Thursday, December 29, 2005
NYE=Not Your Event?
NYE events suck. They are usually blatant money-grabs that charge you an arm n' a leg, serve you warm champagne in a plastic cup and have the same entertainment you could expect any other lame club night. A lot of emphasis is placed on the turning of the Gregorian calendar. I think I'll ring in the new year w. a few friends, or find an event that doesn't smack of exploitation and line the pocket of some lame, egotistical and pompous amateur event promoter, like so many I've known.
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Hey-sus is gonna...
Bodybuilder#: "who the hell is this guys doing the pelvic thrusts behind me?"
BB#2: "dunno man, says his name is Jesus, wants us to call him the son of man or something, just keep ignoring him, n' maybe he'll go away."
BB#1: "why does he keep talking how our wives must love our muscles, doesn't he realize we're gay?"
Jesus: "*censored*"
quotes from the DTES polls
"what's your name and I'll check if you are on the voter's list"
"fuck off!"
"is that your first name or your last name?"
"I don't vote, natives don't matter anyways."
"sure they do."
*slam*
"I moved here to get as far away from my family as possible, they are bureaucrats"
"I grew up as a ward of the state- not in foster care"
"It's good to see you here- I thought they'd forgotten about us"
"they are all a bunch of crooks anyways, why should I vote?"
"i've never voted in my life but I want to this time."
"this is real. this is what you get. this is a real honest neighbourhood, if you get in with people, someone's always got your back. some people do really well here, other's come here to disappear. Some people come here and die."
"i haven't got any time, i've got to go out and get a light"
"fuck off!"
"is that your first name or your last name?"
"I don't vote, natives don't matter anyways."
"sure they do."
*slam*
"I moved here to get as far away from my family as possible, they are bureaucrats"
"I grew up as a ward of the state- not in foster care"
"It's good to see you here- I thought they'd forgotten about us"
"they are all a bunch of crooks anyways, why should I vote?"
"i've never voted in my life but I want to this time."
"this is real. this is what you get. this is a real honest neighbourhood, if you get in with people, someone's always got your back. some people do really well here, other's come here to disappear. Some people come here and die."
"i haven't got any time, i've got to go out and get a light"
Sunday, December 18, 2005
Rockin' the vote in the DTES
I am registering people to vote in the DTES (Downtown Eastside) and in the next few days and weeks, I'll be posting some stories about getting Vancouver's poorest citizens to register for the polls. I've signed up a lot of people who have never voted, or not voted in decades. BC will make a difference this time and the election may be close. I have to remain painfully apolitical and non-partisan while doing this work.
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
When people have no home, the last thing on their mind is politics.
I picked up some work registering people in the Downtown Eastside to vote. I'm going into the SRO hotels and signing people up. I feel like one of those people who registered black voters in the south in the early 60s. I just started tonight and I have seen blood spatters on a door frame, countless doors that had been forced with prybars countless times and a real, genuine, small-caliber bullet hole in an interior window. I've seen bullet holes in buildings before, having seen many a structure that still exhibited WW2 damage and made a few bullet holes in things myself, growing up in a family with hunters. This was without question a bullet hole. I've never seen one inside before.
People are friendly for the most part, but the hopelessness that is apparent in so many of them is hard to see. It does make me really want to try to get as many SRO residents out there voting as possible.
People are friendly for the most part, but the hopelessness that is apparent in so many of them is hard to see. It does make me really want to try to get as many SRO residents out there voting as possible.
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
tookie is dead
I only recently learned about Stan "Tookie" Williams and the State of California has just executed him. The day I read his story was the day I signed the petition to save him.
Aside from the fact that revenge-killing is wrong, no matter who does it, this man was a changed man, who did work to create peace between rival LA gangs and was even nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. As much as I love California in some ways, the fact that a state controlled by Arnold Schwarzenegger killed a Nobel nominee is going to bug me for some time. America needs to change. It has become such a reprehensible nation, I don't even want to go there anymore.
Aside from the fact that revenge-killing is wrong, no matter who does it, this man was a changed man, who did work to create peace between rival LA gangs and was even nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. As much as I love California in some ways, the fact that a state controlled by Arnold Schwarzenegger killed a Nobel nominee is going to bug me for some time. America needs to change. It has become such a reprehensible nation, I don't even want to go there anymore.
Monday, December 12, 2005
look at the 2x4 in your own eye, before criticizing the splinter in anothers...
I love paraphrasing Jesus, fulfills my messianic zeal...
I think if someone is overly concerned with the lives of others, to the point of ignoring their own existence, that person is suppressing some major issues that they perceive in the life they have created for themselves.
Your life is your own, other people's lives are their own. That proverb has been repeated many a time and is true now as it ever has been. Make your life what you want it to be and don't worry so much about what others think of you. Also, don't worry so much about the lives of others unless it affects you directly.
That is all.
I think if someone is overly concerned with the lives of others, to the point of ignoring their own existence, that person is suppressing some major issues that they perceive in the life they have created for themselves.
Your life is your own, other people's lives are their own. That proverb has been repeated many a time and is true now as it ever has been. Make your life what you want it to be and don't worry so much about what others think of you. Also, don't worry so much about the lives of others unless it affects you directly.
That is all.
Thursday, December 08, 2005
today's blog posting
will be a link to another blog posting. it strikes me as strange, that I've had so little time and inclination to update my blog lately, considering how much free time I have right now.
north-west germans have a Schwarzer Peter myth too and make of it what you will, the tradition will probably stay. there's a lot of unfairness in the world, isn't there? i do think that it is an oversimplification to say that S.P. represents a black man, but I do agree that over the years, he did attain some "moorish characteristics". but then again, if I showed you some of the german books i read as a little boy, with thumb-sucking children getting their thumbs lopped off by tailors with giant scissors, you'd probably be shocked.
Make sure it's the dec 5th 2005 entry you read.
I miss Amsterdam, I miss it, miss it, miss it!
north-west germans have a Schwarzer Peter myth too and make of it what you will, the tradition will probably stay. there's a lot of unfairness in the world, isn't there? i do think that it is an oversimplification to say that S.P. represents a black man, but I do agree that over the years, he did attain some "moorish characteristics". but then again, if I showed you some of the german books i read as a little boy, with thumb-sucking children getting their thumbs lopped off by tailors with giant scissors, you'd probably be shocked.
Make sure it's the dec 5th 2005 entry you read.
I miss Amsterdam, I miss it, miss it, miss it!
Friday, November 25, 2005
so the bastards laid me off, due to restructuring. they went for the some of the most senior people first and laid off 10-12 people who had been around about 5 years. they saved more money that way, since we made a few thousand a year more than a new guy. what a smart move in a knowledge-based company- a large part of my job was answering questions, training new guys and showing people how to access documentation, system resources and configure devices that they need to do their jobs.
today i noticed a problem w. my home connection and msg'ed a former coworker. they were in the midst of a major outage and 5 guys were working, all of whom were green as freshly fertilized alfalfa. the automated trouble reporting system for our newest, most complicated product was automatically creating tickets and phone calls and no one was available to take them.
another great decision on the part of the board. hope that when they start to lose customers, they see their mistake.
today i noticed a problem w. my home connection and msg'ed a former coworker. they were in the midst of a major outage and 5 guys were working, all of whom were green as freshly fertilized alfalfa. the automated trouble reporting system for our newest, most complicated product was automatically creating tickets and phone calls and no one was available to take them.
another great decision on the part of the board. hope that when they start to lose customers, they see their mistake.
I'm glad I'm a man.
Because if I was a woman, and I found out I was pregnant, the first thing I would want to do is pour myself a stiff drink. And I wouldn't be able to.
Congratulations, Wendy and Paul.
Wendy must now treat her body like a temple, not that she didn't before. In fact, treat it like a golden temple, The Golden Temple at Amritsar. Nothing but curries from now on for you, the spicier the better. Make sure to use ghee and have it all with lime pickle and chapatis and a side of pickles and ...ice cream and bacon and chocolate and... cheese! and...
Congratulations, Wendy and Paul.
Wendy must now treat her body like a temple, not that she didn't before. In fact, treat it like a golden temple, The Golden Temple at Amritsar. Nothing but curries from now on for you, the spicier the better. Make sure to use ghee and have it all with lime pickle and chapatis and a side of pickles and ...ice cream and bacon and chocolate and... cheese! and...
Thursday, November 10, 2005
og.
My wife and I are guilty of pet names, inside jokes and cuteness that would probably cause a pwetty liddle bunny wabbit to want to vomit. Or anyone we knew if we did this stuff outside the home. Fortunately for you, we keep it in private. Here is an example of digusting cuteness: an email written to lisa by my alter-ego, the primitive caveman known as "Og."
og sneak out few mins early he think.
try be liberry 6 clock.
grunt
og sneak out few mins early he think.
try be liberry 6 clock.
grunt
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
the cities of Europe have burned before, and they may yet burn again.
Apostatewindbag tells me that in Saint Gilles, Brussels, that gritty (yet nice) little multicultural district I visited him in which saw 5 cars burned by rioters monday night doesn't have the racial divides seen in Paris. In Brussels, everyone was rioting together in a collective spirit of disenfranchisement: white, black, north african.
As much as North American media would have me believe that this is the work of islamic radical terrorist-wannabes, I'm not buying it. Seems to me it is a whole bunch of poor people pissed off about being poor, some of whom are tired about not being accepted by their adoptive homeland, or even place of their birth.
Check out Apostatewindbag's posts on the European media and their spin on recent internal events. Makes me wonder what kind of press the now-heroic 68ers got over here during their days of glory.
"Hippies who hate freedom, cause widespread mayhem in drug-induced hysteria, then grow up to become the forces of government oppression themselves."
