Haven't I heard that before?

I just started reading "Freakonomics" and nothing has shattered my world so far. I've only just begun, but most of the anecdotes are familiar to me (or anyone who reads socially conscious or personal finance publications- an admittedly seldom comination).

Here are some examples:

-Real estate agents list their houses and sell them for more than you do- no shit, Sherlock. They're trying to make a buck off of you like every other "expert". They'll forgo $150 of commission to earn you $15,000 in favour of making a quick sale.

-Take a crack-dealin' gang's structure and put it up against most small to medium business' organizational charts and they will look pretty much the same. Ever see "The Wire"? Can you say "Stringer Bell"? Why wouldn't an economic system such as capitalism, which affects ALL commerce, reach out into the ghettos? "The Projects" should be bastions of socialist experimentation, but they aren't. People are busy trying to survive there in the easiest way possible, just like everywhere else. To run counter to the system is harder than running alongside it. The roads are already paved.

I'm waiting to see what comes next. I am underwhelmed so far by such a widely-hyped book. It's like the economics version of "the Da Vinci Code".

Adventskranz

Adventskranz - This year, I think I am going to try to maintain this tradition which is a typical German thing. It is a synthesis of pagan and christian traditions. Wreaths of straw and evergreens graced houses and barns to protect them in winter. The ring symbolizes wholeness and enternity and the greens and berries symbolize nature and rebirth.

I used to cut greens for my mom every Advent and for some reason this simple tradition has really captured my heart. I want to go out in the snow and cut greens with my kids someday. It's a bringing of nature into the home and a reflection on the various meanings of this time of year. This tradition is also really close to home for me: the modern interpretation was re-popularized in the early 1800s in Hamburg in a home for homeless childen and youth "das Rauhe Haus". Candles were lit during the Advent period and special occasions were held in the home. The tradition later spread to Berlin.

There are aspects of having been raised Lutheran that are inescapable. Advent is traditionally a season of getting ready for the festival of "Heilig Abend" and a time of reflection and generosity. This is a time where you help your neighbour with the hardships of winter.

This time of year, my collective guilt makes me want to do work. Last year, I was a bit down on my luck this time of year and trying to get people to vote in the poorest neighbourhood in my city. I spent time in missions and ate meals with the volunteers. I watched them give people soup and socks. I'm always shocked when I see self-professed christians who think it is more important to go to church than to do christianly work. People who help without judgement impress me more than anything. There are people who volunteer to help residents of the downtown eastside soak their feet twice a week. I remember a certain story about Christ washing the feet of his disciples... Yet for many people it seems more important to hurry up and shop and go to church on Sundays to absolve the guilt of being judgmental and selfish. I am not even sure I am going to light candles on my Advent wreath on Sundays. I am not one of those people.

A D V E N T
(von Rainer Maria Rilke)

Es treibt der Wind im Winterwalde
die Flockenherde wie ein Hirt
und manche Tanne ahnt wie balde
sie fromm und lichterheilig wird;
und lauscht hinaus. Den weißen Wegen
streckt sie die Zweige hin - bereit
und wehrt dem Wind und wächst entgegen
der einen Nacht der Herrlichkeit.

Another day older and ...

"Trailer for sale or rent; rooms to let, fifty cents..."

It's my birthday and despite having the best intentions of partying it up tonight, not only did I organize nothing, I am far too exhausted from my busy weekend to do anything but a quiet night at home. Age, it seems, is catching up to me.

I might crawl out for a dinner at some place the gives you a free drink or dessert on your birthday, though...

On the subject of the weekend: I went to "Karaoke Church" on Sunday morning, but that is a whole other potential blog post and I still need to process what I saw that day. I am not ready to comment on this subject yet.

----
more on this: went out for a dinner and got some free cheesecake, got a phone call from my old friend Tony Tracy, who's organizing healthcare workers in his homeland of the Maritime provinces. I miss that guy sometimes. Why is it so damn expensive to fly to Eastern Canada?

Wazza matta? Wasp got your tongue?

Wasps: 01
Olivers: 00

The dreaded finally happened: I got hit by a wasp while cycling and it stung me. I've had a few glancing blows, but this one nearly went right into my mouth. It ended up stuck onto my upper lip and stinging me on the inside of my lip before I could wipe it off. Now my middle upper lip is swollen like Kiefer Sutherland with a collagen injection.

Did I mention I hate wasps and run screaming like a little girl when they fly near me? Turns out I react a lot less than some people do- I swell a bit, but not that much. I took anti-histamines just in case, but when I actually get stung, it is never as bad as I think it is going to be. It is all in the ANTICIPATION.

Funny, all the sting remedies are not something you could or would want to smear on the inside of your mouth.

