog before this was in place, otherwise there might not be a vomit comet since blogger is run by google. Although that may make some people celebrate, that would make me sad.
Alright, story time is over, here comes the help part. The people at
Blind Access Journal are trying to change this. They have started a petition over at petition online. This will be running for a few months, and once he has enough names, he's going to send them, with a cover letter, to Eric Schmidt, the CEO of google. I believe that this petition has a lot more weight than those stupid email petitions, because for one thing, it's on an official petition website, and second, I know this guy exists and he is going to send this thing to a physical person who might do something.
There are a few ways you can help if you feel strongly enough about it. He is asking for help in drafting this cover letter, so contact him through his website if you have ideas. He is also going to post the letter as it is being written, so you might be able to help out more with its construction as it goes. Finally, you can sign the petition. If you're worried about what is going to be said in the letter, you might not want to sign until you see it, so keep an eye on the Blind Access Journal website.
Just trying to use the power of the net to spread the word.
So what some companies have decided to do is beside the picture, they have a link that says I can't see this picture, and then you get an audio representation of what's in the picture. So a garbled voice says the numbers and letters you're supposed to type and they even are nice enough to give us a spot on that page to put them in. If we're not lucky enough to have that, some companies tell us a place to phone or tell us to email or ask for our phone number and phone us.
However, some companies don't even acknowledge that we might have a problem with that fuzzy picture in the box, and one of them, unfortunately, is google. I'm lucky that Steve and Matt started this blog before this was in place, otherwise there might not be a vomit comet since blogger is run by google. Although that may make some people celebrate, that would make me sad.
Alright, story time is over, here comes the help part. The people at
Blind Access Journal are trying to change this. They have started a petition over at petition online. This will be running for a few months, and once he has enough names, he's going to send them, with a cover letter, to Eric Schmidt, the CEO of google. I believe that this petition has a lot more weight than those stupid email petitions, because for one thing, it's on an official petition website, and second, I know this guy exists and he is going to send this thing to a physical person who might do something.
There are a few ways you can help if you feel strongly enough about it. He is asking for help in drafting this cover letter, so contact him through his website if you have ideas. He is also going to post the letter as it is being written, so you might be able to help out more with its construction as it goes. Finally, you can sign the petition. If you're worried about what is going to be said in the letter, you might not want to sign until you see it, so keep an eye on the Blind Access Journal website.
Just trying to use the power of the net to spread the word.
Saturday, January 14, 2006
Victims/Idiots Revisited
I can't believe how easily some people can earn the media's sympathy if they just use a few key words. I saw this episode of Sixty minutes that aired last October. It was about this guy, Charles Robert Jenkins, who because he got scared, decided to defect from the army and surrender to North Korea. Then, quelle surprise, they kept him there. He stayed there for 40 years, and when he managed to get out, he went on Sixty Minutes, talked about how secretive and dictatorial the North Korean government was, the stuff that happened to him while he was there, and how poor the country was. Again, I say, quelle surprise. What did you expect? Did you not learn anything about the country that, before you got it in your head that they would swap you with Russia who would merrily hand you back to the U.S. like some missing child, was your fucking enemy? Hell, I'm not even fighting North Korea, and I remember the bullshit they came up with a couple years ago when some trains had a nice collision and exploded, killing and wounding a ton of people. You know what they did? They refused to take assistance from other countries because they didn't want them to know the state of things, and they ran their regularly scheduled praise the government message on TV. Doesn't sound like much has changed.
Anyway, my point is, why are we having an outpouring of sympathy for this guy? He wasn't even just some random private who just enlisted and then got scared. If that was the case, I could make the excuse that he did a stupud thing but he was young and inexperienced. He was a fucking sergeant commanding a squad. This was not his first battle. It sucks that he had to experience the totalitarian dictatorship of North Korea first hand, spend 40 years where he didn't want to be, and go through hell, but he does not need a spot on Sixty Minutes to tell his story as if he was some hapless victim of circumstance. Ever heard the phrase "you made your bed, you lie in it?" The way I see it, if someone had surrendered to any country but Iraq, Iran, North Korea, or other countries deemed scary by the U.S, the media would likely look at their story and say, "Them's the breaks, chief. You're a moron. Next story, please."
