Bootwhistle

2010-09-08T19:41:00.000-07:00

A book burning? Haven't we been through this before...

So in a few days, on the anniversary of the September 11th attack on the World Trade Center, which was perpetrated by religious/political fanatics another group of religious/political fanatics plan to burn the holy book that they equate with the aforementioned terrorists.... perfectly logical of course.

The story behind this... stupidity, come from a pastor named Terry Jones who leads a small fringe group of Christians in the town of Gainesville, Florida. Mr. Jones decided that the Quran was the 'word of the devil' and decided that burning 200,000 copies of the book would "call attention to something that is wrong" - oh sweet irony.

In any event, there really are so many things wrong with this - it really is hard not to bash ones head against the wall at the amazing ignorance displayed by almost everyone involved in this.
So where to begin, well let's break it down:

First of all, the burning of any book is a crime against the intellect that God supposedly blessed these people with. To use a nifty quote "...but he who destroys a good book, kills Reason itself, kills the image of God..."
The basic premise being that instead of trying to understand or learn, these people are rejecting anything different from themselves and will violently protect the conformity they seek. This Church group shares common traits with other familiar historical groups such a very prominent 1930's German political movement, a Russian regime change and the clergy of Grande Cache, Alberta.

Second, the media - oh the fucking media, asking all the wrong questions and trying to provide all the wrong answers. A small fringe group of about 50 people plan to do something incredibly stupid (which is their right as Americans), this then garners international attention with various pundits ranging from Vatican scholars to Angelina Jolie to Sarah Palin weighing debates about freedom of speech, security and blah blah, blah. The main (publicly admitted) consensus is that the book burning is wrong (duh) and it may invite reprisals and endanger the troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Seriously all this media attention only shows how much misunderstanding and ignorance these people harbor and how far we have to go before there really can be open and honest discussions regarding religion. If a group of 50 people decided to go to a public park and light their flatus, they should be arrested for indecency but beyond their own idiotic behaviour there wouldn't be much of a story. We all would just conclude the people who conducted such an event were drunk, morons, inbred or some combination thereof and agree that the education system might need some overhauling.
The media thrives on controversy and will try to create it where none exists, and if a story has a moderate amount of 'the big C' then we get the fun media circus we enjoy during such events such as the Michael Jackson trial, or the Britney Spears meltdown, balloon boy and so on. These stories are covered with a lot of irrelevant information and opinions with very little factual information - oddly enough, events like the BP oil spill which actually required more facts was treated in much the same manner.

Lastly, the only thing that people are doing is reacting to this story, trying to bring their own viewpoint on what is almost a non-issue. Even the ever insightful Sarah Palin has quipped on twitter that the Quran burning is an "insensitive and an unnecessary provocation - much like the building of a mosque at Ground Zero" ...huh, it's no wonder that she doesn't like the r-word.
With everyone condemning the good Pastor and his congregation it would really be silly if Muslims of the world got angry over such an insignificant group. I honestly feel sorry for the people of Gainesville and the small minded frightened people that Terry Jones has gathered around himself. They are so terrified of anything foreign and unknown that they will not risk trying to understand what it is they are trying to destroy. Such people should be pitied, and anyone who would declare a call to arms over their actions is no better.

2010-07-17T09:05:00.000-07:00

Oh what the heck, is it too late to catch the bandwagon?

So while it would probably be more worth while to write about the: Vatican's new laws, Avandia drug, BP's capping success (they really need a sarcasm emoticon) or Cowboys defending their way of life, instead the series of Old Spice commercials and the social media phenomenon that it has become is what these manly words shall be devoted to.

If you don't follow twitter, facebook, or read the news then you may not have heard of this feat of social media marketing and the popularity of the Old Spice Manly Man.

The often random commercials combined with the over the top machismo portrayed by former Football player Isaiah Mustafa became the most popular videos on youtube, though the real genius of the advertising campaign is the interaction with consumers.

After the first series of commercials were produced they used twitter and facebook to 'tweet and retweet' the videos while targeting celebrities and popular accounts that had large followings. They then posted video responses to questions that users had 'tweeted' or posted on their facebook page.

Even a few celebrities got in on the fun, the interactivity and hilarious videos caught the attention of the mainstream news and well... that darn bandwagon got pretty darn full.

So, what is the point in commenting on this? Not much really, while one does have to admire the skill in which this advertising campaign was compiled and it does demonstrate the proper use of social media to get a 'message' out - it is just another way to sell something to consumers.

Sure the whole this is entertaining, heck I am on a mission to eventually watch all these hilarious vids at some point, however it also shows just how shallow social media is. While the media will heap praise on the campaign for its genius (ie success - if it had flopped there wouldn't have been one word of the 'genius'), it also shows that entertainment is still the driving force of information in this age.

To be fair, social media has been used to highlight issues, unfortunately is more of an 'after the fact' event that cannot really be used to prevent problems at this point. If we lived in an ideal world (a hilarious hope I know), social media would be a way of keeping informed of topics so as to prevent harm to the public interest. For example, say if social media was used to provide accurate information before the second Gulf War, or highlight the safety cutbacks at BP as well as growing conflicts within the MMS so that a public outcry might have ensured action before there was every an oil spill to talk about.

As it stands Social Media is just a recycling centre for old ideas and marketing gimmicks, people will see something interesting and post, comment and like. There really isn't anything wrong with that, I just wish people would stop treating the 'Social media' as some great advancement in our society, it really isn't that great for society - marketing maybe, society no.

2010-07-15T22:42:00.000-07:00

Rethink?... Uhm, where was the first thought?

The above video is part of an ad campaign by Corporate Ethics International (CEI), the purpose of this video and a series of billboards in 4 US cities is apparently to try and impact Alberta's tourism industry (though it was a bit late to impact Stampede).

Already there has been backlash ... unfortunately mostly in the form of poorly constructed arguments and a certain amount of nationalistic outrage, and while it is justified to some extent - it couldn't hurt to actually look at the whole issue before getting indignant.

Reuters had a good article that actually went a bit deeper than many of the Albertan Papers on what was happening, according to CEI their campaign is in response to lobbying by oil producers and the Albertan Government to "block legislation like low-carbon fuel standard legislation that would help [them to] make the transition (from fossil fuels)."

