The Occasional Solipsist

Ok, so I am sitting here tonight, cranking out a few reviews for a couple of flicks I watched today, for my it-doesn't-pay-but-I-get-free-movies other job and I am realizing a new added benefit of living in the middle of the goddamn woods that I was heretofore unaware of. The moths. Certainly I knew about the black flies, and the mosquitoes, both of which are an ongoing issue around here that doesn't look to be resolving itself soon. But, moths? Really?

The things out here are so gigantic, and there are so many of them that I feel like we moved out to a country version of The Lost World or something. One of them was banging into the screen so hard just now that I thought it was a fucking bird. A big one. Not sure what to do about this other than hang moth balls around the roof line. These things are so big I could get a shotgun and that might actually work.

And by the way, one of the 2 flicks I reviewed tonight was 'Strange Wilderness' which is so shitty and stupid that I would only recommend using it for the purposes of torture, and even then I'm sure it would violate the Geneva Convention somehow.

The other was 'The Golden Compass' which is so good that if you haven't yet seen it, I would recommend putting this blog down immediately and going to whatever means you use to get films and consume it. Its that good.

Labels: movies, our new house, rants, scifi

So this week Superwife and I sat through 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' and 'The Last Crusade' by way of getting me ready for 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'. We skipped 'Temple of Doom' because I caught part of it on a movie channel a few weeks ago, and it is my least favourite of the three anyway. All that stupid death cult crap.

Anywho, the B-I-L, a couple of buddies and I went out to see the premiere of Indy tonight, after buying my tickets online earlier only to discover that a car accident across town had somewhow killed power to the only movie theater in the city, and the night's show had been cancelled. Kee-rist. The joys of living in near a small town are becoming increasingly apparent.

I am back to shift work again tomorrow, but hopefully I will get to see the show sometime soon, before someone goes and pulls a 'Darth Vader is Luke's father' on me.

Labels: movies, rants

So I have been having some fun with the Out-Laws lately, specifically the F-I-L. Great guy, as I have said before, but now that we are in the middle of getting the outside of our place ready, he is being just a little more vocal in giving his opinion on how I should get things done than I am comfortable with. He is a very forceful guy, used to being completely in charge at work, and that bleeds out a bit whenever anyone is working with him. Normally its all good, as I am usually helping him do something, and I acquiesce to him where his business is concerned. But lately, he's been helping out at our new place, and he has been a huge help, bringing over tools, and machinery, even driving his tractor over to help smooth out topsoil. Holy shit I am going to sound ungrateful complaining about this.

But, here's the thing: As helpful as he is, he thinks that there is only one right way to do anything, and guess whose way that is?(I'll give you a hint; it's not mine.) And he might be right, but that is not the point.

One part of doing things his way is for me to agree to every suggestion he might have on how best to prepare our lot, which I rankle at, because I do not like people telling me what to do. Advise, if asked, sure. But tell me what to do with my own place? Grr. The other, and more judgemental way of doing things his way is the not-completely-voiced opinion that I should be out in the yard shoveling, raking, planting, whatever every free second I have. Which is not my favourite thing to do. In fact, I get no enjoyment whatsoever out of working in the yard other than that once its done, I won't have to think about it except to mow the fucker. And I hate that too, btw. And because the only exercise I get anymore is the occasional bout of yoga, I am so ill-equipped for extended periods of manual labour that tonight every muscle in my body is screaming at me for being so abusive to myself. Especially my back. Maybe might have to step up the yoga regimen.

So basically I am in the position where I don't want to take advice because I am not asking for it, and I am annoyed that I am being judged based on someone else's idea of how my time off at home should be best spent. Maybe I don't have a fucking clue how to prepare a lot, or even maintain it, but it is mine, and if I want to fuck it up, I think that is my prerogative.

And while I am on lingering familial issues: I love Superwife's sister like one of my own; she's a terrific person, but fuck me does she try to get a rise out of everyone sometimes. I used to think I was exempt from it, but yesterday when she was over, she threw out a string of Jesus, God and The Holy Father Bless You's, when Trin sneezed, even though she knows that shit drives me nuts. When someone says 'Bless you' I say 'No thank you', and mean it. And I want my home to be a place that is free of all the religious horseshit I grew up with, and perpetuating that crap (intentional or otherwise) in front of my kid is not something I tolerate. I actually hate that Christians think that its polite to say that to everyone in the world. What if the recipients of the christian sentiment are of a spiritual persuasion that does not accept blessings, or are even Atheist, like me? I think the next time someone says 'Bless you' to me I am seriously telling them to fuck off. I think that will garner a response.

And did I mention my back is killing me? I did? Oh. Well it still is.

Labels: atheism, family, rants

Not exactly a very noteworthy position I guess. Who actually wants to work for a living anyways? Whoever answers 'Me' to that question is either a liar or someone I don't care to know. Probably both.

I have had some funny things going on lately work-wise, and even though I am on the 'time-off' part of my swing shift schedule, I find myself thinking way too much about work. Hence the post about it.

2 weeks ago I turned down a job promotion that would have meant moving from shift work to days for a little bit more money than I make now. And I don't regret that move a bit, because after working really fucked up hours on shifts for the last 2 years, or working for a company on Vegas time for a year or so before that, it turns out that I don't much care for the 9 to 5 anymore. I am not sure that I can say I ever did, come to think about it.