Anyway, my point is, why are we having an outpouring of sympathy for this guy? He wasn't even just some random private who just enlisted and then got scared. If that was the case, I could make the excuse that he did a stupud thing but he was young and inexperienced. He was a fucking sergeant commanding a squad. This was not his first battle. It sucks that he had to experience the totalitarian dictatorship of North Korea first hand, spend 40 years where he didn't want to be, and go through hell, but he does not need a spot on Sixty Minutes to tell his story as if he was some hapless victim of circumstance. Ever heard the phrase "you made your bed, you lie in it?" The way I see it, if someone had surrendered to any country but Iraq, Iran, North Korea, or other countries deemed scary by the U.S, the media would likely look at their story and say, "Them's the breaks, chief. You're a moron. Next story, please."
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Wacky Days Are Here Again
Check out this year's Wacky Warning Labels Contest winners.
This year's winner was a heat gun/paint remover which reaches temperatures of over 1000 degrees. The ever so helpful label on it cautions us "“DO NOT USE AS HAIRDRYER.” Wow, that was close.
More hilarity/stupidity above.
This year's winner was a heat gun/paint remover which reaches temperatures of over 1000 degrees. The ever so helpful label on it cautions us "“DO NOT USE AS HAIRDRYER.” Wow, that was close.
More hilarity/stupidity above.
Run!...But Be Sure To Pay Us First
Does anybody else think that paying $55.87 a year for this would be completely stupid?
I mean come on, tsunami alarms? Realistically, how much time are you really going to have to dig out the phone before you and your whole village disappear? And aren't the sounds of roaring waves and screaming alarm enough?
I mean come on, tsunami alarms? Realistically, how much time are you really going to have to dig out the phone before you and your whole village disappear? And aren't the sounds of roaring waves and screaming alarm enough?
I'm a sap!
I don't know why I'm wasting everybody's time writing this, but it just felt like it had to be written. I feel like a complete wimp. I also feel a bit selfish, when people have more important things to think about, like oh, say, who's going to be our new Prime Minister, and here I am babbling about this. I don't know why this even makes me sad, but it does.
I'm looking through the pile of mail that I brought in from my mailbox, and my my, do I ever have a lot of junkmail. Amid the campaign crap, ads for a burglar alarm, mastercard applications and other complete garb, I get to an envelope that reads, "Humaine Society." I open it, and what is inside is a reminder to renew my dog's tags because it's that time...and it makes me feel sad all over again.
For those who don't know, this year, I got a guide dog, and then promptly had to retire her due to illness. When it happened, although it hurt like hell to send her back, I didn't think I'd be hit too hard by losing her. After all, I'd only had her for 7 weeks. Then I realized how much a part of my life she'd become.
At first, it was hard to walk anywhere without feeling sad. Then it got easier and I thought I was done. Then the questions about "where is your dog?"/"what happened to your dog?" etc. were hard to answer, but then they got easier to take. Then came the dreams. Every night, I'd dream that she was with me and we were walking somewhere. Then I'd dream about random details about her. Those have finally stopped, and I thought I was done. Why, then, does an innocent letter reminding me to get new tags feel like the saddest piece of mail to receive ever?
Now do you understand why I feel like an overly emotional nitwit?
I'm looking through the pile of mail that I brought in from my mailbox, and my my, do I ever have a lot of junkmail. Amid the campaign crap, ads for a burglar alarm, mastercard applications and other complete garb, I get to an envelope that reads, "Humaine Society." I open it, and what is inside is a reminder to renew my dog's tags because it's that time...and it makes me feel sad all over again.