So setting aside the validity of claims and the various facts regarding this whole circus, it boils down to:

CEI didn't like the influence of the oil lobby which was affecting their goal of independence from fossil fuels, so they decided to launch an international campaign to damage Alberta's image.

The equivalent would be your neighbor handed out leaflets to petition for a ... giant windmill to be built in the block and in response you go around and say that they sodomize goats.

The oil sands may indeed be an environmental disaster waiting to happen, but there are two problems with CEI's campaign, first the real contention they have is with the lobbying done in the state, and second - by attacking the image of Alberta directly they really aren't going to get any political support. Certainly not from Albertan politicians who can smell the popularity of seething anger from the populace already, and even in the rest of the US, CEI is making itself look like just another 'fringe hippie tree-hugger' group that favours sensationalism instead of effective change.

That said, I admit that CEI does have a point, unfortunately instead of taking the high road and trying to get people to understand the real issues involved they joined the ranks of the LCD's by alienating the opposing side so any chance of negotiation or compromise is completely out of the question.

Well, at least they got their name published in the papers, though I doubt anything will be accomplished aside from a lot of huffing and puffing from both sides.

2010-07-14T09:32:00.000-07:00

I have a fondness for stories, even the really odd and truly weird, how can one not be intrigued by movie titles such as "Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter". Anyway I came across a movie entitled "Doggy Poo" which I found quite difficult to wrap my head around.

According to the description it is about a 'doggy poo' searching for the meaning of life and... well that's it.

Now the meaning of life story has been done before, there was Monty Python's take on it and my favourite being the answer of '42'. So is there really a need for a story about a dog poop finding meaning?

I suppose it shows that even the most absurd and reviled of things has purpose... still, it's a friggin animated poo!

2010-07-11T10:47:00.000-07:00

Top Stories?

In what is becoming an increasingly annoying trend, it seems more often than not "important" or "top" news stories deal with the most meaningless of subject matter in terms of what is going on in the world. The above screen capture shows how the 'Top Stories' in Google news are mostly dealing with entertainment - only three of the topics have world relevance and two of them refer to the same thing (guess which ones - hint: _._. Joe).

Is it really so important to know what Carrie Underwood is doing? Sigh, actually can't get too worked up about it since I realize it's difficult to read the factual news day in and day out, though I can't help but get annoyed when news coverage is so blatantly supporting the creation of celebrities by devoting articles and front page space to extraordinary trivial events - I actually think I would be happier not knowing who or what a Bieber is.

Then again, maybe it goes both ways, entertainment is important to people and if they want to isolate themselves with shallow and meaningless news... the 'if it makes you happy' argument is hard to refute. Probably the only point where it gets retarded is when the same people complain about the world or start trying to bring their own viewpoints to situations around the world. A famous incident is the Miss South Carolina Q and A, though it's even scarier when these people get into politics.

I guess in the end, to each their own, just be sure to read up before deciding to join the conversation.

2010-07-11T07:44:00.000-07:00

Oh those darn Fascist Socialists...

A fellow was handing these flyers out in downtown Calgary the other day. I honestly gave it little attention as usually the things people hand out in the city core are of questionable merit... but this handout in particular irks me due to the amazing ignorance that it tries to mask with sentiment and symbolism.

A cursory glance and it would seem to be a noble cause in stopping the spread of Nazi influenced companies - the swastika is a nice touch. Yet if one reads the pamphlet it becomes obvious the person who organized this .... is a bit off his gourd to say the least.

First off, the title 'Fight Socialism' under which a crossed out swastika would make the uninformed believe that the Nazis were Socialists - nothing could be further from the truth, literally. The Nazi Party was based on Fascism, which is actually on the far-right of the political spectrum.

// A small side note, the terms left and right were believed to be coined in France during the revolution. The aristocracy sat on the right while the commoners sat on the left, so it originally started as a representation of interests of the wealthy elite and the average commoner.//

Socialism is on the far-left of the political spectrum - which naturally is at odds with Fascism and vice versa.

So just with the title and underlying symbol the aforementioned leaflet is already of dubious merit. Of course it then goes on to call for a boycott of companies that were based in the original "Axis of Evil" (except for Japan oddly enough - perhaps too many companies to list). While the rest of the information on the leaflet appears to be based on facts, the information ranges from direct quotations to opinionated drivel.

Calling for a boycott in 2010 for atrocities committed in the 1940's is a bit behind the times, especially considering that most of the companies and countries involved had to perform their mea culpas quite a while ago, for example the Nuremberg Trials which dealt justice to a number of Nazi Political, Military and Economic officials. In any case the author of the leaflet seems to believe that these companies should forever be shunned for their involvement in their countries policies.

Though to practice that ideal one would have to boycott nearly every company in existence, forgo driving (oil companies aren't saints), even give up that soft drink as coca-cola purposely split their company so they could keep doing business in Nazi Germany (Fanta anyone?).

While I have to admire the intentions to an extent, spreading misinformation and ignorance is the wrong way to do it. Instead of calling for 'boycotts' I'd rather call for social responsibility in all things, people should know more about what is happening in the world around them - economically and politically. There should be decisions based on the facts available at the time and a honest realistic view of the products that people purchase, and the politics that people support.

Of course that ideal is quite a bit harder as most people would prefer not to know that Hugo Boss designed the uniforms of the Nazi Schutzstafell or SS - though to be honest, as evil as the Nazis were, they had pretty nifty uniforms.

2010-07-04T23:38:00.001-07:00

/* This was actually an article submission I wrote but thought I'd put it on the blog anyway */

Journalism

We live in a world where information is power, the more one knows about what is going on in the world the better able we are to make informed decisions and predict the impact on others. For most people, the demands of daily life leaves little time to digest the events of the world at large let alone seek out information on current topics that may spark their own interest or affect their livelihood in some way.

It may be here, that today’s Journalists provide a vital service to the general public by collecting and formatting information that ideally is: easily understood by the public, free from personal bias, provides enough factual information for the audience to either reinforce or reconsider their own opinions.