As much as North American media would have me believe that this is the work of islamic radical terrorist-wannabes, I'm not buying it. Seems to me it is a whole bunch of poor people pissed off about being poor, some of whom are tired about not being accepted by their adoptive homeland, or even place of their birth.
Check out Apostatewindbag's posts on the European media and their spin on recent internal events. Makes me wonder what kind of press the now-heroic 68ers got over here during their days of glory.
"Hippies who hate freedom, cause widespread mayhem in drug-induced hysteria, then grow up to become the forces of government oppression themselves."
Friday, November 04, 2005
A Rough Guide to The Inevitable Casual Personality Profiling Through Place of Origin
Clinking glasses and beer spilling from pitchers. A CFL game on the ubiquitous big screens covering every wall of the sports bar, masquerading as an old english pub. Friday night beers with the crowd from work in a bar filled with other members of the downtown after-work crowd.
"So where are you from, buddy?"
Geez, here goes again. Uncomfortable looks around the table are exchanged.
"I'm from mars," he answers tiredly. Person who asked question in first place looks mildly insulted by the answer.
Jamaican: easygoing, but lazy.
Or perhaps he's African?: Sexist, politically radical. Grew up dirt-poor.
Not that ethnicity isn't important. I hate to take the perspective that ethnicity is completely unimportant, that our ethnicity doesn't affect who we are or how we see the world. How and where and by whom we are raised are important in forming who we are, but not all of who we are. Where you are from is often the smallest part of the equation, but the most loaded question to answer.
A quick look around the table revealed a motley crew of stereotypes to be had:
Greek: hot-headed, don't anger him or argue when he espouses an opinion. loyal to family.
German: outwardly artistic, inner fascist.
Whitebread, standard Anglo-WASP Canadian female: easy to get in the sack, good chances here.
Are we so pressed for conversation that we must resort to a quick judgement of personalty based on a cursory glance at one another? A quick sizing up by birthplace, ethnicity or accent (not to mention gender, height, clothing)?
Large-city Eastcoaster(New York, Toronto): pushy, overly businesslike.
Raised in small town westcoast: drinks Kokanee, likes to smoke pot and fish.
Grew up in Surrey: get him drunk and he's likely to shitkick you.
Lest I sound like a crusader of political correctness, or idealistic, easily offended proponent of identity politics, let me stop there. I just think we need to take a step back before we judge, or even ask.
And for those of noble birth, but no particular origin, other than whitey-white.
Canadian Euro-Mutt: easy to push around, nice, but a little boring.
"I'm not from Mars," he eventually said after the conversation had progressed through a few different drunken topics.
"I'm from Zimbabwe."
"So where are you from, buddy?"
Geez, here goes again. Uncomfortable looks around the table are exchanged.
"I'm from mars," he answers tiredly. Person who asked question in first place looks mildly insulted by the answer.
Jamaican: easygoing, but lazy.
Or perhaps he's African?: Sexist, politically radical. Grew up dirt-poor.
Not that ethnicity isn't important. I hate to take the perspective that ethnicity is completely unimportant, that our ethnicity doesn't affect who we are or how we see the world. How and where and by whom we are raised are important in forming who we are, but not all of who we are. Where you are from is often the smallest part of the equation, but the most loaded question to answer.
A quick look around the table revealed a motley crew of stereotypes to be had:
Greek: hot-headed, don't anger him or argue when he espouses an opinion. loyal to family.
German: outwardly artistic, inner fascist.
Whitebread, standard Anglo-WASP Canadian female: easy to get in the sack, good chances here.
Are we so pressed for conversation that we must resort to a quick judgement of personalty based on a cursory glance at one another? A quick sizing up by birthplace, ethnicity or accent (not to mention gender, height, clothing)?
Large-city Eastcoaster(New York, Toronto): pushy, overly businesslike.
Raised in small town westcoast: drinks Kokanee, likes to smoke pot and fish.
Grew up in Surrey: get him drunk and he's likely to shitkick you.
Lest I sound like a crusader of political correctness, or idealistic, easily offended proponent of identity politics, let me stop there. I just think we need to take a step back before we judge, or even ask.
And for those of noble birth, but no particular origin, other than whitey-white.
Canadian Euro-Mutt: easy to push around, nice, but a little boring.
"I'm not from Mars," he eventually said after the conversation had progressed through a few different drunken topics.
"I'm from Zimbabwe."
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
smelly selling agents
In househunting news, I had a place sold out from under me before I could take another look at it and decide to make an offer, and I got a look at a rotten basement in another place, since the tenant upstairs was (according to the sleazy-seeming agent) refusing to let people view the rest of the house, despite 24 hours notice given.
I walked into the basement and they hadn't even bothered to remove the old car seat, or sweep up the dirt all over the carpet, or fix anything. Walls covered in mold all along the foundation and it looked like someone had done a deep inspection for rot- with a sledgehammer. The south wall of house was rotten through from outside to the inner drywall, you could see through the holes bashed in the bathroom wall. Worse than the place I live in now and there was no telling what horrors were hidden.
The price for this prize? $438,000. Oh, and you had to bid against the listing agent, who clearly wasn't making any attempts to make the place look better, since he had a bid in himself. Bet he was offering less than $438,000. I'm still thinking about going to the real estate board with this one.
My score so far:
1. house in good neighbourhood- 2 appointments to view, stood up by listing agent both times, resident not home and when did come home, refused to let me in. house got re-listed for $20,000 more and then taken off the market.
2. good house, right price, wrong neighbourhood. if i am to live with no car, i need to be near the train. it sold quickly, anyways
3. 3 open houses in one day: 1 was awful and old and small and dirty with massive renos required, one was a horrid renovation, where the owner followed me around, trying to discourage me from looking too closely at the spray covering the ceiling tiles and other hidden evidence of water intrusions. i could hardly stand in the basement suite and I am average height. third house was nice, but actually listed at about $100,000 less than it could fetch- they were auctioning it off that tuesday, but if the reserve was met, the auction would never happen and you needed a $10,000 bank draft to join the game.
4. nice place, right location, but too expensive, considering the need for about $15,000 in basement suite renos. i thought about bidding low anyways, but the listing agent discouraged this, saying price was firm. then it got re-listed at $25,000 less and sold at midnight the day before I had my second viewing.
5. "come look at my wonderful listing for a rotten basement that looks like a former crack den and bid against me and a bunch of other realtors without having seen the entire place. did i mention my offer is being considered tonight, so don't expect to be able to make an appointment to view at a later date". i smell property flipping conspiracy.
I walked into the basement and they hadn't even bothered to remove the old car seat, or sweep up the dirt all over the carpet, or fix anything. Walls covered in mold all along the foundation and it looked like someone had done a deep inspection for rot- with a sledgehammer. The south wall of house was rotten through from outside to the inner drywall, you could see through the holes bashed in the bathroom wall. Worse than the place I live in now and there was no telling what horrors were hidden.
The price for this prize? $438,000. Oh, and you had to bid against the listing agent, who clearly wasn't making any attempts to make the place look better, since he had a bid in himself. Bet he was offering less than $438,000. I'm still thinking about going to the real estate board with this one.
My score so far:
1. house in good neighbourhood- 2 appointments to view, stood up by listing agent both times, resident not home and when did come home, refused to let me in. house got re-listed for $20,000 more and then taken off the market.
2. good house, right price, wrong neighbourhood. if i am to live with no car, i need to be near the train. it sold quickly, anyways
3. 3 open houses in one day: 1 was awful and old and small and dirty with massive renos required, one was a horrid renovation, where the owner followed me around, trying to discourage me from looking too closely at the spray covering the ceiling tiles and other hidden evidence of water intrusions. i could hardly stand in the basement suite and I am average height. third house was nice, but actually listed at about $100,000 less than it could fetch- they were auctioning it off that tuesday, but if the reserve was met, the auction would never happen and you needed a $10,000 bank draft to join the game.
4. nice place, right location, but too expensive, considering the need for about $15,000 in basement suite renos. i thought about bidding low anyways, but the listing agent discouraged this, saying price was firm. then it got re-listed at $25,000 less and sold at midnight the day before I had my second viewing.
5. "come look at my wonderful listing for a rotten basement that looks like a former crack den and bid against me and a bunch of other realtors without having seen the entire place. did i mention my offer is being considered tonight, so don't expect to be able to make an appointment to view at a later date". i smell property flipping conspiracy.
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
"Bingo Jed had a light on"
The man who wrote "Big old jet airliner" the well-known Steve Miller song is dead. Paul Pena, the Genghis Blues guy passed away. I wasn't a big fan, but I has just finished reading about the tragic death of Falco- Hans Hölzel in a traffic accident in 1998 only to find out PP died immediately after.
As I mentioned, I wasn't a big Paul Pena fan but he is single-handedly responsible for one fo the best misquoted song lyrics of all time, right up there with "the ants are my friends, they're blowing in the wind", "'cuse me, while I kiss this guy", or "when a man loves a walnut" and we owe him a thanks for that alone.
I love misquoted song lyrics, I consider them on of my hobbies, along with Engrish.
I also thing Falco was brilliant- beyond just being an 80s icon, he was one of the first white rappers, without having to be a totally pompous, sexist Vanilla Ice goofball. He also wasn't copying black rappers, he just rapped because that was his style- IN GERMAN, no less. All of these horrible German gangsta rapper copycats who try to sound American have a thing to learn from old Falco.
I named my Linux server "Falco" - my wife refuses to give into my demands to name our first son "Falco", at least my server can proudly bear his name. Or maybe we can get another cool cat...
As I mentioned, I wasn't a big Paul Pena fan but he is single-handedly responsible for one fo the best misquoted song lyrics of all time, right up there with "the ants are my friends, they're blowing in the wind", "'cuse me, while I kiss this guy", or "when a man loves a walnut" and we owe him a thanks for that alone.