For those who don't know, this year, I got a guide dog, and then promptly had to retire her due to illness. When it happened, although it hurt like hell to send her back, I didn't think I'd be hit too hard by losing her. After all, I'd only had her for 7 weeks. Then I realized how much a part of my life she'd become.
At first, it was hard to walk anywhere without feeling sad. Then it got easier and I thought I was done. Then the questions about "where is your dog?"/"what happened to your dog?" etc. were hard to answer, but then they got easier to take. Then came the dreams. Every night, I'd dream that she was with me and we were walking somewhere. Then I'd dream about random details about her. Those have finally stopped, and I thought I was done. Why, then, does an innocent letter reminding me to get new tags feel like the saddest piece of mail to receive ever?
Now do you understand why I feel like an overly emotional nitwit?
All I Know Is That I Don't Know Nothin'
Sometimes I really hate democracy. Well ok, not democracy itself, but the responsibilities that come along with the rights that it affords all of us.
I've never been someone who could head out to my local polling station each election day and absentmindedly mark an X for a candidate who's name I don't recognize and who supports God knows what. So that being the case, I do my best to keep myself informed. I watch, listen to and read the news on a daily basis. I try to watch leadership and local candidates debates when I can. I talk to people around me and bounce what I'm hearing and the way I'm hearing it off of them so that maybe I can get a different perspective on the issues. In short, I do everything I can possibly do to make sure that come election day, I have all of the tools I could possibly need to make what I hope will be the right choice for me and for my country.
But there are times, like right now for example, when I stop and wonder if all the things I do to educate myself and the time it takes to do them really mean anything. Let me explain.
Up until Monday night, I was a decided voter. In spite of all of the so-called scandals and aledged corruption, I was voting Liberal, no doubt about it. Then I watched the debate and instead of making things crystal clear, it confused me. Paul Martin, as much as I like and generally agree with him and as smart as he is, didn't impress me. Stephen Harper,who I could never vote for knowing what I know about what a Conservative government would mean and has meant in my lifetime, looked like an eloquent and somewhat honest guy and truth be told, even though he didn't win my support based on governments of the past, he definitely won the debate in my eyes and in the eyes of a lot of other people. Jack Layton has some good ideas, at least I'm pretty sure he does. Now if he'd only stop with the "third alternative" stuff and tell me what they are, maybe I wouldn't even have to write this. But between all of the cheapshots and rhetoric and general sidestepping of questions, I came away thinking what am I going to do? How can I possibly choose any of these people to be the face of my nation? Things got so bad that the one thought that's stuck with me since that night is man, if Gilles Duceppe wasn't a separatist and if he was the leader of a real, honest to goodness national political party rather than one that gets far more attention than it deserves for looking out for the interests of a select niche group of people, he'd be a pretty good choice right about now.
The local debate I listened to on the radio earlier today hasn't been much help either. I'm not the biggest fan of our local Liberal MP Brenda Chamberlain, but she made a good case for herself. Phil Allt of the NDP made sense on a lot of the issues, but when somebody comes at you with hard numbers like our Liberal did, it's pretty hard to dispute that. The only things that stuck with me about PC candidate Brent Barr are that he knows a lot of people, that he's dumb enough to give out his home telephone number on his campaign literature and invite potentially crazy people into his home for coffee parties every second Saturday, and that no matter how genuine he may seem, he can't help but take unnecessary shots at the other parties. If it wasn't so early in the morning, I would have considered playing the do a shot every time he said "corrupt Liberal government" drinking game. As for our Green and Communist candidates Mike Nagy and Scott Gilbert, both had some ok ideas, but when it comes right down to it, Jim Harris [the leader of the Greens] is a goof who never really says anything of substance whenever he's given the chance, and I honestly couldn't tell you who's in charge of the Communists without looking it up.