Especially in a democratic government which operates under the assumption of an informed and engaged electorate, journalism becomes a pillar supporting the foundations of society. To quote Thomas Jefferson:

Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government;... whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them to rights. -Thomas Jefferson to Richard Price, 1789.

People rely on the journalistic profession to provide information of what is happening in their own elected government, without journalists investigating and researching events people would be unable to make informed decisions on who has best represented their interests or if elected officials have lived up to the promises they made when voted into office.

With the weight of such a responsibility to the public journalists must also aspire to a good standard of journalism where they provide their audience with information without colouring it with personal bias, as well as recognizing as many different perspectives or ‘angles’ of a story to present the reader with as much of a complete view as possible. A good example is a recent article on the CBC website entitled “McGuinty doesn't rue secrecy on G20 law”, which explains some of the aftermath of the security surrounding the G20 world leaders summit held in Toronto.

The article balances the opinions of Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty with criticisms from the Canadian Civil Liberties Association regarding the granting of broader police powers granted during the summit as well as a lack of public information about the new regulations. The article also provides background information on the event, providing facts into the powers used and reaction of those who were affected by it.

To maintain this standard of good journalism a journalist should exhibit certain qualities and interests to excel at the profession. Primarily they should have a strong sense of curiosity to discover the truth behind what they are writing and a keen power of observation to uncover stories from the most innocuous places. When writing the ability to keep a neutral tone requires integrity and a sense of balance to present as many different sides as possible would serve a journalist well in their career serving the public interest.

Journalism plays an important role in our society, though perhaps too often it is taken for granted as people look to be entertained rather than informed about our world and the events that drive it. However, if journalists hold to their duty to their readers by keeping true to the ideals of providing accurate, balanced and relevant information to the public then perhaps when things get too far wrong, they may be relied on to set things right.

2010-07-04T20:09:00.000-07:00

Of Disneyland for Rednecks and the protection of money

For various reasons/people/interests I've been doing a lot of writing recently, not much of it very good mind you but it's kept things interesting when I could actually get something expressed in a reasonably presentable format.

Now that its for the most part over I remembered I had a blog that no one ever visits that is a great place to write a few of the inane observations I've made in the past while. Whew, and boy were there a lot of things going on... from the colossal impact of British Petroleum to arguably the more well known impact of the latest i-gizmo and it's... performance issues.

More locally is the upcoming 'Greatest show on Earth' in my current city of residence or the Calgary Stampede (though just Stampede is fine) is just under a week away. It is a big event to be sure and it is quite something to see the entire City get into the mood by putting on their western best or perhaps just a stetson, oddly enough I've never been quite able to get into it. Perhaps it's because I've honestly never been quite a big fan of the whole 'Wild West' era, though the discovery that the event is sometimes called 'Disneyland for Rednecks' in other parts of Canada was a bit of a revelation.

In all honesty it's not that bad, I think it is the over-commercialization that makes me groan in disgust when I think of the stampede. Talking to some of the older Calgarians they mention that the Stampede was quite different and better 20 years ago... granted they probably feel the same way about everything in general.

Speaking about the number 20 (the segue is a bit of a stretch I know), Canada was also host to the wondrous G20 summit where the financial representatives of nations and banks got together to deal with the 'global economic turbulence' caused by the financial industry in the leading industrial countries... yeah. On that note a new book is coming out that should be of interest to them that looks at 800 years of economic history and how the previous leaders all thought "This time will be different".

While it may not seem like the G20 is worth the cost for the host Country (at least that's what critics of Stephan Harper accuse) by far the most talked about news to come out of it was the behaviour of the much maligned protester. I'm sure they must believe that the best way to get their point across is to damage property and in general cause mischief, though it's nothing new for the G20 summits.

As I've written before, protesting for the sake of attention is shallow and probably idiotic in the grand scheme of things. For example there was a group of cyclists protesting to demand more facilities and bicycle paths in Toronto, and they protested by riding en-mass downtown causing traffic congestion and basically inconveniencing the average motorist.

While I support cycling and believe their demands have merit - is frustrating the average person going to make your point heard? It really shows a lack of common sense to the point of a total disconnect with reality to assume that by making a lot of noise you'll get your way all the time. Sure it may work for little children but surely we have grown past such behaviour... surely...

If they really wanted to change laws, they should be working to get the public on their side instead of alienating them. Write letters, encourage people to ride bikes, push for an environmental tax break for cyclists - make people want to cycle instead of drive rather than frustrate and annoy them.

Hmm, actually got a bit off topic, what I really wanted to write about (as I reminded myself from the title), was the recent ICE (immigration and customs enforcement) take-down of a multitude of online video streaming websites. Avoiding the issue of piracy, I find the whole affair a bit disturbing, not because of any idea of rights and freedoms but rather the whole thing smells of government spending resources to protect the money of private businesses - that aren't doing too badly at all if box office figures are to be believed.

The MPAA, RIAA and any other organization have the right to protect their intellectual property, and we've all seen those FBI warnings at the beginning of DVD's. It just seems that these organizations have tried the legal route to no avail and have somehow convinced the government that these streaming sites are run by 'organized crime' out to make money from the hardworking movie industry which brought us such recent gems as, The Killers and the Last Airbender.

If ICE officials were at least honest and said directly, "We are protecting the perceived financial interests of these organizations, and while the sites may be run by fans or ordinary people the creators have a right to determine how their product is distributed"

Instead they made it sound as if they arrested career criminals masterminding evil plots against the freedom loving people of the world, it becomes comically one sided.

Though for me, if there is an organization called Immigration and Customs Enforcement trying to figure out why they would be so interested in raiding the homes of "people who have no respect for creativity and innovation" instead of dealing with issues that actually cost lives such as drug and human trafficking. The only reason I can come up with is that the organization ICE is becoming more interested in protecting money than people, they are basically doing the dirty work of the studios who don't want a repeat of the bad public image they received from the random lawsuit method of deterring piracy.

Anyway I doubt that piracy will ever truly be eliminated, and while the actions and attitude of ICE doesn't quite sit well - at least they didn't come out with a rap song about it.