I love misquoted song lyrics, I consider them on of my hobbies, along with Engrish.
I also thing Falco was brilliant- beyond just being an 80s icon, he was one of the first white rappers, without having to be a totally pompous, sexist Vanilla Ice goofball. He also wasn't copying black rappers, he just rapped because that was his style- IN GERMAN, no less. All of these horrible German gangsta rapper copycats who try to sound American have a thing to learn from old Falco.
I named my Linux server "Falco" - my wife refuses to give into my demands to name our first son "Falco", at least my server can proudly bear his name. Or maybe we can get another cool cat...
Monday, October 03, 2005
house-hunting 101
Came across this questionnaire on a website for first-time home buyers.
Wants and Needs
- Price range
$450,000 or less, if I can find it. half a million smackeroos, and I still have to fix it up. ohmigod. doesn't that get me an estate with an 8-car garage and private steambath with helipad in New Brunswick?
- Building style/design
not butt-ugly and completely surrounded by concrete, like some of the houses I've looked at.
- New construction
no. i can't afford it and why pay extra taxes to the government?
- Remodeled
no. well-kept.
- Fixer upper
yes- i want to increase the value, but not have to do major repairs or renovations.
- Minimum # bedrooms
2-3
- Bathrooms
1-2, not counting the suite downstairs, they must have their own place to poop.
- Family room
?
- Fire place
meh.
- Office/den
yes. i need somewhere to hide.
- Hardwood floors
hell, yeah.
- Swimming pool / Spa
yes. and a pleasure-garden filled with nubile young love-slaves. purely so that they can appreciate my flowers and fan me with palm fronds, of course.
- In-law quarters
if by "in-law quarters", you mean "basement suite", yes.
- Workshop
absolutely. Builder Bob be in da house! now where do i plug this reciprojigsledgamasawbigbadmofo in? wahahahaaa! ow!
- Central air conditioning
and a wet bar in every room, stocked with the finest champagnes and fine stinky unpasturized cheeses smuggled from europe in my cheese mule's secret luggage compartments.
- Parking facilities
the street is good enough for my friends. nothing but the best for the car owners in my life. more room for my pleasure garden.
- Yard size
big as possible. my own private fiefdom to fence and dig up as I please. arf!
- School district
yes. ah must edumacate my chilluns.
- Work locations
the whole damn place will be a work location until I am happy with it. you will never see me without sawdust on my clothes.
- Special zoning or location
must be zoned HCS-01 (hippies, coffee and skytrain close by).
Wants and Needs
- Price range
$450,000 or less, if I can find it. half a million smackeroos, and I still have to fix it up. ohmigod. doesn't that get me an estate with an 8-car garage and private steambath with helipad in New Brunswick?
- Building style/design
not butt-ugly and completely surrounded by concrete, like some of the houses I've looked at.
- New construction
no. i can't afford it and why pay extra taxes to the government?
- Remodeled
no. well-kept.
- Fixer upper
yes- i want to increase the value, but not have to do major repairs or renovations.
- Minimum # bedrooms
2-3
- Bathrooms
1-2, not counting the suite downstairs, they must have their own place to poop.
- Family room
?
- Fire place
meh.
- Office/den
yes. i need somewhere to hide.
- Hardwood floors
hell, yeah.
- Swimming pool / Spa
yes. and a pleasure-garden filled with nubile young love-slaves. purely so that they can appreciate my flowers and fan me with palm fronds, of course.
- In-law quarters
if by "in-law quarters", you mean "basement suite", yes.
- Workshop
absolutely. Builder Bob be in da house! now where do i plug this reciprojigsledgamasawbigbadmofo in? wahahahaaa! ow!
- Central air conditioning
and a wet bar in every room, stocked with the finest champagnes and fine stinky unpasturized cheeses smuggled from europe in my cheese mule's secret luggage compartments.
- Parking facilities
the street is good enough for my friends. nothing but the best for the car owners in my life. more room for my pleasure garden.
- Yard size
big as possible. my own private fiefdom to fence and dig up as I please. arf!
- School district
yes. ah must edumacate my chilluns.
- Work locations
the whole damn place will be a work location until I am happy with it. you will never see me without sawdust on my clothes.
- Special zoning or location
must be zoned HCS-01 (hippies, coffee and skytrain close by).
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Gronk! Hulk Smash! Ugh! Grunt!
The real destruction began this morning with sledgehammers smashing the exterior walls at 7AM. In murphy's law fashion, they began outside the bedroom and then worked their way to removing the last of the stucco around the doors around the time I was leaving for work, so I had to remove materials to open the door after realizing I'd been blocked inside the house.
shows in seattle
Many, many musicians worth seeing never, or rarely make it up to Canada. Some American artists can't, cause, well, they have "questionable character". Once upon a time, Paul Robeson was denied admission to Canada, for being too left-wing.
Today, artists are more likely to skip us, because we are more trouble than we are worth. So that means, Seattle is the closest place to see some shows that are worth seeing. A good friend of mine goes to shows in Seattle all the time and it's how he met his current girlfriend, who just escaped the land of George Bush to live with him here in Vancouver.
My friend is a music nut and I have to turn him on to the dark death-bluegrass of Gillian Welch, so that I have someone to see her with in Seattle. My friend's taste in music runs more to bands with names like: "Death Mullet".
Today, artists are more likely to skip us, because we are more trouble than we are worth. So that means, Seattle is the closest place to see some shows that are worth seeing. A good friend of mine goes to shows in Seattle all the time and it's how he met his current girlfriend, who just escaped the land of George Bush to live with him here in Vancouver.
My friend is a music nut and I have to turn him on to the dark death-bluegrass of Gillian Welch, so that I have someone to see her with in Seattle. My friend's taste in music runs more to bands with names like: "Death Mullet".
Thursday, September 15, 2005
You say FANNYPACK and I say Pants!
...let's call the whole thing off.
Apparently to British ears, the term "fannypack" sounds obscene. To my sensitive North American ears, "bumbag" sounds obsc...not right, anyways. My Quebecois coworker wears a black leather fannypack, if only he knew the awful truth.
The phrase i really, really want to steal from the Brits is "pants". Trousers are pants, so pants are something you wear beneath your pants-er, I mean, trousers. UNDERpants. I get it now. Some thing that is bad or ridiculous is pants.
I want to import that: "What? That is just PANTS! The most PANTS thing I ever heard! This place is the PANTS! Awwww, PANTS!
Let the PANTS begin!
Sincerely,
Mr. Pants
Apparently to British ears, the term "fannypack" sounds obscene. To my sensitive North American ears, "bumbag" sounds obsc...not right, anyways. My Quebecois coworker wears a black leather fannypack, if only he knew the awful truth.
The phrase i really, really want to steal from the Brits is "pants". Trousers are pants, so pants are something you wear beneath your pants-er, I mean, trousers. UNDERpants. I get it now. Some thing that is bad or ridiculous is pants.
I want to import that: "What? That is just PANTS! The most PANTS thing I ever heard! This place is the PANTS! Awwww, PANTS!
Let the PANTS begin!
Sincerely,
Mr. Pants
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
creepy, creeping, creepily
The security guard on duty last night was seriously creeping me out. I understand their job is to lurk, but everywhere I was, this guy was there. It was like he was expecting me to do something illegal.
Now maybe I have a guilty conscience, but I made it clear to him during our first encounter (right outside my home) that I live here, this is my bike and I am not the suspicious cyclist from earlier this evening. My housemates were right inside the window behind me, it was hardly suspicious to be heading to return a video at 8PM. Anyways at this point, he should have marked me as "friendly". He's not the regular guy, but he can figure out that I live there and he's not hired to watch people who live there.
Then I went to water the trees transplanted from my wrecked courtyard on the other side of the complex. There he was. He watched me water the trees. He followed me onto the sidewalk of the busy road in front of the complex were the trees were now and stood there, watching me work.
Then Chelsea knocked on my door to get me to sign something. I shut the front door to keep her cat (which follows her everywhere) outside and mine inside, since they were threatening to scrap. As we stood outside speaking, there he was at the bottom of my stairs, standing, watching us...watching...
I hurried back inside to avoid his prying eyes. I hope he's not there tonight.
Now maybe I have a guilty conscience, but I made it clear to him during our first encounter (right outside my home) that I live here, this is my bike and I am not the suspicious cyclist from earlier this evening. My housemates were right inside the window behind me, it was hardly suspicious to be heading to return a video at 8PM. Anyways at this point, he should have marked me as "friendly". He's not the regular guy, but he can figure out that I live there and he's not hired to watch people who live there.
Then I went to water the trees transplanted from my wrecked courtyard on the other side of the complex. There he was. He watched me water the trees. He followed me onto the sidewalk of the busy road in front of the complex were the trees were now and stood there, watching me work.
Then Chelsea knocked on my door to get me to sign something. I shut the front door to keep her cat (which follows her everywhere) outside and mine inside, since they were threatening to scrap. As we stood outside speaking, there he was at the bottom of my stairs, standing, watching us...watching...
I hurried back inside to avoid his prying eyes. I hope he's not there tonight.
True adventure can be had in your own backyard.
Cycling to Surrey.
National Geographic, Sept 2005
The first question one asks when contemplating a ride from Vancouver to Surrey is: why? There is a perfectly good rapid transit system in place which now allows you to bring your bike along. You could pack your bike into a train and ride to somewhere nice from the end of the line. Truth be told, sometimes one has to experience the urban jungle close up. Riding through the wilds of Metrotown with barely in control drivers swirling about you, one gets a chance to feel really alive that tamer places simply cannot provide. Between here and the mean streets of Surrey, there is an urban jungle into which only the most adventurous cyclists dare venture.
