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!"

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.

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".

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.

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.