2010-04-25T10:00:00.000-07:00

The Joys of Social Networking.

Recently came across this on Youtube.

Anyway the vid is pretty hilarious Hair Rock ode to the dangers of parents and facebook. So it got me thinking about how it almost seems as if the Social Networking phenom is becoming a victim of it's own success. If everyone you know has access to a page that you update with everything in your life... it can lead to a lot of complications to say the least.

The obvious solution is to have privacy settings to group people into levels of access and have most information kept to a close circle - but then doesn't it get to the point of idiodicy?
If one has to spend as much time on facebook keeping track of social niceties as in real life (with the addition of viral permanance of things posted on the net), then I would think the hassle would make a lot of people just stop using it.

Politicians and other public figures have already been burned simply by not understanding the danger in posting your unfiltered thoughts to the whole world.

If someone stood on a street corner and shouted their every thought for all passersby - one would naturally assume they are insane, yet posting the very same thing for the whole world to see in a semi-permanent medium... well, that's just social networking.

Meh, it's all in good fun though, social media is a great thing as long as people understand what they are dealing with, as the saying goes "It's all fun and games till someone loses an identity".

2009-12-03T20:06:00.000-08:00

So you want to live in London...

London, probably the most cosmopolitan (English speaking) city in the world, a centre for fashion, culture, football and a variety of alcohols – however if one wants to live there it is pretty expensive by any standard. It may be difficult enough for people living elsewhere in the UK to relocate to London but for people outside the country it can be a daunting task and there are quite a few scam artists quite eager to take advantage of the naive or desperate. So with that in mind here is a helpful guide to finding a place to stay for a long stay (a year or more) and a few helpful suggestions and insights.

A word of caution – NEVER, EVER under any circumstances hand over money just to see or reserve a place, always see a property in person. Even if you know someone who can check things out for you, it is very strongly suggested that a first hand look at a place is a requirement. Using the internet to find places might be easy, but it is probably the worst way to find a decent place just on it’s own.

First and foremost that old adage location, location, location - figure out where you need/want to be and how much you will be willing to travel. Check the London tube system layout, and get familiar with the location of the stations as they are the best landmarks and orientation points. Also for school/work check the nearest station and see what line it is on, then you can look for places along that line. For example The London School of Economics is along the Picadilly line, so finding a place nearest a tube station on that line will make it an easy commute.

Another thing to keep in mind is the zones, if you want to be in zone 1... you are obviously very rich and do not need this guide. Zone 2 and 3 are still pretty pricy but with a bit of searching one can probably find something though it might stretch the budget a bit. Zone 4 and you are a bit out of London but the prices are more reasonable – you get the idea.

With that in mind first check your resources, not just how much money you can spend on rent but if you have any friends or relatives in London or the UK that could help you look for a place or might even have a spare room. It is worth putting some time into this as one could save a lot of time, effort and money with the right contact. Plus if you have someone willing to be your guarantor you can avoid a lot of hassle and upfront fees that foreign nationals have to pay in London (a bit more on that later).

If you don’t have any contacts in London, fret not, but be prepared to do some walking. Checking for places online is a good way to scout out some places but as stated before never put any money upfront without seeing the place in person.

If you are attending a school in London check out the Student housing services first they can give helpful information about where to look and have their own listings for shared accommodations. Most will also provide free telephone and internet use for registered students to help find a place.

Travelling to London:

If you don’t have a place ready for you or just confirmed via the internet plan to spend at least a couple of weeks in London itself to look for a place. You could find a place in a couple of days or within a week but it’s better to be safe than sorry. Hostels are good temporary accommodations and some have secure storage for heavy luggage (be sure to check), so plan a budget of about $50/day which is about 25 pounds just to be safe. There are Hostels that advertise at $20 per day but remember that doesn’t include food and is usually the lowest rate available during off-peak seasons. So just to look for a place have at least $700 set aside for cheap accommodation and cheap food (more on eating in London later)

Things to have ready beforehand:

So now it is the heart of the story, travelling to London to find a place. Assuming you can take care of your travel arrangements let’s look at what you should have with you to make finding a place in London a bit easier.

- A Bank account, for a lot of services, school and some landlords this is a must. You can set up an account with HSBC that would work in London before you leave but for a fee, otherwise one of the first things to do is setup an account with a bank that is close to your school or another central location. Schools also have deals with certain bank branches so check with student services.

- If you are going to school make sure to bring all enrolment and acceptance information (with copies and backups of course) as it will help to get accounts and student deals on services and housing.

- If you can arrange for someone you know in the UK to be a guarantor it will save you having to pay 6 months rent in advance for most landlords and certain fees for services.

- Comfortable shoes, you will be walking around quite a bit so dress appropriately, also an umbrella is a pretty good idea.

Once in London,

After settling in to your temporary space hit the pavement as soon as possible (not literally of course), and unless you really, really, really like walking an Oyster card is must. The cards can be obtained from virtually any tube station including the Airports. Ideally get a weekly pass for the zones you wish to travel, at the time of writing a weekly tube pass for zone 1-2 is roughly $60 which includes a deposit. Just ask the helpful staff at the nearest station and they will be able to explain the fees and system in detail. Or visit http://www.tfl.gov.uk

If you are going to school the first stop should be the student housing services as they will be able to give a lot of help and advice. Otherwise one of the first things you should consider getting is a phone, it will make life a lot easier getting in contact with landlords and services, and the payphones in London are extraordinarily ill tempered (one ate $6 worth of coins and still refused to dial out and requested more money).

There are quite a few options for phones T-Mobil, Virgin, the list goes on. Just stop by the first store and get a cheap phone and a pay as you go plan, you’ll also be introduced to the payment system which is used by the other utilities so a good learning opportunity there as well.

Letting agents.

Probably the fastest and safest way to find a place by yourself, letting agents are locally oriented offices that find renters for landlords. Each office focuses on a small radius around them so even if they belong to the same company if it’s in a different area they usually don’t have information on what’s available. So the best way to find places is to just get off at the tube stop you want to live near and look for the nearest letting agent walk down the main streets and there will be quite a few. The key is to check as many as possible to find a place that is convenient, safe, clean, and within your budget.