The next question to ask is: how to get there? The crumbling, ancient path put down by a long-gone Socred civilization that knew Grace McCarthy as Transportation Minister? Too broken up and meandering to be much use to the urban cycle warrior. A path strewn liberally with dog walkers and their feral pets, as well as treacherous hidden road crossings between the hidden temples and Mayan pyramids. Danger lurks around every corner on that path. It is far too dangerous for even this writer.
In the interests of saving time (the society grant won't last forever), the choice of simplicity has to be made. To run with the herds along the most direct route possible: Kingsway. To ride with the armoured carriages of bulbous steel, the rhino herds of motorists galloping to and from the malls and the suburbs. To experience danger firsthand, return from the shadow of death in one piece and live to tell the tale.
Continued in installment #2.
National Geographic, Sept 2005
The first question one asks when contemplating a ride from Vancouver to Surrey is: why? There is a perfectly good rapid transit system in place which now allows you to bring your bike along. You could pack your bike into a train and ride to somewhere nice from the end of the line. Truth be told, sometimes one has to experience the urban jungle close up. Riding through the wilds of Metrotown with barely in control drivers swirling about you, one gets a chance to feel really alive that tamer places simply cannot provide. Between here and the mean streets of Surrey, there is an urban jungle into which only the most adventurous cyclists dare venture.
The next question to ask is: how to get there? The crumbling, ancient path put down by a long-gone Socred civilization that knew Grace McCarthy as Transportation Minister? Too broken up and meandering to be much use to the urban cycle warrior. A path strewn liberally with dog walkers and their feral pets, as well as treacherous hidden road crossings between the hidden temples and Mayan pyramids. Danger lurks around every corner on that path. It is far too dangerous for even this writer.
In the interests of saving time (the society grant won't last forever), the choice of simplicity has to be made. To run with the herds along the most direct route possible: Kingsway. To ride with the armoured carriages of bulbous steel, the rhino herds of motorists galloping to and from the malls and the suburbs. To experience danger firsthand, return from the shadow of death in one piece and live to tell the tale.
Continued in installment #2.
Kiss my ass, SpamBots
Word verification for comments has been switched on. That means anonymous comments can still happen, but require a real person to read a word from an image and interpret that into text. Simple for people, difficult for automated applications. Until someone writes an OCR-Bot. Hmmm...
It's amazing how much computer processing power it can take to do something people take for granted every day.
It's amazing how much computer processing power it can take to do something people take for granted every day.
I could smell the bog fire smoke today. Hope it rains. Here's some musings on the labour conflicts happening in Vancouver right now:
In the CBC and Telus strikes we have seen corporations position themselves in an extremely advantageously long before removal of labour has occurred. At the very first inklings of labour unrest at Telus, "managers" were hired to fill positions that are typically shop-floor positions, such as installation and repair. These are the guys who wear toolbelts and come to your house to fix your phone wiring. Not a job typically done by a member of management. This in an already top-to-middle heavy corporation swelled the erranks of management. These workers were integrated into the labour force within the last year, accepted their jobs which were likely an improvement over what they were working at previously and, being used to the new economy, accepted what they got, knowing that even though they were being deliberately shut out of the union, they'd gotten themselves a better job. Most of these people probably had no idea that they would be called upon to scab during a strike and not given a choice, as they were technically management. Such an unfair position to place people in.
Scab- such an old economy, old-labour term isn't it? Like something out of an old Marlon Brando or gangster movie. Surely in this new workplace, this enterprenurial environment that is the new economy, where no one can expect the jib security and workplace solidarity of the past, "scabbing" doesn't really exist? These are just people deliberately shut out of the union organization by a company bent on saving dollars and contracting out, not people who are betraying their former coworkers, aren't they?
These poor unsuspecting pawns of the Telus conflict will likely be given the boot by their employer once this issue is resolved. Telus has been filling their war chest with capable workers for a while now, it looks like and when they get what they want, it's always the fat that gets trimmed. That's the new economy. Kind of makes you wish they could see it coming.
What's next, doctors are going to be replaced by hospital administrators trained to do surgery? Teachers forced to scrub the hallways of schools? The problem with threatening a strike these days is the bosses see it coming and damn well make sure the wheels are oiled and there's someone that knows how to make them turn.
So has the precedent been set that strikes are useless now? Hardly. But it does no benefit to the union movement to remove your labour only to see the company do far better than limp along. The media is always going to be less friendly to the union than the corporation, as cynical as it might sound. The corporate media thrives on conflict, angry faces on the picket lines make for good press. The police is there to make sure the picketers play nice. What the corporation is doing is sneaky, underhanded and as far as I am concerned, unethical, but technically legal. Not a pretty picture for the Canadian labour unions of tomorrow.
To steal an idea from a friend of mine, strikes are futile if you cannot shut the workplace down. Perhaps this is what needs to happen. Unions need to adapt to the new economy by hauling out some ideas from the old economy. Raise the level of radicalism, bring out the burning barrels and play the old economy game of shutting the place down. Totally. Doing things half-way only means people are going to lose their homes after their savings erode and strike pay no longer pays the rent or mortgage. Strike harder and shorter. At the very least, no one will be able to call unions ineffectual, bloated bureaucracies. What we are seeing today is the legalized form of early 1900s union busting, which was often violent, but now has become institutionalized. The cards are stacked in favour of the corporations more and more. It's time for a new radicalization in the union movement during this summer of labour unrest.
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Fire in the Bog
To Quote David Zirin's political sports column, Edge of Sports:
"There is nothing “unnatural” about the disaster of New Orleans. When politicians smirk at global warming, when developers look at our wetlands and dream of mini malls, when billions are flushed in the name of war and tax-cuts, when issues of poverty and racism don’t even register in Presidential debates, all it takes is wind, albeit 145 mph wind, to expose a sturdy super power as a house of cards."
-------------------------------------
It makes me think about our at times short-sighted land use planning right here in BC and the tragic consequences it could have. Burns Bog would be much less likely to burn regularly if it weren't being drained at it's edges by industry and berry farming. Richmond is a bad place to build high-rises if an earthquake happens...
If we were to allow Burns Bog to function as a natural system, like it is supposed to, and clooect water instead of slowly bleeding it out through it's edges, it would reduce the fire hazard. How simple. Now if we could only stop dumping garbage on it as well.
I've hiked through Burns Bog quite a bit and it is a truly wild place to be so close to a city. Parts of it are completely inaccessible, unless you have hip waders, ropes and maybe are an olympic pole vaulter ( a method Europeans use to traverse bog landscapes). But on a walk through this private land that should be a nature reserve, park or other protected area, the impacts of humanity are constantly there, albeit often partially sunken into the peat.
"There is nothing “unnatural” about the disaster of New Orleans. When politicians smirk at global warming, when developers look at our wetlands and dream of mini malls, when billions are flushed in the name of war and tax-cuts, when issues of poverty and racism don’t even register in Presidential debates, all it takes is wind, albeit 145 mph wind, to expose a sturdy super power as a house of cards."
-------------------------------------
It makes me think about our at times short-sighted land use planning right here in BC and the tragic consequences it could have. Burns Bog would be much less likely to burn regularly if it weren't being drained at it's edges by industry and berry farming. Richmond is a bad place to build high-rises if an earthquake happens...
If we were to allow Burns Bog to function as a natural system, like it is supposed to, and clooect water instead of slowly bleeding it out through it's edges, it would reduce the fire hazard. How simple. Now if we could only stop dumping garbage on it as well.
I've hiked through Burns Bog quite a bit and it is a truly wild place to be so close to a city. Parts of it are completely inaccessible, unless you have hip waders, ropes and maybe are an olympic pole vaulter ( a method Europeans use to traverse bog landscapes). But on a walk through this private land that should be a nature reserve, park or other protected area, the impacts of humanity are constantly there, albeit often partially sunken into the peat.
Blog Spam
I've been getting spammed through my blog. I am so livid about this. This is a public statement of my intense hatred of spammers.
This post will probably get me more spam. Eff'in great.
In Soviet Russia...
This post will probably get me more spam. Eff'in great.
In Soviet Russia...
Thursday, September 08, 2005
BCParisTopia
I am at work right now (still at Radiant) and it is a slow day here. I have been thinking about writing/editing lately on the side. Leigh picks up extra cash by copyediting in Brussels. I figure I can specialize in high-tech/engineering/IT manual copyediting, as I have a familiarity with the language. There are some copyediting and grammar courses at SFU to help refresh my grammar and teach me writing styles other than CP style.
I spent last weekend at Leigh's parents visiting him. They are in the process of completing a home on Bowen Island on a waterfront lot. It's nice. It's a pretty regular home, sort of a modern rendition of an arts and crafts home, but the location is great and kindo of historic, as it was part of the Union Steamship Company's picnic grounds on a big resort which covered most of the lower part of Bowen. They look out on a little bay, with a weir/bridge across a lagoon which is a good 60-70 years old. Old by BC standards, anyways.
Lisa, Leigh and I launched a canoe right next to the house and paddled up-island. A few bays over, we found a spot where we could paddle out into the channel between the mainland and Bowen Island and drift back into shore almost to the rocky shore, then paddle back. We had a good supply of dark German beer tins and lime-flavoured tortilla chips. Except fothe odd ferry wake and overzealous speedboater, we had a relaxing time.
Discussing the merits of European cities versus Western Canadian cities, we imagined taking Paris, and dropping it just about where Vancouver is now. Having the culture and food of Europe, with the view of green mountains and islands we had in front of us with Paris just a ferry ride away. Does a place like that exist?
Anyways, it was a great lazy afternoon, drifting about as much as paddling
I spent last weekend at Leigh's parents visiting him. They are in the process of completing a home on Bowen Island on a waterfront lot. It's nice. It's a pretty regular home, sort of a modern rendition of an arts and crafts home, but the location is great and kindo of historic, as it was part of the Union Steamship Company's picnic grounds on a big resort which covered most of the lower part of Bowen. They look out on a little bay, with a weir/bridge across a lagoon which is a good 60-70 years old. Old by BC standards, anyways.