And last week I had a job interview for the contract gig I currently have. I went in thinking I didn't even want the job, cause I make more money on contract, but as it turns out, I kicked all kinds of ass in the interview, and I realized afterwards that I really do want to keep doing this job for the foreseeable future. Which likely means I won't end up getting it, but there it is anyway.

Where the hell is this post going again? Oh yeah, all this thinking about work, and I have come to the realization that I would be quite cool with not spending the bulk of my time doing something for someone else just so that I can sneak in a few minutes every once in awhile to whine about it on my blog. So if I have some long-lost wealthy relative out there who's only got me in the will, no offense, but can you go ahead and die already so I can focus on my retirement?

Labels: rants, work

I have been waiting for this shirt to be become available again at Threadless for-fucking-ever and even though it was just reprinted, the sonofabitching thing was part of the spring sale and sold out in less than a microsecond or two. Maybe they only reprinted one of them. But if anyone reads this, loves me, and loves me enough to buy me something, well, there's the link. Size Medium because I eat more nowadays. And if not for me, for any Batfan, once its available again you are going to want one of these anyways.

Labels: comics, rants

Haven't blogged in awhile now. Not sure what excuse to use first: My laptop is back with HP again and I have to use a loaner; I am flirting with the idea of dumping the blog entirely because I really don't seem to have anything worth saying anymore. Probably a combination of columns A and B.

Either way, there is a new post on Rick Mercer's blog about the disrespect that the current Canadian PM Steven Harper showed to some Nobel Peace prize winning Canadian scientists that makes me think we're at the dawn of a new Dark Age. Harper's representation of Canadians pretty clearly shows that if you aren't making money off of the rape of the natural world, and instead want to use science to fix the world before we ruin it, we're just not interested. Thanks a lot, Harper. I wonder if he's ever read A Canticle for Leibowitz?

Article here.

Labels: everything else, politics, rants

So my laptop is back and now I so am I, at least in a connected sense. If anyone is wondering what kind of warrantee service HP offers, it rocks. Had my baby back in no time, and it is as good as new now.

UPS however, is a gang of douchebags for leaving my repaired laptop on my porch in a Northern Ontario winter, but since it was mild (for here) and my laptop was none the worse for the experience, I am going to forego making a stink and just let it go.

While I waited for my laptop to come back and have been off on the long break part of my swing shifts, I have been keeping busy doing a ridiculous amount of ice fishing, had a great bud of mine stay with us for a few days, fixed my snow blower (all by myself and I am SO proud of myself about it), watched a few movies, notably the fantastic Juno, and the lackluster Justice League New Frontier, and got caught up on every comic book in my read pile that I hadn't yet gotten to.

And about those comics: My take on the recent Spider-Man One More Day/Brand New Day business is that it fucking stinks. Spider-Man's marriage to Mary Jane and its subsequent Omega Level Retcon was nothing short of ludicrous. I love Spider-Man (and usually JMS), but I don't see how erasing his marriage, his revealing his identity to the world and pretty much anything else than lent substance to the character is supposed to make the character better. And as some kind of struggle between the devil and god no less. Grrr. I always loved the idea that Superheroes can have family lives and still be cool, and the fact that I myself am a family man probably has something to do with that appeal. So, boo Marvel. Bad decision.

And did I mention that I single-handedly diagnosed and fixed my snow blower? I did? Oh. Cause I did. All by myself.

Labels: comics, everything else, family, movies, narcissism, rants

So the pressure from the US lobbies looks like it might finally cause Canadian copyright laws to change. For the much, much worse.

Apparently in an effort to impress his asshole friend George Bush, Stephen Harper is backing a bill that is so strict as to be ludicrous. If passed it will make the US' DMCA law look tame by comparison. And tell that to the 20,000 Americans who have been sued.

I am not at all ashamed to be a 'downloader'. There are those who believe that the online dissemination of files, music, video and applications is immoral, and in some cases illegal. I don't. And I certainly don't feel that the downloading of a work that I would not purchase if it weren't freely available otherwise constitutes any kind of fraud. If I do want to own a product enough, I buy it. If I'm just kind of interested, I'll download it. Simple as that. Due to that policy, filesharing has opened my eyes to many different works that I have subsequently gone out and purchased that I would otherwise never have heard of. And why there have to be lines drawn between use of the internet to download content and the copying of it via other means (a television program for example, via a vcr or pvr) is beyond me. But maybe that too will change if Mr. Harper has his way with this bill.

Here's a link to a list of what Canadians can do, and for those in the lazier crowd (like me) here's a quick and easy site that fills out a letter to your MP decrying this nonsense. All you have to do is pick your province and your MP and click send. Don't let this be one of those case where you could have done something and didn't and then complain about it later.

Labels: everything else, rants, tech

'I've made a huge mistake'

I thought I'd start my recently alluded to rant about the snow up here with a little Arrested Development reference. No points for you if you don't get it. But it is something that I have been saying ever since the gods damned snow started showing its face last week.