Speaking of budget be prepared to spend more than you expect, it is possible to find a place a bachelor apartment for $300 a week (yes PER week) in zone 2 but for $30 more you could find a more ideal location. Since most landlords expect at least a 6 month commitment make sure you want to live there for a while.

This ends the first part, if this is interesting I’ll post more sections that will cover:

-Getting internet,

-Utilities

-Bargaining with landlords

-Things to consider when looking at a place

-Food and grocery shopping

-General advice.

2009-11-06T22:21:00.000-08:00

This is the biggest news story around right now and it isn't surprising to see why, the spin on the story is also fairly interesting. Surprisingly (for the most part) the news agencies have been fairly balanced in reporting though the spin is well under way. Whether the left-wing liberal media or the right-wing ... conservative media? each portion out information to skew opinions in favour of their own viewpoints.

[Though first off it has to be said that this is a tragedy and one cannot help but feel for the grieving relatives of those killed, this truly was a senseless, incredibly stupid and tragic loss of life.]

Now while I do find Bill O'Rielly a few cards short of a full deck he had a (as in only one) valid argument during his talking point regarding the news spin on events. Of course there are other opinions as well, regardless the facts are such:

- Thursday November 5th Maj. Malik Nadal Hasan opened fire and killed 13 people, injuring 30 at Fort Hood, Texas

Regardless of how it is reported any other information is a blind attempt to seek meaning into this act be trying to get a sense of how this could happen. Surprisingly the 'Muslim terrorist' angle has been downplayed from the beginning, the military even flat out stating that they do not believe this was an act of terrorism - not that I'm complaining but it does raise more questions in the back of my head that settle any misplaced sense of relief.

What really bothers me is that Maj. Hasan was a trained psychiatrist - who helped fellow soldiers deal with problems such as stress related to combat! This is an educated man who according to reports is a devout Muslim... how does a person such as this end up going on a shooting spree?

This of course is were the wonderful world of speculation comes in, there are reports about him being unhappy with the military, against his future deployment in Afghanistan, shouting religious 'slogans' during the shooting, being a loner, upset at the war in general as well as treatment of Muslims, even attending morning prayer at Mosque just before the incident.

If I had to guess I'd say he was pressured by the conflict he felt between his faith and his occupation while listening to who knows how many horror stories from fellow soldiers returning from deployment. If indeed he was an introverted loner then he was basically akin to a pressure cooker about to explode at some point. He must have lost sight of his sense of self, being unable to reconcile his conflicting loyalties and feelings.

In any event I'm sure the news agencies will deliver the 'pertinent' facts as they come and since he survived we may be treated to interviews and the like... bah.

Sigh, well the real fun is the blame game that will start now, everyone one and their dog pointing fingers or shifting blame from the obvious to the obscure ($10 says there is at least one government conspiracy theory out there already... who am I kidding there are already about 15 or so).

So in the end will anything change, does this sensational news event have any larger significance than allowing news agencies to increase ratings, pundits to weigh, politicians to spin things in their favour, or an excuse to drive another wedge into the rift between the average Muslim and John Q Public. Who knows?

To be honest it will be talked about a lot... a whole lot, by almost everyone trying to make some sort of point (myself included I suppose) but after a while some celebrity will do something stupid and life will go on without much noticeable change... though some people should be prepared for some 'extra security screening' in the near future.

I guess if there is anything to be learnt it is that anyone can break from pressure or stress or just being isolated, the solution is quite simple but much easier said than done - talk to people, share oneself with others on a daily basis and keep firm what ideals one holds as a part of ones self (I think I used 'one' a tad too much but heck, that's just the way I roll).

Take care everyone.

2009-09-09T18:54:00.000-07:00

Politics? or mindless entertainment...

Well, in an effort to return to a bit more of an intelligent slant to this blog I thought I'd discuss the recent speech Obama made to congress regarding is health care reform plans.
Oddly enough the first thing I thought while watching this speech is - why on earth is Obama actually talking about this... it reminded me of a parent sitting a child down and trying to explain them why it is not a good idea to put forks in electrical sockets.
I've been vaguely aware of the ongoing 'debate' regarding health... well not the real debate more the funny people yelling about 'death panels' and protesting the destruction of American Freedom (Made in China).

The fact that Obama actually had to make a speech to congress regarding ridiculous claims is what I find the most incredulous... though watching the live feed of the speech changed my opinion.

I think I understand why Bush was able to get re-elected (aside from uncharismatic opponents) he had a real ability to connect to the LCD's or Lowest Common Denominators, as was once pointed out by Mr. Stewart of the Daily Show - Bush doesn't speak like an idiot, he talks as if he is speaking to an idiot.

In Obama's speech he took a similar approach though instead of talking to an idiot he was talking to an out of control child, trying to explain decisions while warning what will and will not be tolerated.

Of course the most interesting parts of the speech were the timely cutaways showing crowd reactions from republicans and democrats... a fun drinking game is to try and guess by facial expression which represtative belongs to which party.

It seemed that the gathering of leaders of the United States of America had been reduced the same level of politics as a Schoolyard during recess, with Obama being the supervising teacher trying to maintain order. It would be hilarious if it wasn't a sad summation of the absurd divisivness and ingorance that plague modern politics, and the only people to blame are the voters who rely on mass media and irrelevant speculation to 'guess' who to vote for. The idea of an intelligent and informed electorate is probably the biggest weakness of democracy since niether ever seem to hold true, I'm not saying a dictatorship is any better but one has to wonder if the democracy of ours really represents the will of the people and if so... is the will of a majority that has no interest in keeping track of events in the Country or spending time learning how to make effective decsions worth listening to?

Meh, it's all a moot point anyway everyone knows that corporations and personal interest are the real deciders of policy in government, or maybe I'm just being too cynical.

2009-08-13T16:33:00.000-07:00

The Smell of Jasmine and Shit...