Lisa, Leigh and I launched a canoe right next to the house and paddled up-island. A few bays over, we found a spot where we could paddle out into the channel between the mainland and Bowen Island and drift back into shore almost to the rocky shore, then paddle back. We had a good supply of dark German beer tins and lime-flavoured tortilla chips. Except fothe odd ferry wake and overzealous speedboater, we had a relaxing time.
Discussing the merits of European cities versus Western Canadian cities, we imagined taking Paris, and dropping it just about where Vancouver is now. Having the culture and food of Europe, with the view of green mountains and islands we had in front of us with Paris just a ferry ride away. Does a place like that exist?
Anyways, it was a great lazy afternoon, drifting about as much as paddling
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
may you live in interesting...places
Just learned that Vancouver was home to the first hybrid vehicle taxi. Apparently we are very friendly to alternative-fueled vehicles here and known for it throughout the world. Ironically, we are a place where the large SUV is quite popular as well.
Vancouver is like that: home of the richest and poorest postal codes in Vancouver, some of the most conservative and most looney-left politicos, basically on opposite ends of extremes sometimes.
More later, when I figure out a point to all this.
Vancouver is like that: home of the richest and poorest postal codes in Vancouver, some of the most conservative and most looney-left politicos, basically on opposite ends of extremes sometimes.
More later, when I figure out a point to all this.
Thursday, September 01, 2005
loot.
When black people do it, it's called "looting":
http://news.yahoo.com/photo/050830/480/ladm10208301530
When white people do it, it's called "finding":
http://news.yahoo.com/photo/050830/photos_ts_afp/050830071810_shxwaoma_photo1
Why don't we pretend it's just "shopping"?
Update: Associate Press must have recieved flak for these photo captions, as I believe they removed the second one. Seems I wasn't the only one who has blogged about this.
http://news.yahoo.com/photo/050830/480/ladm10208301530
When white people do it, it's called "finding":
http://news.yahoo.com/photo/050830/photos_ts_afp/050830071810_shxwaoma_photo1
Why don't we pretend it's just "shopping"?
Update: Associate Press must have recieved flak for these photo captions, as I believe they removed the second one. Seems I wasn't the only one who has blogged about this.
Friday, August 26, 2005
Hokey.
you route some packets in,
you route some packets out,
you flap the interface,
and you get some packet loss.
You do the Hokey-Pokey
and you call up Tech Support.
That's what it's all about!
you route some packets out,
you flap the interface,
and you get some packet loss.
You do the Hokey-Pokey
and you call up Tech Support.
That's what it's all about!
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
"Blog(People)Power"
The CBC strike (and to a lesser degree the Telus strike) have been somewhat radicalized by Blogs. This excites me to no end, because it is people, albeit highly media-savvy people, wrestling their media out of the hands of the corporations. In the past, people like me would have had to rely on news filtered through more corporate media. It is interesting listening to the perspectives from the people that are directly affected, without heavy editing.
The workers haven't stopped doing what they love to do, just because they can't get into the studios anymore. They are the CBC and so are we.
http://www.cbcunplugged.com/
http://thetyee.ca/News/2005/08/22/CBCUnplugged/
http://radio.blogware.com
-Lots of CBC blogs here.
Studio Zero streaming broadcast (I hate the term "Podcast")
Joe Keithley and East Van's own Geoff Berner play live on the pickets.
An interesting note on BBC's union not really liking the fact their wireservice is being pressed into scabbing.
and the whole thing deserved a mention on my favorite: Metafilter
plus there is a couple great CBC employee blogs I think deserve mention that haven't been mentioned in these sourcest: http://slushpile.blogspot.com http://cannedclams.blogspot.com -keep your chins up!
as Deb said in her Blog- just wait till hockey season for the fur to start flying.
More on Telus later- my father-in-law expects they'll be out for the rest of the year.
The workers haven't stopped doing what they love to do, just because they can't get into the studios anymore. They are the CBC and so are we.
http://www.cbcunplugged.com/
http://thetyee.ca/News/2005/08/22/CBCUnplugged/
http://radio.blogware.com
-Lots of CBC blogs here.
Studio Zero streaming broadcast (I hate the term "Podcast")
Joe Keithley and East Van's own Geoff Berner play live on the pickets.
An interesting note on BBC's union not really liking the fact their wireservice is being pressed into scabbing.
and the whole thing deserved a mention on my favorite: Metafilter
plus there is a couple great CBC employee blogs I think deserve mention that haven't been mentioned in these sourcest: http://slushpile.blogspot.com http://cannedclams.blogspot.com -keep your chins up!
as Deb said in her Blog- just wait till hockey season for the fur to start flying.
More on Telus later- my father-in-law expects they'll be out for the rest of the year.
Saturday, August 20, 2005
today at work, Salesperson phoned the other techs and asked them to escalate a firewall issue for Big Customer to the configuration group. I phoned BC and looked at the issue. Seeing nothing obviously wrong, i told them what I saw and was told to escalate as they'd been promised. i called sysadmin pager #1, no answer, pager #2, same thing. I called OnDutySysadmin at home and left two messages, no answer. I called Manager#2, next up in chain of escalation, played phone tag for a bit then was told to call Manager#2, as it is his group that deals with configuring devices , M#2 tells me to call M#1. I call M#1 and tell him I am calling his technical guy, where I leave a mesg. This guy is going to have to call M#2's technical guy to make any sense of this problem. All along, we have been asked to escalate to M#2's technical guy, who is technically on call this weekend, but the interdepartmental boundaries have to be respected.
Sometimes I think I work for the smallest byzantine bureaucracy ever invented.
I called Salesperson and told her she should be the one calling people who aren't home to do things they don't want to do.
What sucks about my job, is I am the only one who cannot refuse ownership of customer problems. I have to listen to all their bitching and I end up having to fix the problem myself anyways, with more problems piling up. Yet, senior management will never realize this, because they think I can escalate things and people will take ownership of them and then I can simply move to the next thing. When things are escalated to me, they are not recorded.
When things are escalated to me, they are not recorded. Meanwhile, people's inability to take responsibility for their own work makes my work flow appear to stop in the eyes of management.
Sometimes I think I work for the smallest byzantine bureaucracy ever invented.
I called Salesperson and told her she should be the one calling people who aren't home to do things they don't want to do.
What sucks about my job, is I am the only one who cannot refuse ownership of customer problems. I have to listen to all their bitching and I end up having to fix the problem myself anyways, with more problems piling up. Yet, senior management will never realize this, because they think I can escalate things and people will take ownership of them and then I can simply move to the next thing. When things are escalated to me, they are not recorded.
When things are escalated to me, they are not recorded. Meanwhile, people's inability to take responsibility for their own work makes my work flow appear to stop in the eyes of management.
Friday, August 19, 2005
my rubble garden
The courtyard of my townhouse is gone for repairs until at least december, when I will get a nice new courtyard. Question is, will I still be living there then?
Update: the only plants I will be allowed will be in pots, which can look nice, but are way more work. my trees (I have 6 decent-sized trees) will be gone, I will be working with the arborists to save what we can. I am such a softy that I hate to cut down a tree or other plant that is healthy unless it is a trumpet vine, which I hate passionately.
Like everyone else, I want to kick the ass of whoever designed and built this place. As much as I like renovating, I wish I was just improving my place, instead of ripping it to the guts just to make it work properly and not grow mold inside.
I just pray it gets done quick, so I can enjoy the benefits. Then I can finally start my bonsai and otherwise stunted plant garden that I've always wanted. I have some little trees in pots now that would make ideal bonsai candidates. Now hopefully I can culture them without killing them.
Update: the only plants I will be allowed will be in pots, which can look nice, but are way more work. my trees (I have 6 decent-sized trees) will be gone, I will be working with the arborists to save what we can. I am such a softy that I hate to cut down a tree or other plant that is healthy unless it is a trumpet vine, which I hate passionately.
Like everyone else, I want to kick the ass of whoever designed and built this place. As much as I like renovating, I wish I was just improving my place, instead of ripping it to the guts just to make it work properly and not grow mold inside.
I just pray it gets done quick, so I can enjoy the benefits. Then I can finally start my bonsai and otherwise stunted plant garden that I've always wanted. I have some little trees in pots now that would make ideal bonsai candidates. Now hopefully I can culture them without killing them.
Saturday, August 13, 2005
My cousin Traci is now a real estate agent. She's also of German and Scottish ancestry. You know what famous person is German and Scottish?
Christopher Walken.
Interesting.
Me on the other hand, I'm pretty much German with a dash of Polish, which is typical for NorthEastern Germans. I always prided myself onbeing one of the few people I knew in Canada who wasn't at least partly English/Scottish/Irish/Welsh.
Anyway, I don't know if this is real, but if he's not a total bigot, I might vote for him (if I were American, which I am not). Perhaps with Bruce Springsteen as VP. I know he's got some politics I agree with.
Walken2008.com
Christopher Walken.
Interesting.
Me on the other hand, I'm pretty much German with a dash of Polish, which is typical for NorthEastern Germans. I always prided myself onbeing one of the few people I knew in Canada who wasn't at least partly English/Scottish/Irish/Welsh.
Anyway, I don't know if this is real, but if he's not a total bigot, I might vote for him (if I were American, which I am not). Perhaps with Bruce Springsteen as VP. I know he's got some politics I agree with.
Walken2008.com
Friday, July 15, 2005
she's smart, she's pretty, she can write well...