Aside from quoting from that greatest of comedy series, I have also been asking myself What the fuck I was thinking moving my family farther north in this
country without it occurring to me that I was moving back into 4 solid months of ridiculous snow?

I mean, it started snowing on Friday. It stopped snowing (very temporarily) today. It will almost definitely snow again tomorrow. There are three feet of snowbanks all the way along my road. I had to plow my driveway (which was also ill-advised because its a good 60 feet) with my car this morning. I got stuck about 20 times, had to try and shovel a hole in the foot or so of the white nonsense in the way, and I'm pretty sure I took the last 50,000 kms off of my engine while I was at it. It is now making a decidedly horrifying noise that I am pretty sure signifies that I'll be parting with a lot of money very shortly.

And yes, I suppose it is pretty from my bedroom window. But its nowhere near as pretty as a picture of it would look beside a window view of an ocean. Or maybe a volcano.

And I am a little worried that I am this unhappy now about this crap and I still have another 4 months of it to put up with. Its going to be a long winter.

Labels: rants

I guess I do this every year. I get thinking about why I like Canada so much right around the time of year that we take a day to remember the people who have died defending the rights of other Canadians.

The bulk of the collective remembering usually goes to those who died in or survived WWII, that being the last major confrontation that we were embroiled in, save for the various peacekeeping missions we have been embroiled in of late.

Its amazing to me that in spite of the enormous amount of killing currently and recently going on in other parts of the world, that we are relatively untouched by it. Not that I am downplaying for a second the lives of Canadian soldiers who have died in conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Africa and elsewhere. I totally respect the person that is willing to give his or her life for someone else's rights. I wouldn't do it, except for the people that truly matter to me. My wife, my daughter, my sister. That's pretty much the list. I do however have a huge problem with the politics behind some of the recent conflicts, but that does not diminish for a moment my respect for the people who follow the orders that I disagree with.

I love my country and can't stand our current Prime Minister. I am a lefty, and do not agree with a single one (that I can think) of the Conservative Party's ideals. I believe in free speech, the right for a woman to make her own choices about her body, the right for medical science to be free of restraint from antiquated religious beliefs, and the right to think and do what I want so long as those actions don't harm anyone else. I believe that differences like sexual preference and skin colour are semantics and should have nothing to do with the setting of public policy. I further believe that belief in a supreme being has about as much place deciding public policy as belief in the tooth fairy.

If I had to pick a political persuasion I would claim to be a Libertarian, or even sometimes a Libertarian Socialist, but I usually end up voting Liberal as they end up being the party that hits the mark close enough and has a chance of winning.

In discussing my feelings for this awesome country to a friend earlier, I quoted something I posted about a few years ago, and I feel the text bears repeating here. Its from an old beer commercial, and aside from the glowing recommendation of hockey (which is the stupid cousin of the sports family), its origin doesn't necessarily mean the quality of its writing should be dismissed. You think if he were around now, Shakespeare wouldn't be writing porn scripts if the money was right?

Either way. I'm remembering with more humour than normal this year, but I still wear my poppy like everybody else. So just so its been said out loud again, Thanks.

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, (its Derek actually).
And I am Canadian!!!

Labels: everything else, rants

I am sure that there must be something that angers me more than getting my headphones all snarled into a big annoying mess every fucking time I go to use a pair for use with one of my myriad devices. There must be something. But I can't think what that might be right now because I am too busy untangling my god damn iPod headphones again. Argh!

Seriously, how the fuck have we not made wireless headphones cheap, easy and sold with every device that might need them? I mean we sent a man to the moon over 30 years ago.. Oh wait, turns out that might not probably didn't almost certainly never happened. Ok, well, we made a really convincing movie about going to the moon over 30 years ago, so how can we not have this headphone thing down yet?

Any one got an answer for this? Does this bug everyone else as much as it does me?

Labels: rants

So my Mom and her third current hopefully soon-to-be-ex husband came to visit today, and holy shit was that a day I couldn't wait to be over.

My Mom and I have a pretty strained relationship to begin with. This is due in large part because she's as crazy as a shithouse rat. No beating around the bush tonight, I guess. Don't get me wrong; I love her dearly. And she means well, I think. I know that she had my best interests at heart when I was growing up, even though I disagreed with pretty much everything that came out of her mouth. Still do. But I had a really fucking wild childhood because of her and I can only take her in measured, careful doses.

The good part is that she loves my daughter so unconditionally that it makes up for most of the baggage that she has given me to carry around with. Most of it.

Anyway she brings Bunkie (yup, that's what we call her husband) with him every time she visits and he makes an already tenuous situation so much worse. He is half crazy himself, and his motivations are nowhere near as magnanimous. He talks over everyone else, mumbles to himself, spends at least half of every visit in the bathroom (that one is a blessing), and is just plain fucking weird around my daughter. You know how some people just give off a creepy (I hate to use this next word, but it fits) vibe? Something very odd about the guy.

And today, he starts a screaming match with me about how he got lost following us and how it was my fault. Normally I am a bit conservative with confrontations. I prefer not to have them if they are avoidable. But I also try to live by the adage 'never start fights, but always finish them'. So when he started in on me, and I realized he wouldn't be put off by placating or ignoring him, I went nuts on him. I told him that he can verbally abuse my Mom like that for as long as she is willing to put up with it, but I am not the one married to him, and he better be goddamn careful with the way he talks to me. I then proceeded to use a lot of swearing and yelling back at him, and I eventually convinced him to back all the way off. I think I was actually thinking about punching the guy out I was so mad.