In retrospect deciding to try the above title for this post was a little... idiotic, but nevertheless I had decided to make that the title and I'll have to work with it.
Unfortunately between the time I wrote the last post and my attempt to start blogging again a lot has happened. I am no longer in sunny and (overly) warm Sri Lanka, and now am residing in the overcast and almost frigid regions of Canada - though to be fair we did have a few days of warm weather a week ago...
In regards to the title of this post, I believe originally it had to do with an experience I had walking home from work one day in Sri Lanka... and those literally were the smells I encountered, which at the time I felt was a fitting metaphor to the ugliness and beauty that existed in an almost paradoxical balance there.
I think I was also going to point out the differences between Canada and Sri Lanka by pointing out that while Canada may be more stable and 'safe' it is rather boring, dull, sanitized... characterized by rather bland smells or of limited variation.

Well, in any event as I stated at the beginning the title was a little idiotic... so that about sums up what the original purpose of the title was. As for a better topic, meh, a bit too lazy to find an appropriate segue so the post will end here.

2009-04-25T12:16:00.000-07:00

Farewell to Geocities

So I've recently heard the news that Yahoo! (yes the exclamation is part of the name) has decided to close down GeoCities. For those who don't know GeoCities was one of the first websites that allowed anyone to build a site and host if for free in subdirectory of their domain... basically you they gave you a site of your own to play with.

Back in the day when hotmail wasn't owned by Microsoft and thus only a quarter evil, yes GeoCities was a place for anyone who wanted their little section of the web to show to the world what little skill in web design they really had.

Yes I was once one of those who squatted some space on the web with my poorly designed and rarely updated site, though I actually wrote rants... ah those were the days. Angrily writing on a topic of which caught my attention, not caring if it made sense or right or wrong... just verbally spilling bile onto a forgotten corner of the interweb.

Surprisingly enough the site is still there, with nary a visitor in god knows how long. Still it was kind of nostalgic to read a few of my first ventures into writing things publicly available that no one would ever read... hehe... he.

Funnily enough the first Rant I posted was never finished, a point that doesn't go anywhere... perhaps a metaphor for my life in general... I really have to stop setting up these self directed jokes, even against myself I can't resist taking pot shots. Anyway it is kind of sad to see the old site go down, though now there are a lot more options for people to build sites, blogger (of course) wordpress, Myspace, and with Facebook why even bother building a personal website?

It is also neat to look at my style writing and notice a few subtle changes, my vocabulary has improved slightly and my tone is more even and considered instead of the angry ravings that constitute a 'rant'.

Though for old times sake I think I'll let the anger out a bit for my next entry and get back to a good ol'fashion written rage against the world. I even have a title picked out, "The smell of Jasmine and Shit... yes Shit"

2009-04-18T06:34:00.000-07:00

A different way of looking at things....

They say news is a matter of opinion (I am beginning to think 'they say' is an overused term to gloss over the fact that there really isn't any concrete information), news is basically any event or action that has or will take place. What people consider news is very dependent on the person, for example some people may be interested in the latest sports score, others may want up to date financial news from the movers and shakers in the business world, and still others may only be interested in what their grandchildren have been doing.

In our modern society the importance of news is decided by a few factors:
1) to what extent will it impact the audience of the news
2) interest of the audience in certain news
3) standard or limitations to publishing news

Of course I'm oversimplifying it a tad but bear with me, now more often that not news in factor 1 is not of interest to people while factor 2 isn't really important to the lives of the audience beyond the superficial.
Now as well a lot of news in that is interpreted to make it as appealing to the audience as possible - or as it is more commonly known "sensationalising" news stories for popularity. It doesn't just fall into the realm of entertainment news, the major 'trusted' news networks are just as bad. The 'venerable' CNN in the USA has been considered the most 'fair and balanced' news channel by the general public. Unfortunately that is a poor standard, let's give a quick example, there recently was a story about North Korea, take a look at the headline from Reuters and compare it to the CNN headline for the same story (they link to the stories which I recommend reading).

Reuters - North Korea seeks talks with South but warns on sanction

CNN - North Korea: Sanctions a declaration of war

It gets worse if you do read the actual stories that were online, the CNN story makes no mention of the talks with South Korea but instead focuses on the threat North Korea and their missile program represent.

If you break down the story, only the first paragraph is actually news, the rest of the article is opinion and history provided to give a certain impression. All too often I see this type of reporting where the actual content can be summed up in a few lines while the rest is speculation and propoganda disguised as factual information.

It isn't really CNN's fault though... if you had a choice between the two headlines which would you click on?
News providers are tied to sponsorship and viewer count, they walk a fine line between journalistic integrity and meeting the bottom line. The sad truth is that no news source can really be trusted, if one wants a real picture of what is happening in the world you must take as many different perspectives as possible and the truth will fall somewhere in the middle of that.

Though how many people have the time for that anymore? Many don't even bother reading from one source of news, forget checking different and altering view points of news. It isn't necessarily a bad thing, until these same people decide the must have an opinion about the world or (heaven forbid) get actual power and decide to make policies based on incomplete and often faulty information.

What is even more frightening is people who have strong convictions based on absolutely no information at all... I won't say which group many of such people belong to, but I'm sure many can hazard a guess.

Though perhaps as with beauty, the value of news is just in the eye of the beholder... and how news will effect the way they think and act.

Hmm, perhaps it is all meaningless information that is consumed and passed out like ... ugh I can't finish that analogy.
I guess more important than having information is what one does with it, if someone has a perfect view of everthing going on in the world but just goes about their daily life... how is it different than someone who doesn't know anything about the world? So perhaps one has to take information with a view of how to change the world or at the very least share their view with others.

2009-04-09T09:06:00.000-07:00

Not Normal

I've always had an aversion to normalacy... perhaps that is not the right phrase. I've always taken refuge in the label of being abnormal, different than the usual. Perhaps it is growing up considering myself (narcsisstically) unusual or not quite the same as people around me, in part that is true though one has to recognize that everyone is slightly different than the other.
I don't think of myself as unique or special just something that doesn't seem to productively fit in the mechanisms of the world that comprise what we call society.
I am able to understand or connect to different people and expereince... but never feel a part of them, or it does not quite resonate as what I see myself as - only parts. I keep having this feeling that I have all these functions but no direction, like an all purpose tool that may get many tasks done if used but is not really vital for any specific job.