Well, I'm kind of biased, I'm married to her. I think I'm pretty lucky. Now if I could get her interested in washing dishes...And I can't link her from my blog, cause she's on Livejournal and I am a Blogger man. It's like West Side Story. "oh Libelle, Libelle, wherefore art thou..."
http://www.livejournal.com/users/blaue_libelle/
She's stiltwalking tonight:
web.radiant.net/phoenix
http://www.livejournal.com/users/blaue_libelle/
She's stiltwalking tonight:
web.radiant.net/phoenix
Friday, July 08, 2005
Lay off Bono and Bob already
#1. Rock stars should shut up and sing and not have opinions.
Firstly, their hearts are firmly in the right place no matter how ridiculous things get. They are fighting what they see as the good fight and I can't see them doing it for any other reasons than they believe it's the right thing to do.
Secondly, anyone who crosses genres gets ridiculed in popular opinion, yet we have managed to eventually accept Reagan as president, Arn as the Governator, Cate Blanchett as a serious actor and David Hasselhoff as a popular singer in Germany. Well, 3 out of 4 ain't bad at least.
Thirdly, you can only sing about it so long until it becomes either boring, uncommercial or preachy-sounding. How do you write lyrics about debt relief? Eventually, you have to put down the guitar and pick up the soapbox if you consider yourself a truly political person.
#2. Rock stars should not be entitled to opinions.
And neither should politicians, journalists, pseudointellectual criminologists, right-wing pundits, church bigots, neo-nazis and other racists of any form, corporate leaders (unless talking about the corporate sphere) and anyone else I didn't vote for personally, yet I am constantly subjected to the opinions of these people wherever I go, plus a few other random bigots whose presence I can't escape for one reason or another.
I'm soft on including journalists in this list, because you can only report on other people's opinions for so long before you begin to develop your own. I just think they need to be open about the fact it is their opinion, despite illusions of neutrality taught in journalism school.
#3. Leave the opinions on making the world a better place to the politicians.
That's worked well for us so far, hasn't it?
#4. They're just the guilty idle rich.
This is the best one I've heard so far, and it comes from the far left mostly, not from the opinion columns of, or letter writers to, major newspapers. I kind of agree. Problem is, no one in society's mainstream wants to listen to the unwashed poor at all. Certain members of the educated classes fare better at getting their opinions across, because of respect, fame, or the fact that our post-feudalistic society has pretenses of being a meritocracy and values the opinions of so-called experts above others.
But rock stars? Now those guys make history. A single lyric captures a moment everyone has felt, a sense of Zeitgeist, an opinion we share. David Bowie famously and controversially called Hitler the first rock star, a fact that Marilyn Manson has played with in his live shows.
I can see how someone might want a rock star to plead their cause, I can see how a rock star might think that massive fame could be put to a use. Rest assured, behind those rock stars are people who have worked for these causes for years, whispering lines in their ears to repeat to the media.
Guilty rich bastards? Well, yeah, Bono probably earns a large portion of the Irish GNP personally, but the Prime Minister of my country owns a shipping empire. No one in the mainstream seems to mind that nearly as much, but I find it far more worrisome.
Firstly, their hearts are firmly in the right place no matter how ridiculous things get. They are fighting what they see as the good fight and I can't see them doing it for any other reasons than they believe it's the right thing to do.
Secondly, anyone who crosses genres gets ridiculed in popular opinion, yet we have managed to eventually accept Reagan as president, Arn as the Governator, Cate Blanchett as a serious actor and David Hasselhoff as a popular singer in Germany. Well, 3 out of 4 ain't bad at least.
Thirdly, you can only sing about it so long until it becomes either boring, uncommercial or preachy-sounding. How do you write lyrics about debt relief? Eventually, you have to put down the guitar and pick up the soapbox if you consider yourself a truly political person.
#2. Rock stars should not be entitled to opinions.
And neither should politicians, journalists, pseudointellectual criminologists, right-wing pundits, church bigots, neo-nazis and other racists of any form, corporate leaders (unless talking about the corporate sphere) and anyone else I didn't vote for personally, yet I am constantly subjected to the opinions of these people wherever I go, plus a few other random bigots whose presence I can't escape for one reason or another.
I'm soft on including journalists in this list, because you can only report on other people's opinions for so long before you begin to develop your own. I just think they need to be open about the fact it is their opinion, despite illusions of neutrality taught in journalism school.
#3. Leave the opinions on making the world a better place to the politicians.
That's worked well for us so far, hasn't it?
#4. They're just the guilty idle rich.
This is the best one I've heard so far, and it comes from the far left mostly, not from the opinion columns of, or letter writers to, major newspapers. I kind of agree. Problem is, no one in society's mainstream wants to listen to the unwashed poor at all. Certain members of the educated classes fare better at getting their opinions across, because of respect, fame, or the fact that our post-feudalistic society has pretenses of being a meritocracy and values the opinions of so-called experts above others.
But rock stars? Now those guys make history. A single lyric captures a moment everyone has felt, a sense of Zeitgeist, an opinion we share. David Bowie famously and controversially called Hitler the first rock star, a fact that Marilyn Manson has played with in his live shows.
I can see how someone might want a rock star to plead their cause, I can see how a rock star might think that massive fame could be put to a use. Rest assured, behind those rock stars are people who have worked for these causes for years, whispering lines in their ears to repeat to the media.
Guilty rich bastards? Well, yeah, Bono probably earns a large portion of the Irish GNP personally, but the Prime Minister of my country owns a shipping empire. No one in the mainstream seems to mind that nearly as much, but I find it far more worrisome.
Songwriter for the working class...my ass
Explain yourself, Mr. Springsteen.
Tickets for your upcoming show, where I can go hear you perform your songs about the downtrodden American worker in a gigantic stadium are priced: CA $95.00 - CA $115.00.
So for 95 bucks I can sit in GM Place's nosebleeds and watch the E-Street ant-band play through my binoculars. Tickets go on sale monday. If I get the HOB promotional code, I can buy one today.
I really think you need to explain yourself to your fans. What would Townes VanZandt have to say about all this? What about Woody Guthrie and John Steinbeck, whose tradition you follow? I guess Woody wrote corporate jingles and Steinbeck is the main tourist attraction of Salinas. Who wasn't forced to become a corporate slut? Phil Ochs seemed to maintain his integrity- and ended up committing suicide. Bruce, I would never wish that upon you.
Poet of the working class, my ass. I'll stay at home and listen to "Greatest Hits","Ghost of Tom Joad" and all the MP3s I've pulled off the internet of your newer stuff. I like the fact you are rediscovering your singer-songwriter roots, I just can't afford you anymore.
Tickets for your upcoming show, where I can go hear you perform your songs about the downtrodden American worker in a gigantic stadium are priced: CA $95.00 - CA $115.00.
So for 95 bucks I can sit in GM Place's nosebleeds and watch the E-Street ant-band play through my binoculars. Tickets go on sale monday. If I get the HOB promotional code, I can buy one today.
I really think you need to explain yourself to your fans. What would Townes VanZandt have to say about all this? What about Woody Guthrie and John Steinbeck, whose tradition you follow? I guess Woody wrote corporate jingles and Steinbeck is the main tourist attraction of Salinas. Who wasn't forced to become a corporate slut? Phil Ochs seemed to maintain his integrity- and ended up committing suicide. Bruce, I would never wish that upon you.
Poet of the working class, my ass. I'll stay at home and listen to "Greatest Hits","Ghost of Tom Joad" and all the MP3s I've pulled off the internet of your newer stuff. I like the fact you are rediscovering your singer-songwriter roots, I just can't afford you anymore.
Vancouver pub/bar owners are cheap "barstards"
I could talk about current geo-politics, in light of the G-8 conference and the London bombings and the new cold war brewing between America, China and the rest of the world, but what really burns my ass today is that I pay up to $7-8 for a beer in a local pub and I would have to go to a Belgian speciality restaurant to avoid the waiter just plunking the bottle, sans cap down in front of me.
As anyone who has been to Europe knows, every beer deserves its own glass.
Not just it's own fresh, clean glass every time you drink another, but a glass specially designed for that beer, shaped to bring out the maximum potential of the brew. Not the same old sturdy, cone shaped 3-ounces-short-of-a-real-pint glass that is the mainstay of the local pub industry. Not for 8 bucks a pint.
Despite all their pretenses of serving fine beers in good surroundings, the actual presentation of what they serve bites. There are finer glasses out there: for instance, Alexander Keith's *can* come in a nice, bow-shaped glass, but rarely does. The only reason for that is that they are afraid of breaking it before they've used it to sell a million slightly short "pints" of beer in sturdy, squat, thick glasses or even better, the bottle it came in, which is pretty much disposable and doesn't require any extra effort. Vancouver pub patrons need to rise up against this cheapness, rather than have the owners pass along any improvements, whcih should be standard practice, to the consumer.
As anyone who has been to Europe knows, every beer deserves its own glass.
Not just it's own fresh, clean glass every time you drink another, but a glass specially designed for that beer, shaped to bring out the maximum potential of the brew. Not the same old sturdy, cone shaped 3-ounces-short-of-a-real-pint glass that is the mainstay of the local pub industry. Not for 8 bucks a pint.
Despite all their pretenses of serving fine beers in good surroundings, the actual presentation of what they serve bites. There are finer glasses out there: for instance, Alexander Keith's *can* come in a nice, bow-shaped glass, but rarely does. The only reason for that is that they are afraid of breaking it before they've used it to sell a million slightly short "pints" of beer in sturdy, squat, thick glasses or even better, the bottle it came in, which is pretty much disposable and doesn't require any extra effort. Vancouver pub patrons need to rise up against this cheapness, rather than have the owners pass along any improvements, whcih should be standard practice, to the consumer.
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
I like smoke n' lightning...Heavy Metal Thunder...