Strange thing, though, I feel vaguely...poisoned. I wonder about the neurological effects of wasp venom. Maybe it's the antihistamines talking.

Bzzzzrrrt.

Ok, WIFI and a laptop is the way to go. I am a convert. I worked remotely from a cafe yesterday and so far have amused myself with the number of unsecured hotspots to be found EVERYWHERE.

Tonight I watch Lisa's parade and the PublicDreams fireshow from the comfort of a cafe. Only concern is my dwindling battery...

Screw you Star***ks for not providing free wifi. I'll have to remember to ask next time. Only patronize those places with open wificonnections.

I give in- this quiz is me.

You Are a Soy Latte

At your best, you are: free spirited, down to earth, and relaxed At your worst, you are: dogmatic and picky You drink coffee when: you need a pick me up, and green tea isn't cutting it Your caffeine addiction level: medium

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

wind vs. hot air

Canadians are a conservative bunch when it comes to old transportation habits. LIke typical North Americans, they feel there is safety is the sheer size of a vehicle, not in superior design. The streets are filling with ever-larger vehicles which people complain about not being able to afford to operate and solutions are at hand, but people are afraid to take that necessary step on a large scale and downsize to what they actually need.

Vancouverites are particularly silly in this regard. Gas is at the prices it was in Europe in the 90s and people there were buying diesels and other more efficient vehicles left and right. This was when research into technology like fuel cells and hybrids really started to take off. Apparently Vancouverites lead Canada in walking, cycling and taking tranist to work, but we sure don't lead Europeans.

Smaller vehicles would make things less scary for light motorcycles and bicycles, not to mention pedestrians. It's a cascading effect that starts with individuals making more intelligent choices. How does our culture get the kick in it's collective ass it needs?

I read today that we lag sadly behind Europe in wind power. Reading that after hearing that there is a dam proposed in a beautiful whitewater canyon near Christina Lake that is a huge tourist attraction made me curse the short-sightedness of Canada. We have one of the greatest opportunities to harness windpower to meet our energy needs. Apparently BC hungers for more power. How about more efficient lighting systems? Then increased wind generation can meet our needs. Instead we look to the burning of more fossil fuels in the form of natural gas reserves. Again, the cheapest, most short-sighted and politically opportunistic choice.

This book is now in my sights: "There is a Season" by Patrick Lane. I've never really given him much of a read and even Larry Campbell recommends him. Strangely enough, my path has crossed his many a time, his sons are both cousins and university roommates of one of my oldest and closest friends; I attended a university where he taught and many of my fellow students worshipped the old bugger; I was part of an upstart student newspaper where the arts editor was named Patrick Lane (no relation) and Lane's ex-wife once stalked me to return to her a crappy old futon that her son had agreed to sell to me for a bargain price after she followed her precious sons from Vernon to Victoria. I eventually got tired of her angry messages and returned to sleeping on a mattress on the floor. How bohemian. All this and I never spent much time reading Patrick Lane's works. Funny when you become aware of someone through a lot of different angles than the ones that they are known for by most people. Gives you a different perspective on someone who is considered more or less a national hero.

Oh, and I'm going to borrow it from the library, rather than buy it.

New Village gets New Village Pillager.

I will miss "the Drive", even though I am really only moving a little ways away. I love my urban village. I have traded one for another, and they have equally cool aspects to them, but when you really get down to it, Main St. has an entirely different feel. To many folks, it may all just be the amorphous mass of Vancouver, but I feel my immersion in the village-within-the-city, makes me fairly sensitive to the character of certain areas. As well as how they have changed in my time. Anyone remember the German/European neighbourhood of Victoria and 33rd? I do.

find your happy place (of travaillez)

It's crazy- people are now leaving their jobs at my former employer who started working there after I left. Things are that abysmal there. I left mid november.

It used to be a place that you could stay for a few years and gain experience and then move on. Now it's a place to stay a couple of months until the other job leads pan out. How sad for them, they took a loyal base of employees and drove them all out. Thank god for the vibrant job market right now, or people might be trapped there. I should have left 2 years before I did. What can I say, I got comfortable. I learned my lesson there. I'm much more well-adjusted now.

My new desk is still a cubicle, but it's bigger than a high-school study carrell and I have a Herman Miller desk and Aeron Chair.

Seal(ing) of the Dominion of Canada

I couldn't agree more with one of my neighbours about Sir Paul and Queen Brigitte coming over here to tell us colonials to leave the cute furry seals alone. It's not that I feel I should support small remote East Coast fishing town residents ( though I do) , so much as I think they are misguided rich upper-class activists who should lend their fame for a better cause. In Europe. I despise animal activism solely based on cuteness, not on science.