The worst part though? They are coming back over in the morning for breakfast before they head home.

Deep breaths, right?

Labels: family, rants

I can't call my favourite atheist an atheist anymore. And that's because he's asking me not to.

Sam Harris, one of my favourite authors on the subject of organized religion and the impact it has had on society has issued an open invitation to anyone who would call themselves an atheist to just stop labeling themselves, and he makes a very convincing argument why.

Basically it boils down to the idea that calling oneself an atheist sets up an argument where you have organized religion on one side and atheists on the other, and anyone who doesn't want to get involved abdicating completely. The argument, Sam feels, should be between organized religion and logical thought. And all this atheist organizing is only drawing attention to both sides instead of the the real issue that antiquated, outmoded beliefs about what happens to a person after they die have no place dictating policy in an enlightened society.

I myself am not what anyone would consider an 'organized atheist'. I have always felt that there wouldn't be a point in joining other people in declaring our non belief in god. After all, there aren't clubs for people who don't believe in Santa Claus. Okay, maybe there are. But that's beside the point. Bottom line is, I can see where letting go of labels completely might help. Instead of arguing with fundies about the place their various belief systems should have in society, we end up endlessly debating the same points of faith versus reason, and get nowhere. If we simply call out the tenets of each of the various faiths for the absolute bullshit that they are, and defend ourselves with the collective logical thought of the entire rest of the world instead of a few cranky atheists, maybe we'll finally get somewhere as a society.

In his argument, Sam also likens the social animal that is organized religion to racism, and that one day it will be like the scary, uncomfortable thing we did in the past of our collective memory that no one wants to admit to.

What a day that would be.

Here's a sample.

We will have won this war of ideas against religion when atheism is scarcely intelligible as a concept. We will simply find ourselves in a world in which people cease to praise one another for pretending to know things they do not know. This is certainly a future worth fighting for.

It may be the only future compatible with our long-term survival as a species. But the only path between now and then, that I can see, is for us to be rigorously honest in the present. It seems to me that intellectual honesty is now, and will always be, deeper and more durable, and more easily spread, than "atheism.

He makes a pretty good case for his point on all fronts. So I won't call him an atheist anymore. And I'll work on not calling myself an atheist, and just believe that someday there won't be a need to any longer.

Here's the link to Sam's original article.

And here's his response to those who missed the point the first time around.

Labels: atheism, rants

Ok, so I am up late and just finished watching the old vampire flick Fright Night, more out of sentimental attachment than anything else. It used to be one of maybe three or four VHS movies I had when I was a kid and because of that I have seriously seen this movie about 50 times.

Now, it being the cheesy B horror flick it is, you'd think I would be used to the camp. But one thing, a small piddling detail, has always bugged me about the ending to this movie. At the end, the hero's girlfriend Amy gets turned into a vampire and can only be changed back by killing the head vampire. I know, I already said the movie was lame. But here's the thing: When she becomes a vampire, somehow her hair turns red and grows much longer, her tits get bigger, and she gets this monstrous over sized mouth. But when the head vampire dies a few minutes later (did I really have to call spoiler there?) she goes back to normal. I have always been fine with the rest of the physical changes for some reason, except for the hair. How the fuck does her hair go from being red, curly and halfway down her back to a very short ugly mousy brown bob just because the vampire that bit her kicks it?

I'm not sure why out of all the myriad things I could choose to find ridiculous about this movie I chose that one, but that has always bugged me since I was a kid.

Maybe its because she looked much better with the red hair.

Labels: movies, rants

So Superwife is in bed early, prior to getting up early to work for the first time in over two years tomorrow. The poor girl has convinced herself that she should take advantage of opportunities for making money now that she has some and is going to clean cottages at a tourist camp down the road tomorrow.

I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. On one hand, I am glad that she will be doing things to bring in a little extra cash, because we could sure use it. But on the other, I feel like I've been the breadwinner for so long, that she is stepping on my toes a little. Yeah, I know, I sound a little like I should be waving my club in the air and whooping my pride over having just discovered fire next. But I'm just saying.

And why the renewed commentary about missing my own space? Because right this second, I am sitting in the kitchen, listening trying desperately not to listen to my sister-in-law and The Soon To Be Ex-Boyfriend making out in the next room. And I have to be in either the kitchen or the room where all the fucking giggling and the not as stealthy as they think smooching is taking place because those are the only two rooms in this house that can connect to the neighbour's wireless connection.

And to ice the cake, they are in there watching a movie on my divx player. On my couch.

I love The-Outlaws; I really do. Well, as much as a person can love people that are only their family until that person's spouse dumps them, but fuckme, I want my own place again. And I still have almost two months to go. I can't imagine how I am going to make it through this.