Ok, my deep dark secret is I basically grew up in Surrey, despite my Euro and urban pretensions. I was surrounded by kids with Ozzy and Iron Maiden patches on the backs of their torn jean jackets. Since metal was the music of everyone else around me, I tried to differentiate myself with other types of musical identities: Rockabilly, Mod, Goth, etc and had the music collection to show for it.
Later I discovered music of other eras, other cultures and was a big world music guy after high school. The closest I ever let myself get to heavy metal was Iggy Pop.
My latest thing has been modern classical composers. I'm bored with most mainstream and alternative genres. I'm interested in music, in composition, and everyone keeps rehashing the same old 4x4/3x4 time, three chord music in all of 3 key signatures. boring. Even the indy brit-pop and the like. If you're going to do three chords at least make it political, or say something interesting and make it raw. Or go onstage naked. or in fun fur bikinis. but i digress...I've been searching out people who were searching out a new musical direction, adding to the canon, so to speak.
I have (Re)discovered metal. I was listening to Iron Maiden's "Flight of Icarus" and "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" just this morning. I threw the horns at a co-worker who is a metal fan as he walked past my desk and he snickered. Not your typical horn-thrower I guess.
Gotta love that galloping bass line and the over-the-top operatic voice. That and the mythological themes.
For all you Homestarrunner.com fans: "And the dragon comes in the night!"
Later I discovered music of other eras, other cultures and was a big world music guy after high school. The closest I ever let myself get to heavy metal was Iggy Pop.
My latest thing has been modern classical composers. I'm bored with most mainstream and alternative genres. I'm interested in music, in composition, and everyone keeps rehashing the same old 4x4/3x4 time, three chord music in all of 3 key signatures. boring. Even the indy brit-pop and the like. If you're going to do three chords at least make it political, or say something interesting and make it raw. Or go onstage naked. or in fun fur bikinis. but i digress...I've been searching out people who were searching out a new musical direction, adding to the canon, so to speak.
I have (Re)discovered metal. I was listening to Iron Maiden's "Flight of Icarus" and "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" just this morning. I threw the horns at a co-worker who is a metal fan as he walked past my desk and he snickered. Not your typical horn-thrower I guess.
Gotta love that galloping bass line and the over-the-top operatic voice. That and the mythological themes.
For all you Homestarrunner.com fans: "And the dragon comes in the night!"
Sunday, June 19, 2005
what's the big deal-it's a PLANT, people.
A big news item locally is the looming extradition of Renee Bojee, the US citizen and marijuana refugee who has a husband and child in Vancouver(http://www.reneeboje.com). Noam Chomsky, Michael Moore and Woody Harrelson have spoken out in support of her.
She lives in my neighbourhood, I guess, and despite how the US authorities have characterised her, probably has done nothing to worsen the local drug problem. She probably goes about her business like any other mom and occasionally goes to the odd pro-hemp/marijauna rally where people publicly smoke, like a few other moms in my neighbourhood do as well. Her only real crime, as far as I am concerned, was being born American.
I guess for me the matter is that it is a plant. The product has unexploited medical and industrial potential and it's a PLANT. Like a tomato plant, which is legal to possess and use and sell the products of. I can show you a few plants that are dangerous, but perfectly legal. Why is this one picked on? Oh yeah, it has narcotic properties. Kind of like Morning Glory seeds. Hm, bust me now, I have some of that growing right near my front door where a kid could get ahold of it. Bust my mother for the beautiful Datura that has been doing so well outdoors in the Okanagan Valley. In fact, both these plants are more dangerous narcotics than pot, since the possibilities of overdosing and the deliriant effects are far more of a risk than with marijuana. Plus, I probably possess enough perfectly legal alcohol and tobacco to kill an adult by overdose right now. Pot just makes you dopey and sometimes paranoid.
I'm not even a marijuana advocate. I don't really even like the stuff. It just made sense to me during my visit to the Netherlands that the ever-pragmatic Dutch have stopped enforcing soft-drug possession laws and concentrated their efforts on the hard drugs. We should be extraditing some of our crack dealers, not this woman. Besides, Noam said so and I'll bet he never inhaled. Moore, I'm not so sure of.
She lives in my neighbourhood, I guess, and despite how the US authorities have characterised her, probably has done nothing to worsen the local drug problem. She probably goes about her business like any other mom and occasionally goes to the odd pro-hemp/marijauna rally where people publicly smoke, like a few other moms in my neighbourhood do as well. Her only real crime, as far as I am concerned, was being born American.
I guess for me the matter is that it is a plant. The product has unexploited medical and industrial potential and it's a PLANT. Like a tomato plant, which is legal to possess and use and sell the products of. I can show you a few plants that are dangerous, but perfectly legal. Why is this one picked on? Oh yeah, it has narcotic properties. Kind of like Morning Glory seeds. Hm, bust me now, I have some of that growing right near my front door where a kid could get ahold of it. Bust my mother for the beautiful Datura that has been doing so well outdoors in the Okanagan Valley. In fact, both these plants are more dangerous narcotics than pot, since the possibilities of overdosing and the deliriant effects are far more of a risk than with marijuana. Plus, I probably possess enough perfectly legal alcohol and tobacco to kill an adult by overdose right now. Pot just makes you dopey and sometimes paranoid.
I'm not even a marijuana advocate. I don't really even like the stuff. It just made sense to me during my visit to the Netherlands that the ever-pragmatic Dutch have stopped enforcing soft-drug possession laws and concentrated their efforts on the hard drugs. We should be extraditing some of our crack dealers, not this woman. Besides, Noam said so and I'll bet he never inhaled. Moore, I'm not so sure of.
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
bad boys, bad boys, whatchew gonna do...
For a laugh at the misfortunes of others, check out baitcar.com. Watch meth-addicted professional car thieves go to jail for stealing vehicles that their owners clearly place too much pride in, while trying to make money to finance their habits. Watch schoolkids who think they're gangstas get jacked-up by the cops. Watch some real pros break into a start cars in the time it takes you to fumble your keys out of your handbag. Watch a hilarious scene where a Scottish-brogue speaking RCMP officer instructs some brats who stole a minivan how to exit the car at gunpoint: "Drrrrivvverrr, ye 'ar ganneh exit thay carrr first. Passenger, ye'll bay nixt. Exit thay carrr noooow"
When I see cars like the one I saw last night, stopped at a pedestrian-controlled intersection, while I, ironically, waited for the bus, I am not at all surprised we have such a healthy car-theft industry. This car had spinning mag wheels, flashing neon lights, booming audio system and FOUR TV screens! One in each sunvisor and two screens pointing out the back window, which I can only surmise, were meant to entertain those who eat your dust. All I could think about was the amazing amount of money someone had spent. ON A HONDA.
With bling-bling like that, you're just asking for some "redistribution of wealth".
When I see cars like the one I saw last night, stopped at a pedestrian-controlled intersection, while I, ironically, waited for the bus, I am not at all surprised we have such a healthy car-theft industry. This car had spinning mag wheels, flashing neon lights, booming audio system and FOUR TV screens! One in each sunvisor and two screens pointing out the back window, which I can only surmise, were meant to entertain those who eat your dust. All I could think about was the amazing amount of money someone had spent. ON A HONDA.
With bling-bling like that, you're just asking for some "redistribution of wealth".
the Canadian Ultra-conservative Pundit Minority and the American News Networks who love them.
Representing only a small minority segment of Canadian political opinion, our right-wing puindits are nevertheless disporportionately popular. Why is this?
Perhaps these pundits among us represent a small (miniscule) voice of solidarity in a world which is increasingly turning against the US in it's support of America's wars, sanctions, foreign policy and general boorish attitudes towards everyone else.
Perhaps these pundits allow the news networks to present an alternative point of view in newscasts, which are beginning to show nothing but a world which dislikes the current US administration. It gets boring to just hear how much everyone is angry with you, don't you know.
The latest of these pundits has been spawned (and apparently spurned) by my hometown of Vancouver, BC, rather than some Midwestern business-ville. The latest "arch-conservative in a miniskirt" (I stole that) is none other than Julia Roberts photo-imitator, blogger, public-access radio host and shameless self-promoterRachel Marsden.
In looking at the website blog entries that must be what got her the weekly National Post column (Marsden's CV seems without previous journalism experience), one has to wonder as a Canadian from a navel-gazing cultural backwater-and I agree with her definition of Vancouver in some respects, but it is still a great place to live- if she shouldn't just skip Toronto entirely and move straight to the US (do not pass "go") where her ruthless and intolerant opinions might find a more suitable home. Oh wait, they already have Anne Coulter, who makes Marsden look positively small-'l'-liberal. How many bigots in a miniskirt does one crowded pundit universe have room for?
Guess Canada is the next best place, despite all us raging commies who want to give basic human rights to all citizens. Besides, Rachel, you can join the impending conservative Church-goer takeover of the Conservative Party of Canada. Me, I'll be getting high on medical marijuana with some immigrants at a gay wedding at a church that ordains homosexual ministers somewhere back home. Good riddance.
Perhaps these pundits among us represent a small (miniscule) voice of solidarity in a world which is increasingly turning against the US in it's support of America's wars, sanctions, foreign policy and general boorish attitudes towards everyone else.
Perhaps these pundits allow the news networks to present an alternative point of view in newscasts, which are beginning to show nothing but a world which dislikes the current US administration. It gets boring to just hear how much everyone is angry with you, don't you know.
The latest of these pundits has been spawned (and apparently spurned) by my hometown of Vancouver, BC, rather than some Midwestern business-ville. The latest "arch-conservative in a miniskirt" (I stole that) is none other than Julia Roberts photo-imitator, blogger, public-access radio host and shameless self-promoterRachel Marsden.