So what's a guy to do. I'm not going to not vote, that's out of the question, but when every choice you have has at least 1 thing about it that's somewhat hard to overlook and when the guy who turns in the best performance come debate time is against just about everything you stand for, how do you vote and feel good about it knowing that the events of the next 4 years [or possibly less if we end up with another minority] are at least in part on your head? Sometimes I really hate democracy...
I've never been someone who could head out to my local polling station each election day and absentmindedly mark an X for a candidate who's name I don't recognize and who supports God knows what. So that being the case, I do my best to keep myself informed. I watch, listen to and read the news on a daily basis. I try to watch leadership and local candidates debates when I can. I talk to people around me and bounce what I'm hearing and the way I'm hearing it off of them so that maybe I can get a different perspective on the issues. In short, I do everything I can possibly do to make sure that come election day, I have all of the tools I could possibly need to make what I hope will be the right choice for me and for my country.
But there are times, like right now for example, when I stop and wonder if all the things I do to educate myself and the time it takes to do them really mean anything. Let me explain.
Up until Monday night, I was a decided voter. In spite of all of the so-called scandals and aledged corruption, I was voting Liberal, no doubt about it. Then I watched the debate and instead of making things crystal clear, it confused me. Paul Martin, as much as I like and generally agree with him and as smart as he is, didn't impress me. Stephen Harper,who I could never vote for knowing what I know about what a Conservative government would mean and has meant in my lifetime, looked like an eloquent and somewhat honest guy and truth be told, even though he didn't win my support based on governments of the past, he definitely won the debate in my eyes and in the eyes of a lot of other people. Jack Layton has some good ideas, at least I'm pretty sure he does. Now if he'd only stop with the "third alternative" stuff and tell me what they are, maybe I wouldn't even have to write this. But between all of the cheapshots and rhetoric and general sidestepping of questions, I came away thinking what am I going to do? How can I possibly choose any of these people to be the face of my nation? Things got so bad that the one thought that's stuck with me since that night is man, if Gilles Duceppe wasn't a separatist and if he was the leader of a real, honest to goodness national political party rather than one that gets far more attention than it deserves for looking out for the interests of a select niche group of people, he'd be a pretty good choice right about now.
The local debate I listened to on the radio earlier today hasn't been much help either. I'm not the biggest fan of our local Liberal MP Brenda Chamberlain, but she made a good case for herself. Phil Allt of the NDP made sense on a lot of the issues, but when somebody comes at you with hard numbers like our Liberal did, it's pretty hard to dispute that. The only things that stuck with me about PC candidate Brent Barr are that he knows a lot of people, that he's dumb enough to give out his home telephone number on his campaign literature and invite potentially crazy people into his home for coffee parties every second Saturday, and that no matter how genuine he may seem, he can't help but take unnecessary shots at the other parties. If it wasn't so early in the morning, I would have considered playing the do a shot every time he said "corrupt Liberal government" drinking game. As for our Green and Communist candidates Mike Nagy and Scott Gilbert, both had some ok ideas, but when it comes right down to it, Jim Harris [the leader of the Greens] is a goof who never really says anything of substance whenever he's given the chance, and I honestly couldn't tell you who's in charge of the Communists without looking it up.
So what's a guy to do. I'm not going to not vote, that's out of the question, but when every choice you have has at least 1 thing about it that's somewhat hard to overlook and when the guy who turns in the best performance come debate time is against just about everything you stand for, how do you vote and feel good about it knowing that the events of the next 4 years [or possibly less if we end up with another minority] are at least in part on your head? Sometimes I really hate democracy...
Sunday, January 08, 2006
This Makes Sense in Whose World?
The other day when I heard about the huge suicide bombing that killed over 100 people on the news, it got me to thinking. What could possibly be going through the mind of the suicide bomber before he detonates his big pack of explosives? Think about it. He's standing there in this crowd, knowing full well what is going to happen because he's going to be the one causing it. Not only that, when the big bang happens, he's going to be right in the centre, and bits of him are going to join the rest of the propelled projectiles.