EDIT - 10 minutes later - Woohoo! Turns out our bedroom on the second floor gets even more of the borrowed, almost-no-signal wireless network than the Caligula Room downstairs. And here I only have to put up with Superwife's snoring. So far, no sounds of heavy petting whatsoever. ;)

Labels: everything else, rants

I have actually been a little bummed lately that there won't be any good technology stores where I'm moving in a few weeks. I do a lot of online shopping for my gear, games, etc, but there is something to be said about standing in a brick and mortar store and looking at a few hundred big screen tv's to get my geek on. And Best Buy has always been my store of choice. Anything tech-related that I do buy in the non-virtual world I buy there. No commission, people that actually have a clue when I ask them any technical questions. A bigger fan of Best Buy there never was. Until I received the following two emails:

From: Name Removed (Best Buy Canada)
Sent: Wednesday, July 11, 2007 11:35 AM
To:
Subject: Prize Notification - Best Buy Police VIP Passes

Hello,
Congratulations! You have been randomly chosen to win one pair of Best Buy VIP Police Station Passes (no commercial value) valid for entry in the the Best Buy VIP Police Station. The Best Buy VIP Police Station is a VIP Room situated in the venue where you will be treated to a little VIP treatment inclusive of tasty Moroccan appetizers prior to the concert.

As a reminder you must possess valid concert tickets to the July 23rd Toronto Police concert at Air Canada Centre to gain entry into the venue and to use your Best Buy VIP Police Station Passes. The Best Buy VIP Police Station passes are not valid for concert entry.

To be declared an official winner you must:

* Reply to this prize notification in 48 hours - Deadline July 20, 2007 12 :00pm PST
* Be the age of majority in your province of residence
* Possess valid concert tickets to the July 23rd concert in Toronto at Air Canada Centre
* Answer the skill testing question and sign the prize waiver form attached.
* Fax the signed and completed prize waiver form to Attn Name Removed @ xxx.xxx.xxxx . Please reply to this email notifying us that the fax has gong through.
* Reply to this email with your full name and address as it appears on your ID as this is the name that will appear at will call when you go to pick up your passes.

Once you have been declared the winner (completed the above) we will provide you with instruction on how to obtain your Best Buy VIP Police Station Passes.

Thank You,
Name Removed
Best Buy Canada Ltd.


From: Name Removed (Best Buy Canada)
Sent: Wednesday, July 11, 2007 2:59 PM
To:
Subject: ERROR - Prize Notification - Best Buy Police VIP Passes


The following Prize Notification was sent out in Error. If you have received this please disregard and delete this email.

The official winners will be contacted directly in an email to follow in the next hour.

We apologize for the confusion.

Thanks,
Name Removed

You apologize for the confusion? I am a HUGE Police fan, I am already going to be attending the concert mentioned, and I was absolutely ECSTATIC that I had won backstage passes to it. And then I get an, 'Oops, sorry about that' email? What the fuck?!?

Well, let's just say I'm not so bummed that there won't be a Best Buy where I'm moving anymore. Because I won't be setting foot in one of their stores or spending any money on them online again ever again. Assholes.

EDIT 07-16-07 - Oh and now one more thing. I just got an email from one of the other 'winners', thanking Best Buy for giving out all of the recipient's email addresses in the notification email. Turns out the douchebag who sent the notification just plunked everyone's address into an email and hit send, so I can now look forward to thanking Best Buy for increasing my spam as well as screwing me with this phoney prize notification in the first place. It just gets better and better.

Labels: everything else, rants, tech

Superwife and I finally got to see Al Gore's 'An Inconvenient Truth' the other night and it was an eye opener to say the least. I had already read the book, so very little of the content was new to me, but there's something to be said for the power of visuals: Seeing Al Gore get on a lift to demonstrate just how far off the charts that measure CO2 emissions we will be in 50 years was flabbergasting. That chart that we'll be off of for the first time, by the way, measures CO2 emissions for the last 650,000 years and it has never been as high as it is right now.

Its not like personal responsibility is something that Superwife and I hadn't already owned. We recycle, we are careful with our energy and fuel consumption, we even tried to buy a hybrid car when we turned in the 2-person-mobile when Trin came along. That last one was a problem because The Prius, if you can find one for sale, is so damn expensive relative to the corresponding gas only options. But we got talking after the movie about what else we could do to help, because obviously what we are doing collectively as a species is nowhere near enough. And its hard knowing that so many other people, both individually and corporately, just don't care enough to make this a priority.

And when I look at my daughter I wonder what she will have to say to me when her world is a wasteland. Will she blame me? Will she be able to accept greed and apathy as adequate reasons for ruining our biosphere?

Here are some links that I'm finding equal parts helpful and terrifying :

'An Inconvenient Truth' official site on Climate Crisis

Stephen Hawking becomes a doomsday prophet

Global Warming will actually be worse than most scientists previously thought

At least someone in the Canadian Government admits to the inconvenient truth

And the obligatory Wikipedia entry covers everything from Kyoto to mitigation

And the other thing that happens when watching Gore's movie; one can't help but wonder what our world would be like if he had've won that election been allowed to govern for the term he was lawfully voted in for. Would he still be the paragon of environmental assistance that he is now so well known for? Would the average North American look at the Kyoto numbers and laugh because they didn't reduce emissions enough? Would America lead the world in the effort to save the planet rather than languish in dead last?

With most things, I guess those questions fall under the category of things we'll never know.