1-the furs are going to rich europeans, so protest it there in the fur shops of Paris and London if you are going to protest it at all.
2-there are plenty of seals, but there are less cute species that could use help, go where you are needed.
3-there are plenty of worthy issues in your home countries. look in your own backyard.
4-we have a problem with the former colonialists of Canada coming to tell us what to do. think about this.
5-seals are cute, but not endangered.
6-if the sole reason for protesting this is the cruelty of the manner of harvesting, why not take on the meat industry? Their methods are equally brutal and far more animals meet their fate this way. What about the British upper crust's foxhunt, Sir Paul?



PS What the hell was Lady Paul doing petting a wild marine mammal? We have laws about harassing marine mammals in Canada. Why wasn't she charged. Fluffy nearly kept her hand though, which amused me greatly.

This morning, as I made my cup of Murchie's Prince Charles Blend tea, I thought about the famous "Bonnie Prince Charlie" of history and wondered, what other famous figures from history had nicknames that would never translate.

I mean, did the Italians have a "Neat-o Prince Vito"?

By the afternoon, this had bugged me to the point that I needed to settle the "Ich bin EIN Berliner" debate once and for all. I mean, was JFK a Jelly Donut or not?

This was a sensitive subject for some Berliners. Many Berliners really have a soft spot for Kennedy for what they see as firmly defending them from Soviet annexation, so they are bound to be forgiving.

Here is a synposis:

A common urban legend asserts that Kennedy made an embarrassing grammatical error by saying "Ich bin ein Berliner," referring to himself not as a citizen of Berlin, but as a common pastry.

The legend stems from a play on words with Berliner, the name given to a doughnut variant filled with jam or plum sauce that is thought to have originated in Berlin. While this "jelly doughnut" is indeed common to Berlin, it is only known as Pfannkuchen (pan cake) in the city and nearby regions. Other parts of Germany picked up the pastry under the name of Berliner Pfannkuchen, shortened to Berliner.

According to the legend, Kennedy should have said "Ich bin Berliner" to mean "I am a person from Berlin." By adding the indefinite article ein, it is claimed, his statement implied he was a non-human Berliner, thus "I am a jelly doughnut." In the legend, the statement was followed by uproarious laughter. Those retelling the legend will often claim to know someone who knows a German who misunderstood the statement due to its grammatical error.

When you start splitting grammatical hairs, however, the story doesn't quite as good. As a German speaker myself, I know you do not say "Ich bin EIN anything" when you are referring to yourself, but apparently you can say "Ich bin ein Brandenburger" or 'Ich bin ein Arzt". Indefinite articles can be used from emphasis. For example to say "Er ist ein Schauspieler", means not so much that someone is an actor by trade, but that they are acting like they are an actor.

Here is a German teacher' s take on it.

Now one Berliner I talked to about this had a story along the lines of: Kennedy's quote has been truncated. He really sadi something like "Ich bin ein Berliner Staatsburger" or something like that, which makes more sense, but the historical record has cut him short to poke fun. This appears to be untrue. Full speech.

Footnote: One thing I disagree strongly with is that Berliner Pfannekuchen are not called "Berliners" in Berlin. They are. Berliners joke about "warme Berliner" being homosexual Berliners, rather than freshly baked pastries. My advice to you: don't declare "Ich bin warm" when you really mean temperature rather than orientation.

senators eat burgers too.

saw senator/mayor/former davinci Larry Campbell in the A&W lineup at Sinclair Centre. Didn't he have a heart bypass or something?

found this recent quote from our NDP feeder party member turned liberal:

Asked what he thinks of U.S. officials' stance that Emery is a major drug dealer, Canadian Senator Larry Campbell, a former drug officer, says: "If they consider that, then they have bigger problems than I can even imagine. There's simply no way he's a major anything."

work snack fun

Dear Sunnie,

I’m going to have to cut burritos entirely from my diet and not for the usual reason: The machine ate my money again and left me with a burrito dangling off the edge, almost ready to drop, mocking me from its precarious perch.

Buying another to try and force the first one out doesn’t work, as the machine is smart enough to know when a burrito is stuck in it, but not smart enough to deliver a burrito properly.

I had to settle for a chimichanga, so my hunger for food is sated, but not my hunger for justice to be served from the vending machine.

Stephen Harper's new cabinet: Old white guys and big hair.

Vancouver's real estate market: a bully's playground.

How was your weekend?

water, water, nowhere

You never notice how much you miss a simple luxury like running water until it is taken away.

My advice to someone who wants to start a revolution? Cut the water supply and people will be in the streets with homemade weapons by dinner time.

I think the guy in the white van who just pulled up is the plumber who is going to resolve the emergency water shut off for the entire co-op. Our entire future is in your hands, make us proud.