First of all, he's going to be the cause of lots of death and injury. So, has the brainwashing actually managed to erase his conscience completely or make him feel like all this loss of life is actually justified? Then, there's that whole self-preservation instinct that I thought was inherent in all human beings. I mean a few people committing suicide is sad, but it's relatively rare and carried out by very desperate people who feel there is no other way. Compare that to the number of people that religious leaders in the middle-east can convince to blow themselves and others up just so they can go to heaven and somehow please Allah. And they know this...because? Have they somehow done it and come back? And if they have, why are they back here? Maybe this heaven isn't all it's cracked up to be. And if they're not feeding you that line of bullshit, then their first line of bullshit about pleasing Allah through bombings requires a large investment of blind faith. If someone told me tomorrow that I'd go to heaven, and all I'd have to do to get there is kill myself and take as many people with me as I can, I'd have no choice but to say, "Are you nuts?" Even if I somehow believed them and was prepared to do it, I would think that at the last second, some part of me would say, "Wait wait wait. Hold the pony! What are you doing?" But that never seems to happen over there. I don't know about you, but I have not heard about one suicide bomber unstrapping his bomb and running away. I think that would make news, don't you? But it never happens. What kind of mind-control is going on that makes all these people carry this stuff through to the end? If there was a way to read thoughts, I'd love to capture the last things running through these people's minds. Maybe then, I'd understand why it happens.
First of all, he's going to be the cause of lots of death and injury. So, has the brainwashing actually managed to erase his conscience completely or make him feel like all this loss of life is actually justified? Then, there's that whole self-preservation instinct that I thought was inherent in all human beings. I mean a few people committing suicide is sad, but it's relatively rare and carried out by very desperate people who feel there is no other way. Compare that to the number of people that religious leaders in the middle-east can convince to blow themselves and others up just so they can go to heaven and somehow please Allah. And they know this...because? Have they somehow done it and come back? And if they have, why are they back here? Maybe this heaven isn't all it's cracked up to be. And if they're not feeding you that line of bullshit, then their first line of bullshit about pleasing Allah through bombings requires a large investment of blind faith. If someone told me tomorrow that I'd go to heaven, and all I'd have to do to get there is kill myself and take as many people with me as I can, I'd have no choice but to say, "Are you nuts?" Even if I somehow believed them and was prepared to do it, I would think that at the last second, some part of me would say, "Wait wait wait. Hold the pony! What are you doing?" But that never seems to happen over there. I don't know about you, but I have not heard about one suicide bomber unstrapping his bomb and running away. I think that would make news, don't you? But it never happens. What kind of mind-control is going on that makes all these people carry this stuff through to the end? If there was a way to read thoughts, I'd love to capture the last things running through these people's minds. Maybe then, I'd understand why it happens.
Friday, January 06, 2006
The Top 10
Here it is, the final countdown plug. I hope at least some of you enjoyed the list, Roland and the rest of us put a fair bit of work into putting it together and from what I hear, it's done pretty well for the site, so thanks for checking it out.
If you've been following the list or even if you haven't been, you can find out who our top 10 were
right here.
And before I go, I want to take a second to thank everybody who has supported the site by clicking on the ads. It truly is appreciated.
If you've been following the list or even if you haven't been, you can find out who our top 10 were
right here.
And before I go, I want to take a second to thank everybody who has supported the site by clicking on the ads. It truly is appreciated.
Thank You!
It is a beautiful day. Sure it's cold enough to make your ears tingle, but it is a beautiful day for Steve and I. Here's why. I checked the mail and was given a mission from what was revealed inside my mailbox. Something in there needed to be taken to the bank and put in our bank accounts. Do you know what that is, boys and girls? It is our first ever check from google ads. Yea! To all of you who have clicked, you rock! Those clicks turned into real money. If you like what we're doing, feel free to keep up the clickage. We do appreciate it.