Labels: politics, rants

Jack-o-Lanterns in the Dark
Originally uploaded by WilWheaton.

After a lengthy hiatus from reading Wil Weaton's blog due to excessive 'poker posting' I have recently begun reading his blog again regularly, and I'm glad for it. Turns out that the nerdy ensign that everyone wanted to see go up in a warp core explosion actually grew up to be a really good writer (those dark months where all he ever talked about was his burgeoning poker career notwithstanding). I highly recommend either of his books, Dancing Barefoot and Just a Geek.

And thus ends the barely concealed advertisement.

As I was reading through his latest posts, I found his flickr gallery linked and found this image that reminded me I have to start thinking about how to top last year's jack-o-lanterns. Previous years have seen the Kirk era Trek insignia, a Communion-esque alien face, and other similarly interesting (to me) designs.

This image of Wil's pumpkins got me thinking that I am going to try to carve something indicative of my status as gainfully employed computer geek. An emoticon maybe? An asterisked password? Or maybe this year should see a nod to my daughter's current fascination with everyone's favourite Sesame Street pal, Elmo?

Anyone have any other ideas?

Labels: books, everything else, rants

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

"It is true that somewhere, in some communities we do find promoters of terror, people who use cultural, religious symbols to perpetrate violent crime. They abhor open societies, pluralist societies, democratic societies, because they advocate the exact opposite: a closed, homogeneous, dogmatic society.

"But they and their vision will be rejected. … It will be rejected by men and women of generosity and goodwill in all communities.

That quote was taken from a speech delivered by Prime Minister Stephen Harper earlier today, in a decidely non-conservative statement, in response to the recent arrests of 17 people for allegedly plotting to attack public buildings in the Toronto area.

I didn't vote for the guy.

His way right wing conservative religious views made sure that I wouldn't.

I am staunchly against conservatism and all that it stands for: harsher penalties for criminals, greater tax breaks for higher income earners and corporations (at the expense of the lower income majority), the reduction/removal of rights for women and minorities, the use of religion to justify political decisions, etc, etc.

But that being said, either Stephen Harper is mellowing with the realization that he is a conservative leader in a liberal country...

Or at the very least, his speech writer is.

Read the full article here.

Labels: rants

I think that its shit like this that my wife talks about when she says that high technology is being poorly used.

She often laments that modern technology seems to be doing little these days to actually better society and more to find new and innovative ways to get consumers to consume.

Although I do argue with her, I know in a fundamental way that she's right. But we are married, so I am obligated to take the opposing viewpoint on the subject of every conversation just to keep things fresh. You know what I mean.

But even though as a society we're no closer to a cure for cancer, at least we can buy 36 different medications to increase metabolism to generate weight loss and thereby skip the whole eating healthy thing. And if I want to chase away restless leg syndrome (think I'm making that one up?), well there's a pill for that too. Man, can a guy get depressed thinking about things like this.

However. To the pointmobile!

I came across a post on The Dog's Breakfast tonight (lovely, lovely lady, btw) that showcased a beta site that uses facial recognition technology to compare a user uploaded image to digital images of celebrities.

Of course, I was compelled to try it out.

And what celebrities do I look like? First, John Denver, pictured above. Maybe its the hair.

Other celebrities that came up, but with lower matching percentages, were Arthur Ashe, Andrei Sakharov, Andre Agassi, and Matthew Fox.

Uh-huh.

I'm thinking this is one technology that could use a little tweaking.

Check it out yourself here.

Labels: rants

I came across an excellent article this morning that compares Stephen Harper's foreign policy mandate with that of the man in charge of our southern neighbours.

The author does a pretty fair job of saying what most Canadians won't because we're all too goddamn nice, even though we're mostly ashamed of voting the Conservatives into power just to spite a corrupt Liberal administration: That Harper is a dick.

Here's a sample:

Maybe Canada should not be tying itself ever closer to an increasingly isolated and undisciplined (and somewhat inept -- when was the last time the U.S. won a war without help?) military superpower that is being run by a renegade government that has little respect for the interests of the world as a whole or for any international treaties (bilateral or multilateral) and is headed by a president who does not claim a mandate derived from the citizens of the United States, but one bestowed by God.

Come to think of it, maybe that's also what gives Harper (a fundamentalist Christian) the right to govern as if he controls a majority in the House of Commons. Perhaps he believes (like George Bush) that the Almighty put him into office and so any decision he makes -- democratic or non-democratic -- is the right one.

Full article here.

Labels: politics, rants

I came across a great article online tonight written in '94, just after the PQ's rise to power in Quebec. The article deals mainly with the economic and political logistics of Quebec actually separating from Canada, and from my view in the cheap seats, I can't see how things would play out any differently now.

First of all, I am 100% against Quebec separating, and truth be told I am also 100% against the current handling of the 'Quebec situation'. I am all about equality, believing that no Canadian has rights or privileges that supercede that of any other; and having a federal mandate where an entire province is given special consideration over the rest of the country is tantamount to state-sponored racism as far as I'm concerned.

Put a different way, treating Quebeckers like the favourite child really burns my ass.

