The Occasional Solipsist

One of the things that isn't so great about meeting people from all over the world via either my blog or those of others, is that as soon as I tell a person from anywhere outside North America that I am from Canada, the association that almost invariably occurs within that person is that Canada = North America = United States. And if that person is American, a whole litany of ridiculous preconceptions about Canadians enters the picture.

What follows then is what I send to people that either don't know anything about Canadians, or think they do know because of interaction with (or because they are) Americans. It's from an old beer commercial that did a pretty fair job of distinguishing some of the highlights about being Canadian. Don't get me wrong; I like Americans. I have some great friends from the US. Wow, that sounds just like 'Some of my best friends are insert racial/religious/sexual minority here..' It is just that I am proud of the differences between our cultures. In large part, those differences define us.

Look for the video link of this message after the jump:

Hey, I'm not a lumberjack, or a fur trader....
I don't live in an igloo or eat blubber, or own a dogsled....
and I don't know Jimmy, Sally or Suzy from Canada,
although I'm certain they're really really nice.

I have a Prime Minister, not a president.
I speak English and French, not American.
And I pronounce it 'about', not 'a boot'.

I can proudly sew my country's flag on my backpack.
I believe in peace keeping, not policing,
diversity, not assimilation,
and that the beaver is a truly proud and noble animal.
A toque is a hat, a chesterfield is a couch,
and it is pronounced 'zed' not 'zee', 'zed' !!!!

Canada is the second largest landmass!
The first nation of hockey!
and the best part of North America

My name is Joe not Joe!!
And I am Canadian!!!

I am Canadian video (a la Youtube)

Labels: everything else, narcissism

So it's official. Er, maybe not official exactly. Maybe its more of a recommendation. Or a dictum. Or something.

But it is at least officially time for people the world over to get into raging debate over what constitutes the criteria for planethood. About 2500 folks on the final day of The International Astronomical Union's meeting in Prague have decided that for the good of modern science, all planets and planetoids that share Pluto's size and attributes will henceforth not be included in the official list of planets in our solar system.

And all I can think is how glad I am that I held off on buying that ceiling mobile of The Solar System for Trinity's room. There ought to be some good sales shortly.

That and that 76 years is a pretty good run. It also happens to be my life expectancy, so I guess I am just now in better company.

Links:

Honey, I Shrunk the Solar System - NASA's tepid endorsement
Pluto loses planet status - Wikinews' entry
Planet tag not in the stars - Courtesy of the Toronto Star
Scientists decide Pluto’s no longer a planet - and the debate starts
Pluto Demoted (MSNBC Video) - the best part of this clip is the little girl saying 'I think it doesn't matter about the size'. You won't be saying that in a few more years, sweetheart.

Today a friend of mine sent me a link for a clip on iFilm.com that he thought I'd enjoy, about a Batman/Superman collaboration movie that might have been. It was cool, but if those two ever share screen time together, I'd rather see Frank Miller's version of The Dark Knight Returns.

And you just never know, because in Superman Returns, Gotham was name-dropped during a critical scene, so maybe the door is being left open for something like this.

Either way.

While I was on the site I came across a gem spoofing reality tv using Superheroes.

After the jump, look for the Flash and Supergirl winning every round of the Amazing Race, and the Hulk freaking out over his cheeseburger order. Even if you're not a comics geek, this is really funny.

Reality Round Up: Superhero Edition

Labels: comics

It's been awhile since I've posted. It could be that it's from the girls being back at home and me being too content to bother with much else. If that is the case, this post decidedly does not signal a lapse into lethargy where they're concerned. I went a week without seeing either my daughter or wife and I have decided that if I have anything to say about it, that will never happen again in my lifetime.

Everyone likes a little breather from normalcy, if only to come back and appreciate what you have all the more. So my new personal dictum: the maximum length of any such breather needs to be substantially shorter than a week.

Now to Doctor Who:

Back in April I emailed the program director at CBC, requesting info on when they would be airing the forthcoming Season 2 of the new Doctor Who. I knew that the BBC was airing it beginning on easter weekend and wondered why I hadn't heard anything on CBC about it yet.

The response I got back was a little longer than the one word that explained everything:

HOCKEY.

Yup, the bastards at CBC were so worried about scheduling new episodes of the only thing worth watching on that network around the only other thing anyone tunes to that network for, that they decided to push off airing Doctor Who at all until the fall.

Don't they know that anyone who watches shows like Doctor Who have no life to have scheduling conflicts with? And that even if they did, being the rabid devotees that Who fans are, they would forego the national pastime to get their fix?

Anyway, here's the part where I take matters into my own hands:

I recently finished downloading every episode of what I hope to be another great season of a classic scifi series brought back to life and I am going to watch every single episode on my pc without the hassle of commercial interruption from the CBC. I'm planning to parcel them out, only a few a week, so I can make it last. I've watched 4 episodes so far and they have been just. Awesome.

And because I am one of the few Canadians that admits to hating hockey (I mean, I fucking hate hockey), I likely will never tune to the CBC network again. So no longer will I have to sit through advertising for shitty TV movies that my tax dollars paid for, or whatever inane journalistic gem the fifth estate will have next, or even anything about CFL Football. (shudder).