On a side note, after today, I have to wonder if my bank keeps its employees chained to their desks with only access to the banks's servers, if that. This is what the lady said when she handed me back the little stub thing that remains when you get cheques from businesses, governments, etc. "Ok, ma'am, here's your cheque from..uh..goggle." She actually didn't know what google was. For fuck sakes, google has become a verb! How could she not know what google was? I mean, I could understand her going, "goggle..er, oops, google." But she didn't. She just said, goggle. Wow, I guess bank tellers have seen everything..or maybe nothing. You be the judge.
In any case, this day rocks, and thanks for making it rock.
On a side note, after today, I have to wonder if my bank keeps its employees chained to their desks with only access to the banks's servers, if that. This is what the lady said when she handed me back the little stub thing that remains when you get cheques from businesses, governments, etc. "Ok, ma'am, here's your cheque from..uh..goggle." She actually didn't know what google was. For fuck sakes, google has become a verb! How could she not know what google was? I mean, I could understand her going, "goggle..er, oops, google." But she didn't. She just said, goggle. Wow, I guess bank tellers have seen everything..or maybe nothing. You be the judge.
In any case, this day rocks, and thanks for making it rock.
Thursday, January 05, 2006
Something Worse than Hold Music
Yep, I've found it. Something more annoying than those wonderful muzac things ya hear while waiting on hold to talk to someone at Bell or Rogers tech support because your phone/internet is fried to the tenth power. Whoever the hell designed this needs to be sentenced to listening to ten years of his own invention.
On my friend's cell phone, there is something called ring tunes. It's supposed to be this thing where instead of hearing, ring ring, you get to listen to music while you wait for them to fumble around in their purse, flip open the phone, etc. My friend is usually really quick at doing this, so I never noticed what happens if the purse-fumbling takes too long. But today I had the displeasure of experiencing it.
This is usually how it goes. I phone her up, and this voice says, enjoy ring tunes while you wait for your call to be connected. Then Cryptonite from Three Doors down comes on, I start to groove to it, and then she picks up the phone. But today, I called it, got the voice and the song, but she didn't pick up the phone. I start to wonder if I'll get the whole song, and what will happen if for some reason I let it ring for the whole song's length. Just as the song sings, "I left my body lying somewhere in the sands of time", it is rudely interrupted by...by...the voice! It says, "enjoy ring tunes while your call is being connected." Wasn't that what I was doing before your prissy ass came to babble in my ear? And it starts again. And at the exact same point in the song, perky the ring tune chick comes along to butcher the song all over again. And we could repeat this infinite loop-style, but we won't. I don't want to induce the same rage in all the readers that I felt whhile listening to this crap.
I ask this one question. What is the point of that? How can I enjoy something that sounds like one of those junk files that you get off kazaa? Give me something to enjoy before you tell me to enjoy it...or better yet, just leave it at ring ring. At least ring ring has an unbroken rhythm, and it is only bröken by, "hello?
On my friend's cell phone, there is something called ring tunes. It's supposed to be this thing where instead of hearing, ring ring, you get to listen to music while you wait for them to fumble around in their purse, flip open the phone, etc. My friend is usually really quick at doing this, so I never noticed what happens if the purse-fumbling takes too long. But today I had the displeasure of experiencing it.
This is usually how it goes. I phone her up, and this voice says, enjoy ring tunes while you wait for your call to be connected. Then Cryptonite from Three Doors down comes on, I start to groove to it, and then she picks up the phone. But today, I called it, got the voice and the song, but she didn't pick up the phone. I start to wonder if I'll get the whole song, and what will happen if for some reason I let it ring for the whole song's length. Just as the song sings, "I left my body lying somewhere in the sands of time", it is rudely interrupted by...by...the voice! It says, "enjoy ring tunes while your call is being connected." Wasn't that what I was doing before your prissy ass came to babble in my ear? And it starts again. And at the exact same point in the song, perky the ring tune chick comes along to butcher the song all over again. And we could repeat this infinite loop-style, but we won't. I don't want to induce the same rage in all the readers that I felt whhile listening to this crap.