Here's a taste of how this particular individual believes separation would really play out (and I'll give you a hint, its not the way the Bloc would have you believe things would go down):

The study of the viability of an independent Quebec has developed into a cottage industry in Canada. It is generally accepted that in the long run, an independent Quebec would be a viable economic entity, well-off by world standards, indeed as successful as most small European countries. Most of the problems lie with the transition from a province of Canada to an independent country. Contrary to the rosy scenario of the PQ Bloc, the process leading to the break-up is likely to be messy, although non-violent. Furthermore, the transition would entail major costs. Indeed, both the messiness of the break-up and the transition costs are so large that it makes Quebec independence very unlikely even if a majority of Quebeckers were to vote yes to separation.

Full article here. It makes for an interesting read, and is still just as viable an argument 10 years after the fact.

Labels: politics, rants

An online friend of mine has a post and a corresponding comment thread going on religious faith.

As a fan of the late great Dr. Carl Sagan's work, I always appreciate it when someone quotes him to shine the light of scientific reality on religious dogma.

Don't waste anymore time here. Check out the article here.

Labels: atheism, rants

wtf.

One of the most profound discoveries of our time, that liquid water has recently been discovered flowing out of some kind of underground body on Enceladus, a moon of Saturn, is going almost unnoticed.

The news of the February 2005 data taken from the Cassini probe has just been released to the public in this month's issue of Science.

I only found out about it as I was watching 'Deal or No Deal' on CNBC on the ticker at the bottom of the screen, sandwiched between entries on a hostage situation in a school in France and the groundbreaking news that Japan is about to raise interest rates.

Can we get our priorities straight here?

We have found proof undeniable of the existence of water, the fundamental building block of life as we know it on the surface of another planet.

And since pretty much every scientist in the world agrees that water means at least the potential for life, (even my asshole grade 10 science teacher - yes I mean you Mr. Mitchell) this has effectively doubled the number of planetoids in our solar system that might contain sentient life.

And for those reading this that need their cynicism explained to them I am including Earth as one of the two planets that might contain sentient life because of the aforementioned hoopla currently being thrown over Britney Spears' second pregnancy.

This is a Big Fucking Deal, and if we weren't such a moronic, self-obsessed culture, we would be making an appropriate response about this news. Not only is there the possibility of life on any number of the recently discovered planets in other solar systems within our own galaxy, but there could be life on a planet that is practically within walking distance!

For those interested in what will be remembered as one of the most significant discoveries in human history, (if we make it far enough to have a further history) NASA has an excellent article about the discovery.

The rest of you might enjoy this. Assholes.

Labels: rants

I just read a really great essay that takes Fermi's Paradox (the idea that if there are so many life-sustaining planets in our galaxy, where the hell are all the aliens?) to an entirely new level.

The author makes a very strong case for what an instantly-gratified, highly technological society (yup, like ours) leads to: Eventual Extinction. And he implies that this is in fact what has happened to all of our would-be galactic neighbours. The article actually applies very similar logic to Nick Bostrom's essay in Taking the Red Pill, a personal favourite of mine.

This is a really well written essay, and worth the read. Here's the full article.

Labels: rants

So my wife and daughter and I are all sitting somewhat uncomfortably in front of the tv, wondering just who the hell is going to be in charge of Canada come tomorrow morning.

It's election night again for the second time in 18 months, and never in my lifetime has the outcome of an election been so much in doubt. Will it be the Scandalized Liberals? The Crazy-as-Fuck right leaning Conservatives? Those folk music playing hippies NDP?

And while we sit here and wait for the results to begin in a few minutes as they are released across the country, first from the Maritimes, then Quebec and Ontario, then the Prairies and finally BC, we are subjected to all manner of political punditry, running the gambit from what will happen to our Health Care system to whether there will be yet another referendum on Quebec separating from Canada.

Man, I wasn't this worked up yesterday when I had to bite my nails to see if the Steelers would make it into the Superbowl.

All I know for sure right now is that if we have a Conservative PM tomorrow morning, the rich will soon get richer, the poor poorer, the sick will have less access to health care, and the rights of women to choose and homosexuals to marry will soon disappear. And it will be illegal again to be in possession of even minute amounts of marijuana.

That, and that it's going to be a long night.

Labels: politics, rants

A friend posted an article about internet pet peeves the other day, and his feelings about how people should have more tact in their digital communications with others. I have my own feelings about behaviour displayed by people in forum posts and emails that they would never consider repeating in the 'real world'. And those feelings just happen to be pretty much identical to those of the aforementioned blogger.

To wit: I have no patience for assholes.

Be it WRITING ALL IN CAPS, or forwarding inspirational messages of survival, or any other of a number of infractions that just set your teeth on edge.

By a funny coincidence, I received an email just last night that displays the worst of bad internet taste, an email that urges multiple recipients to do what the author says, without any prior knowledge of his recipients' position. You know what I mean. "Everyone boycott Esso Stations on Thursday!", etc. Except this one was telling everyone how to vote in the upcoming Canadian Federal election.

And here's the thing: The sender doesn't (and can't possibly) know how his recipients vote, and he obviously doesn't care.

Man, this sort of thing burns my ass.