I think what annoys me the most is that people like definitions or labels to identify what they are - in both positive and negative ways. Take religion for example (ah what a lovely can of worms), now I've come to a bit of an odd view that all religions are equally valid with both good and not-so good facets. They are all different ways of interpreting the world and they are all trying to get people to live in a moral and beneficial way to society or more specifically the ideals of the immediate community. Given the opportunity I enjoy learning more about religious beliefs, the only time I stop is when someone has the gall to say that there is only one path and all others are false.
Hmm, I'll stop before I dig too deep a hole for myself, anyway getting back to my original point is that people will often ask what my religion is and I have a hard time answering them. If I say I don't really belong to a religion they assume I'm an atheist - which isn't accurate. Conversely saying that I'm a student of any religion that promotes good qualities leads to puzzling looks and odd questions.
So to avoid the matter entirely I just say I was raised Roman Catholic and that seems to satisfy most people.
Still I dislike being forced into such a narrow viewpoint, not that I have anything against Catholicism of course.

Hmm, perhaps I'll call it a day as I have no idea how to finish this post without digging a deeper hole for myself :)

2009-03-14T23:08:00.000-07:00

There really is something wrong when...

For the longest time I've been a fan of the Daily show, for those who don't know it is a comedy show that takes a funny take on politics and news in the US. Though up in Canada we've had Air Farce and This hour has 22 minutes were comedy gold well before Jon Stewart, but anyway...
I became a fan of the show mainly because it ... is darn funny, with excellent writing and comedy at it's finest... though at times also just plain silly as well.

However starting with this CNN crossfire interview I really started to question how people saw the show worldwide and in the USA in particular. In the interview Stewart himself said that there is something wrong when news networks look to a comedy show for journalistic integrity. Some pollsters have shown that more and more people are tuning into the Daily show for news than the news stations themselves or seem to trust the information they get from Stewart more than the 'respected' news anchors.

More recently there has been a big brouhaha over a piece DS did about CNBC and their seeming complicity in the current financial crisis. I'll admit it was interesting though as per usual it wasn't really anything I didn't know before... it was just packaged nicely and present in a way I could laugh at instead of banging my head against a wall.
However it really has struck a cord within the media itself and people are taking it more seriously than I thought possible... which I find really disturbing.
Now first one should really should Watch this , seriously. It was partially disturbing to see the show being about the full complacency of media with the economic crisis... but that Jon Stewart was actually doing a serious interview... I kept waiting for a punch line in the middle but it was a serious interview without the combative argumentative bullshit that passes for debate.
Why... why does one have to look to a comedy show for a serious look at what is happening in the world?
The answer is actually a damning statement against the current mainstream media. The responsibility of illuminating truth has turned into more of an exercise in earning advertising revenue and not upsetting the powers that be (who often happen to pay for 'adversing'). As other bloggers and commentors on the whole scenario have stated it does seem that these major news networks and sources who claim to have respectablility and access ... really don't use it effectively and are more afraid of giving offence than publishing what boils down to propoganda.

I wish I could write a bit more but time for work, and again to avoid the draft will just publish this entry as is. One last word about the media though... for all the stupity I see coming from major news and media outlets, it really is only a reflection of the regular person, people don't want the truth or justice... for the most part they just want to be entertained.

2009-03-13T04:35:00.000-07:00

Adventures in shaving,

Well this might be an odd topic but felt it would be nice to try writing about. I'm sure most people can relate to shaving at least some part of their body for 'whatever' reason at one time or another, being a guy who could grow a full beard at the age of 14 it is something I've become quite used too.

Eventually I also started shaving my head as well, or to quote a colourful character "God shaved part of my head, I just decided to finish the job". In any event this means that whether I like it or not shaving is nearly a daily chore though keeping a beard allows me to slack off every other day or so (longer if I want a mean grunge look). What this all leads up to is the choice of shaving utensil, a razor, electric razor or some latest 5 blade power EX XXTREME razor than dispenses magical healing liquid and smells like mint - oh and also vibrates.

Anyway for the longest time I've settled on the Mach 3 razor which is quite comfortable though the cost of the replacement blades are a bit pricey. I've tried electric razors and they really are uncomfortable no matter how 'hi-tech' they become - plus they never seem to do quite the job that blades are able to. So while I use Mach 3 what I really want to use are good ol'fashion straight razors, of course would probably end up like Scarface but with a little practice it would be a nifty skill to pick up. Unfortunately finding these razors is not an easy task, plus one needs an assortment of equipment to maintain it: strop, brush, mug and a few other terms I forget.

Well since I was down to my last replacement Mach 3 blade decided to pick up a new razor and on impulse got the tried and true single blade razor with those iconic honest to goodness razor blades (the friends of emos since... whenever that fad become popular). I would have liked a straight razor but as I said it was on impulse and they don't seem to carry straight razors at the local stores.

The first time using the archetype of safety razors proved ... interesting. It was a little nerve racking to use an untested blade on ones throat but it was surprisingly clean to shave with. I actually completed most of my morning ritual with a couple of minor nicks (well within acceptable tolerances) until I reached the back of my head.
Now I am fairly used to head shaving so I don't use a mirror unless defining my beard (it is a sweet beard) so just went about as normal feeling for rough areas when a pass of the razor seemd to burn just a little.
I didn't think anything of it until I felt an a wet area on back of my head... yeah.
I actually managed to take a picture of my bleeding skull but fortunately for you it has been lost on my computer amoung countless pictures of random objects and various politicians (they're just so sexy).

Though now have got used to the blade and actually enjoy using it more than the Mach 3... I think there is something about the ritual of shaving that makes me appreciate the older shaving methods than the gosh darn fancy technological stuff. Maybe it is the concentration that is needed to safely use a very sharp blade or a Zen-like trance one goes into when shaving but while I wouldn't say shaving is an enjoyable experience it is one of those multitude of little rituals one has to do throughout the day that is actually not altogether unpleasant. Though I think being able to use a straight razor would be totally bad ass, it's almost like telling someone you use a gun to plant seeds... hmm, maybe not quite that stupid but I think you get the idea.