I ask this one question. What is the point of that? How can I enjoy something that sounds like one of those junk files that you get off kazaa? Give me something to enjoy before you tell me to enjoy it...or better yet, just leave it at ring ring. At least ring ring has an unbroken rhythm, and it is only bröken by, "hello?
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Angels We Have Heard on High, Tell Us To Go Out and Buy!
Well Happy New Year, hope the holidays were good, I'm not going to even think that they were restful. After all, whose Christmas holidays are? And as for the title of this post, no no no, I'm not funny enough to come up with that on my own. That was a stolen lyric from Tom Lehrer, and although he wrote that half a century ago, he's still right. Here's why.
I'm sitting down to eat and the news comes on. One story is about holiday spending, and how to pay off those holiday bills. Sure, Christmas is a bit expensive, but this was insane. The news reporter was telling people to get a loan to pay off all their bills and then their debt would be consolidated. That makes sense if you have a bunch of credit card debts accumulated over a long period of time or something. But this is *one* Christmas. Are people really spending themselves into this mess over one holiday? Sure it's a time for giving, but within reason, people!
Then it got even better. The reporter was saying debt-ridden Christmas shoppers could use their houses as collateral! To this reporter, and to the people who might need to use this option I say, "Are you high?" If you're spending money that you don't have, to that level, perhaps little Billie doesn't need 1000 action figures and little Suzy doesn't need a zillion Malibu Barbie accessories. But ya know what they do need? A home! They'll cry just as hard watching their parents pack their gifts into boxes and try to find a place to live as they would have if they had to find another place to live and didn't have those things. But the likelyhood is without those things, they'd still have a home. Those new things aren't going to make their lives better, in fact what parents are teaching them is that material things matter more than the basics of a stable life, and is that the lesson they really want to teach?
What in hell is wrong with us these days? Why can't we be happy with what we've got? Why do we have to make it seem like we have more than we really do? Have we forgotten what Christmas really means? Christmas is about being with family and friends, finding things to make people happy, and they don't have to be extravagant, and remembering the best part about us as human beings, our kind side. It's not about how fast we can drive ourselves into the goddamn poorhouse!
I'm sitting down to eat and the news comes on. One story is about holiday spending, and how to pay off those holiday bills. Sure, Christmas is a bit expensive, but this was insane. The news reporter was telling people to get a loan to pay off all their bills and then their debt would be consolidated. That makes sense if you have a bunch of credit card debts accumulated over a long period of time or something. But this is *one* Christmas. Are people really spending themselves into this mess over one holiday? Sure it's a time for giving, but within reason, people!
Then it got even better. The reporter was saying debt-ridden Christmas shoppers could use their houses as collateral! To this reporter, and to the people who might need to use this option I say, "Are you high?" If you're spending money that you don't have, to that level, perhaps little Billie doesn't need 1000 action figures and little Suzy doesn't need a zillion Malibu Barbie accessories. But ya know what they do need? A home! They'll cry just as hard watching their parents pack their gifts into boxes and try to find a place to live as they would have if they had to find another place to live and didn't have those things. But the likelyhood is without those things, they'd still have a home. Those new things aren't going to make their lives better, in fact what parents are teaching them is that material things matter more than the basics of a stable life, and is that the lesson they really want to teach?
What in hell is wrong with us these days? Why can't we be happy with what we've got? Why do we have to make it seem like we have more than we really do? Have we forgotten what Christmas really means? Christmas is about being with family and friends, finding things to make people happy, and they don't have to be extravagant, and remembering the best part about us as human beings, our kind side. It's not about how fast we can drive ourselves into the goddamn poorhouse!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