In looking at the website blog entries that must be what got her the weekly National Post column (Marsden's CV seems without previous journalism experience), one has to wonder as a Canadian from a navel-gazing cultural backwater-and I agree with her definition of Vancouver in some respects, but it is still a great place to live- if she shouldn't just skip Toronto entirely and move straight to the US (do not pass "go") where her ruthless and intolerant opinions might find a more suitable home. Oh wait, they already have Anne Coulter, who makes Marsden look positively small-'l'-liberal. How many bigots in a miniskirt does one crowded pundit universe have room for?
Guess Canada is the next best place, despite all us raging commies who want to give basic human rights to all citizens. Besides, Rachel, you can join the impending conservative Church-goer takeover of the Conservative Party of Canada. Me, I'll be getting high on medical marijuana with some immigrants at a gay wedding at a church that ordains homosexual ministers somewhere back home. Good riddance.
Saturday, June 04, 2005
proof some people are too arrogant to love anyone but themselves, and keep a friend for any length of time.
If the spelling doesn't make you cringe, the egotism of it will:
http://www.livejournal.com/users/logik/235631.html
Can't believe I used to work with this guy.
http://www.livejournal.com/users/logik/235631.html
Can't believe I used to work with this guy.
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
has anyone ever read this thing?
This is me begging for comments from strangers. Maybe it would help if I told more than two people about my online journal.
Perhaps I need to make porn and post it here. That's all people use the net for anyways. That and sending huge files to each other via email. Usually that's just porn, as well.
Perhaps I need to make porn and post it here. That's all people use the net for anyways. That and sending huge files to each other via email. Usually that's just porn, as well.
random thoughts
National Geographic- good to read, too interesting to throw out, too bulky to store- the ulitmate white elephant.
Sloan- the best Canadian 70s band ever. Even though they were snotnosed brats like me when the boys were in their Bright White Sportscar or Carol was having her High School Confidential or when Business was being Take(i)n Care Of.
There is a history to the ever-changing medium of the WWW- the internet wayback machine -find out what a website looked like back in 1998- ancient history in brave new world of internet.
I want to read Cyrillic.
I am still embarrased by the fact that I have to prove I can drive to the government again, cause I let my license expire. I can operate most vehicles better than most people out there AND more safely. I've extensive experience cycling and some motorcycling. You learn to look far ahead.
I'm thinking about switching to Livejournal.
I saw Dancer in the Dark. What a beautiful movie. Damn, what a sad movie. One of the best btw a rock and hard place decisions I have ever seen anyone put into in any movie. A very human story. Life is sometimes beautiful in it's cruelty. Finding that beauty makes it worthwhile. I could relate to Selma's view of the world.
What I really loved about the movie was the music she found in everyday sounds, the sounds of industry, sounds of the machinery of our society that surround us and how these sounds formed the soundtrack of the musicals in her head.
I loved how the movie criticised so many things, like musicals from Hollywood's golden age, but paid tribute to them at the same time.
Sloan- the best Canadian 70s band ever. Even though they were snotnosed brats like me when the boys were in their Bright White Sportscar or Carol was having her High School Confidential or when Business was being Take(i)n Care Of.
There is a history to the ever-changing medium of the WWW- the internet wayback machine -find out what a website looked like back in 1998- ancient history in brave new world of internet.
I want to read Cyrillic.
I am still embarrased by the fact that I have to prove I can drive to the government again, cause I let my license expire. I can operate most vehicles better than most people out there AND more safely. I've extensive experience cycling and some motorcycling. You learn to look far ahead.
I'm thinking about switching to Livejournal.
I saw Dancer in the Dark. What a beautiful movie. Damn, what a sad movie. One of the best btw a rock and hard place decisions I have ever seen anyone put into in any movie. A very human story. Life is sometimes beautiful in it's cruelty. Finding that beauty makes it worthwhile. I could relate to Selma's view of the world.
What I really loved about the movie was the music she found in everyday sounds, the sounds of industry, sounds of the machinery of our society that surround us and how these sounds formed the soundtrack of the musicals in her head.
I loved how the movie criticised so many things, like musicals from Hollywood's golden age, but paid tribute to them at the same time.
Friday, March 11, 2005
The only living boy in New York
I live in a multi-cultural city, in fact today I was the only white person on the bus during afternoon rush hour. Interestingly, only me and the driver were non-asian- he was indo-canadian. I was the only whitey, though.
Sometimes parts of Vancouver feel like microcosms of Asia. We are multi-ethnic, but seem dominated by particular nationalities. In my visits to Germany, that country has always felt more truly multi-ethnic than Vancouver to me, despite the misconceptions those who have never been visited might have about it being some kind of racist, all white society. It's more mixed and no less racist than Vancouver. We just hide our intolerance better behind our outwardly multi-cultural sleeves.
Sometimes parts of Vancouver feel like microcosms of Asia. We are multi-ethnic, but seem dominated by particular nationalities. In my visits to Germany, that country has always felt more truly multi-ethnic than Vancouver to me, despite the misconceptions those who have never been visited might have about it being some kind of racist, all white society. It's more mixed and no less racist than Vancouver. We just hide our intolerance better behind our outwardly multi-cultural sleeves.
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Never been to Belgium
Going to Amsterdam, Brussels and touring through Germany in April/May. I may take side trips to other towns in Benelux and/or France. Exciting.
I just renewed my EU passport at the German consulate this morning. It's much easier than a Canadian. No guarantor required. Just a couple of photos and a photocopied form and $63.00. Plus the little bastard' s good for 10 years, not 5!
Good to see that 9/11 hasn't driven the whole world crazy- just North America.
I just renewed my EU passport at the German consulate this morning. It's much easier than a Canadian. No guarantor required. Just a couple of photos and a photocopied form and $63.00. Plus the little bastard' s good for 10 years, not 5!
Good to see that 9/11 hasn't driven the whole world crazy- just North America.
Thursday, January 27, 2005
a cryptic message
011101110110010101101100011000110110111101101101011001010010000001110100011011110010000001101101011110010010000001101010011011110111010101110010011011100110000101101100001011000010000001110010011011110110001001101111011101000010110101101101011010010110111001100100
hint: http://www.networkofminds.com/networkofminds/binary.cfm
hint: http://www.networkofminds.com/networkofminds/binary.cfm
Saturday, January 22, 2005
arggh!
Object-oriented programming! Classes! inheritance! singleton design! I didn't ask for this! yes I did! This was only the second class!
Why does it hurt?
Why does it hurt?
bloggerspot
Does this blog system have communities the way that Livejournal does? Anyone out there wanna sponsor me for a Livejournal?
Friday, January 21, 2005
(may you live in) exciting times
The snow has completely melted in all nooks and crannies. Even the mountains don't look very snowy right now. Instead of it being -10 celsius, it is +10. I am still dressing for cold snaps, so am getting very warm when walking around.
I just applied for my first job in 4.5 years, since getting the one I work now. Have other jobs in mind. I have no choice but to leave here to further my career, even though I like my coworkers. Well, actually I'm sick of them, but they are nice people for the most part. Except for a few complete bastards that would have been sent packing anywhere else, that is. Anyways, I am making changes.
I start another programming course tonight as well (advanced PHP), so many changes are afoot, as I pave the path my life will take the next 4-6 months. I need some changes, but I need some stability as well. I can't walk away from things like I used to be able to when I had committments, no mortgage, no career and no relationship. I've grown up. Now I have to try to make sure and not get boring. That's ok, my tastes have matured along with me. I will never be one of those men who tries to be 21 the rest of his life. That only works for a few decades, then starts to get ridiculous. ;-)
I just applied for my first job in 4.5 years, since getting the one I work now. Have other jobs in mind. I have no choice but to leave here to further my career, even though I like my coworkers. Well, actually I'm sick of them, but they are nice people for the most part. Except for a few complete bastards that would have been sent packing anywhere else, that is. Anyways, I am making changes.
I start another programming course tonight as well (advanced PHP), so many changes are afoot, as I pave the path my life will take the next 4-6 months. I need some changes, but I need some stability as well. I can't walk away from things like I used to be able to when I had committments, no mortgage, no career and no relationship. I've grown up. Now I have to try to make sure and not get boring. That's ok, my tastes have matured along with me. I will never be one of those men who tries to be 21 the rest of his life. That only works for a few decades, then starts to get ridiculous. ;-)
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
snowland, homeland
Hey Idiot,
Your 4-wheel drive doesn't make you stop any better.
----------------
What's new in the new year? Not the job, but that will change as I slowly begin the process of applying for work elsewhere. They've given me no choice and even the HR director tells me that I may have to leave to further my career. In the same conversation, she told me that I haven't got the personality for management. Bullshit. The person they did choose has the respect of no one. Funny that.
In other news, I have gotten to the mountains to go snowshoeing and x-country skiing a couple of times. I'm running again, with a 10K run in april in mind and I have been running several kilometres in the snow in the last week. I feel really hardcore when there is snow on the ground crunching beneath my shoes as I run. It feels good.
Your 4-wheel drive doesn't make you stop any better.
----------------
What's new in the new year? Not the job, but that will change as I slowly begin the process of applying for work elsewhere. They've given me no choice and even the HR director tells me that I may have to leave to further my career. In the same conversation, she told me that I haven't got the personality for management. Bullshit. The person they did choose has the respect of no one. Funny that.
In other news, I have gotten to the mountains to go snowshoeing and x-country skiing a couple of times. I'm running again, with a 10K run in april in mind and I have been running several kilometres in the snow in the last week. I feel really hardcore when there is snow on the ground crunching beneath my shoes as I run. It feels good.
dear sucky product maker...
Kamenstein, Inc.
10523
We purchased your product from a local department store several years ago, hoping it would be the miracle kitchen gadget it was made out to be. We filled it with water and tested it out, only to be met with a pathetic wheeze and slight dribble of water from the nozzle. Thinking that a more viscous fluid might be required, we filled it with cooking oil, which was also a waste of our time, as we were only met with a squeak and a wheeze.
Sincerely,
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