Here's the original email:

-----Original Message-----

From: Name Removed

Sent: January 7, 2006 10:56 PM

To: My Email Removed

Subject: Election 2006-And a Happy New Year


Interesting read -SOMETHING WORTH THINKING ABOUT -which ever way you decide to vote.

Hello.

My name is Name Removed I am a Canadian. One voter out of millions of Canadian voters.

Paul Martin is no friend of mine. Liberal governments have not made my life any better. Liberal governments have made the future worse for my children.

Jean Chretien and the Liberal Party became Prime Minister many years ago. Guess who was the Liberal Finance Minister.....Paul Martin...LEST WEFORGET

Since 1993:
(1) My taxes have increased.
(2) My family's share of the national debt has increased.
(3) My personal expenses have increased.
(4) My waiting time to see a doctor has increased.
(5) My concerns for my family's safety have increased.
(6) My costs to educate my children have increased.
(7) Government interference in my life has increased.
(8) My personal debt has increased.
(9) My income has stayed more or less the same.
(10) My savings have decreased.
(11) The buying power of my dollar, in Canada, has decreased.
(12) The value of my dollar, in the U.S., has decreased.
(13) My trust of elected officials has decreased.
(14) My trust in the justice system has decreased.
(15 )My trust in the immigration system has decreased.
(16) My hope that a Liberal won't waste my tax dollars has decreased.
(17 )My dreams for a better future for my kids, in Canada, have disappeared.

That is my story since the Liberals came to power.

I am not voting for Paul Martin's Liberals. I am voting against Paul Martin and his Liberal Party in January.

Do I like the Conservatives and the NDP? Not particularly......I don't really like Politics. I am not political by nature. I am not passionate about politics. I am a middle age guy (48). I live in a small house on a fairly quiet street in Edmonton. I have a wife, Kathy, and two children
(ages 19 and 17). I have no pets. I am a middle class man. I don't usually say too much.

Until now.

Now I am going to say something!

In 35 of the past 37 years, Canada has been ruled by:
(1) Pierre Trudeau - a multi-millionaire lawyer from Quebec.
(2) Brian Mulroney - a multi-millionaire lawyer from Quebec.
(3) Jean Chretien - a multi-millionaire lawyer from Quebec.
(4) And now we are going to vote for Paul Martin???? - a multi-millionaire lawyer from Quebec???

But wait! Paul Martinis now saying the same thing. My mother told me forty years ago: "Fool me once - shame on you. Fool me twice - shame on me!"

The Liberals have had 34 years to be financially responsible. Remember, Jean Chretien was Trudeau's Finance Minister. Remember also, Paul Martin was Jean Chretien's Finance Minister These people have been raising my taxes for thirty four years. They have been mis-spending my tax dollars for 34 years.

34 years!

And now Paul Martin says he'll stop taxing and spending. No way.

Thank you for reading my story so far!

Why am I telling my story to you?

Although I feel alone, I know that I am not alone. Your story may be similar to mine. And you may also feel alone. One small voter in the midst of millions of voters.

What can you and I do together to change things?

Here is my idea: Lets you and I join up together. Just you and I. Together. As a small team of two.

How can you and I fight a huge political machine?

You and I have two things that we can use:
(1) Our individual personal connections.
(2) The Internet.

The Internet is supposed to be this global zing tool, right? Let's put it to use.

I have 27 Canadians in my personal e-mail address book. I am sending this e-mail to each of them.

I'm asking you to do two things:
(1) Forward this e-mail to every Canadian in your own address book.
(2) Vote against Paul Martin and the Liberal Party in January of next year.

I have probably written this e-mail too late. As I said I am not politically adroit. I feel like Peter Finch, in the 1976 movie "Network", when he shouted: "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!"

Please, forward the e-mail RIGHT NOW!!

I hope the Internet is as fast as some people claim it is.

This may not work. This e-mail may "fizzle out" and go nowhere. But you and I will have tried, won't we have?

My best wishes to you. My best wishes to Canadians everywhere.

My thanks to David Stokes from Toronto He actually wrote this just (5) days before the last federal election. Fool me once - shame on you. Fool me twice - shame on me!"

Name Removed Edmonton, Alberta

And, after debating between responding to this unsolicited political advice, and deleting it, I sent the author the following response. And yes, I felt better afterwards. You'll note that I left out any mention of the atrocious spelling and grammatical errors peppered throughout this silly diatribe, or noting that his argument has holes in it big enough to fly the entire House of Commons through.

-----Original Message-----

From: Derek

Sent: January 7, 2006 11:34 PM

To: Name Removed

Subject: RE: Election 2006-And a Happy New Year


I vote liberal and while I try to appreciate other points of view as they pertain to political ideologies I don’t appreciate uninvited emails soliciting me to do otherwise.

I’m not sure why you think its appropriate to send out emails specifically requesting recipients to ‘Vote against Paul Martin and the Liberal Party in January of next year’.

Next time why don’t you just send out an invitation to your next church function? Or a collection of web links on your stance on abortion or stem cell research? Something nice and light, like politics, that everyone loves to get unsolicited emails about?

I don’t even know how I know you or how you obtained my email address. In the future, I request that you refrain from sending any similar correspondence.

Derek

My only regret is that I didn't address my response to 'Asshole'.

Labels: politics, rants