Except of course, for The Monday Report with Rick Mercer, The Rick Mercer Report, whatever the hell they're calling Rick Mercer's show this coming season.

Labels: doctor who, rants, scifi

Well that finally tears it: I can now officially join the rest of the world in writing off the state of Texas.

After the jump, check out a clip on MSNBC about the new clothing restrictions being imposed in a school board in Arlington, Texas. Apparently the puritan pukes in this school board got tired of being constantly reminded that girls have things called breasts (hereafter to be referred to as dirty pillows), and have decided to enforce a strict rule where only four inches of skin from the neck down is allowed to be displayed. In the interviewee's own words

'If we see cleavage, which as I understand the common definition is the space between a young lady's breasts, they're going to ask her to change'.

After watching the clip, I kept hearing this voice repeating 'you have got to be kidding me', 'you have got to be kidding me...

When I figured out that it was me I realized I had best blog my outrage rather than keep it all bottled up inside.

Sometimes I really wish I were a solipsist so that I wouldn't care about the ludicrous things that take place on this rock.

Next we'll be hearing that damn rock and roll music leads to dancing, and dancing leads to ... well you know what dancing leads to.

Here's the link to the video.

Labels: rants

I'm taking my 4:00 coffee break and am skimming through the headlines in my rss reader (Google Reader, which kicks all asses, btw). I thought I'd post the links for the articles I'm finding most interesting.

I'm not sure if what a person reads online says anything about them or not. Unless of course, if its porn, and then the inferences are pretty clear.

Either way, follow the links, or not. Your choice.

There goes the neighborhood. Galactically speaking of course.

Penny Arcade serves up some sweet revenge.

Construction resumes on the International Space Station. About. Fucking. Time.

Star Trek alumnus to write script for PSP Trek game

The Great Soda vs Pop Debate Settled at Last.

1984. Lego Style.

Vote for the best comic/scifi moments at SpikeTV.com

Interview with Silent Hill Origins (PSP) developer

Very cute video answering the question "if cats and dogs can get along, why can't we...?"

Those wacky creationists build their own museum. I'd think the rapture was coming if I believed in it.

Dear Trinity,

So here I am finally getting comfortable with the fact that you are already in your second year of life and then I have to deal with not seeing you for A WHOLE WEEK.

Your Mom and you stayed up north with your grandparents while I had to come home and work six 12 hour night shifts in a row. And yes, I do feel that italicizing was appropriate.

I won't see you yet until the end of next week, which seems an eternity right now.

I miss you both so much. You more, probably because I got to spend the last ten years of my life with your Mom, so even though it's no fun whatsoever, I can dine on those years until I see her.

But you; you change by the minute at this age. I'm afraid that when you get home next week you'll ask me to drop you off a few blocks from the mall so as not to be seen with your loser Dad.

Ok maybe it's not that bad. But it's close.

What have you done this past month?

Well, you took your first ride in a shopping cart, which you absolutely loved. Don't worry: your Mom and I went through about 30 baby wipes sterilizing the thing prior to putting you in it. You spent the entire shopping trip laughing and swinging your legs around like a crazy person. You take so much pleasure from the things that I would totally take for granted and are a constant reminder to me to enjoy every silly insignificant thing that I can. I try to take a look around for those things now because of you, so I don't miss them.



You swam for the first time, first in a public pool at home with your Mom and Aunt Lisa and I, and then in the lake at your grandparents with me. You love to swim!

You have been practicing walking too. You've now taken a few tentative steps on different occasions and when you fall into my arms each time I just melt.

So in case you ever go through these letters when I'm not around or you can't get in touch with me, I miss you all the time when I can't see you. And I keep loving you more and more every day.



And right now, I can't wait to see you next week.

Love Daddy

Labels: trinity

I've never really gotten my head around the whole cosplay thing. I have in fact bashed cosplayers repeatedly on this blog (here's a sample).

I mean, a person can get away with wearing a costume at Halloween, and maybe a costume party (although does anyone even have those anymore?), but there's something creepy about dressing up as your favourite superhero or videogame character and walking around in public.

I am all for self-expression; I've had various parts of me tattooed and for a short while at least, pierced. But cosplaying is just fucking weird. Sorry, but there it is.

However.

Because I am a huge comic/scifi/videogame geek, I can think of one place, and one place only that this sort of thing is okay, and that would be in the bedroom (preferrably mine). So it was with a larger degree of enjoyment than I will care to admit to that I came across a clip during the most recent geek-week.net video podcast of a gorgeous blonde girl dressed as Sue Richards pillow-fighting another female cosplayer (the lovely Sarah, one of the show's hosts).

Here's the link to the clip. The show is pretty good; the people are clearly geeks like me and (if you're still reading this post, likely you), and they more than make up for any production shortcomings with their enthusiasm.

And did I mention that they randomly insert sexy pillow fighting cosplayers into their podcasts?

I did? Well, it was worth mentioning twice.