2009-03-04T08:49:00.000-08:00

Fascination with Fail...

Well the above picture is more for the sake of humour than any meaningful representation about what I'm going to blog about today... at least I couldn't thing of a way to do it with extreme leaps of logic.
Anyway I guess a lot of things are happening in life again... it always seems that the universe conspires to lull one into a false sense of security and then hit you with the biggest sh... storm you ever had the imagination to think of, turn into a Hollywood script and have the resulting movie lead played by Helen Hunt (she was a famous actress... so I've been told).
Hmm, that might be a bit inaccurate, I think the way I see things in my life right now is like a large intersection... right now, it's pretty empty and quiet, maybe a few cars go by. In the distance it seems a couple of trains are coming, there also appears to be a few buses and trucks loaded with flammables heading down the road.
So I really should start planning how to switch the tracks for the trains and which bus to stop before they all collide together in a beautiful fubar fireball... or get a stick and some marshmallows and wait a bit.

Hmm, I guess what I'm trying to get at in a round about way is I have a lot of decisions to make, and no matter what I choose some people aren't going to be happy. Oh well, that's life I guess...

Another thing that has been weighing heavily on my mind is how seriously I take myself... quite often I make effort to downplay my abilities or appear foolish as a way of lowering expectations. Though I think people just begin to assume I'm a little nuts which works out just as well - since I really don't like getting involved too deeply in things, too troublesome.
I've started changing a bit, maybe it's just waking and thinking I guess I'll do what is necessary today, or maybe just thinking it would be nice to rage against the dying of the light.

Meh, whatever... either way as long as it stays interesting it's something to look forward too. I've also decided I really should make more of an effort to keep in contact with people. Someone passes away and you're left thinking 'I really wish I knew them' because honestly if you don't then it's hard to know how to feel. For all that I try to understand the world and how people act it is quite sobering to find out that one doesn't really know much about the people who should be closest.

So have a lot of stuff to work on inside and out so to speak... it's funny, I've stopped wishing for life to be simpler or easier... in fact, I think at this point I really do want something to rage against, to fight with all my strength even if failure is a foregone conclusion. What's that ol sports saying... "it's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game".

2009-03-02T21:01:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking a lot recently... hmm, perhaps a better way to say is I've been thinking more than I usually do. Most of the time it isn't productive, just the usual mix of introspective and 'nature of the universe' stuff, but even that gets tiring so switched it up with some more analytical thought on things around me, people, environment, politics, censorship, accuracy of information etc.

Oddly enough I've never tried sharing about 95% of what I think mainly because I believe that I don't have enough information to make a conclusion, to do otherwise is just pure speculation.

However I've realized that most people really have no clue either... there really isn't any way to be completely sure about anything. Though it breaks down into two categories, the first knows their information is incomplete but makes decisions based on them leaving room for change if anything new is brought to light. The second takes what little information they get and then staunchly defend it without even considering that it could be wrong - to the point that they will fight against any contradicting information.

It surprises me how many people fall into the second category, or more accurately how many people fall into the second category only for certain subjects. This may be opening a can of worms but let's look at Religion and Politics. People may question a lot of things, but if it is put forward through a religious or political light then they will eagerly accept and defend it.

====================================================
I was going to continue with the previous thought but realized it would be more than I really want to get into. Actually it's just that it would take more time than I have to write the full scope of what I wanted so instead of saving as a draft (a mark of death for my blog posts) figured I'd shift gears with the smoothness of an elephant performing Swan Lake and talk about something completely different - organization!

Organization is a fancy way of saying... hmm, I'm not sure, where is my dictionary... damn, can't find it, I really should be more organized. Anyway it is something that is really really hard to do. That's it... oh and "I like turtles"

2009-02-20T02:47:00.000-08:00

So that's what it is all about...

Every now and then one tends to get a little frayed at the edges, overwhelmed by the petty idiocies of the world in general (or specific agitators as well), but then something comes along that reminds one that sometimes that isn't really important.

If it is one thing about our world and the internet I would praise is that it allows the creation of videos like the one above.

So I could write pages... but sometimes less is more, watch the video and enjoy and feel a bit better.

2009-02-03T08:12:00.001-08:00

Well I am going to try and write about what may be for once instead of just commenting on past ones. I have a long list of topics on which I had opinions but a lack of time… or more honestly laziness never saw the posts in a form worth publishing even on the Internet.

So today I am going to write about the near future, actually literally tomorrow. February Fourth is Independence day in Sri Lanka, the are parades planned and exhibits at the main hall called the BMICH (it stands for something but the words were really hard to pronounce let alone spell). In any event there is a great amount of relief and hope for this year’s celebrations, as for the first time in 25 years it looks like the menace of the LTTE is over. A civil war that has seen countless lives and the destruction of Sri Lanka’s economy and probably most importantly national pride.

It is always interesting how one can see the past where once Sri Lanka was considered the jewel of the Indian ocean, rich in natural resources and culture the Isle was the envy of many Nations. Unfortunately that also meant it was a target for powers eager to exploit what ever the country had to offer.

Wait wait… I’m supposed to be talking about the present and the future… so anyway, people are hopeful and are actually considering a future of peace on this Island. National pride is at a level that probably hasn’t been seen in decades, but that also is a cause for concern.

It the simplest terms one must always have pride in themselves and that amounts to saying ‘I am great, and can do anything’ though there comes a point when that pride goes beyond confidence in oneself but a way of looking down on others ‘I am better than you.’

For a long time people in Sri Lanka had little confidence in their Country and held no pride in being born on this Island, and unfortunately that was also displayed internationally. One of the few things that brought Sri Lankans together was Cricket, and winning the world cup was probably the only bright spot in the last decade.

So now with people daring to again take pride in their culture I would like to think that they could avoid mistakes of the past, and be able to feel confident in who they are without developing a superiority complex.

With that said tomorrow’s Independence Day celebrations should be interesting. Since it is going to be the focus of rebuilding some National pride it is a prime target of the LTTE terrorists.

I’ve already noticed the increased security over the past couple of days and hopefully it can prevent any attempts at destruction.

It is a bit weird being a part of a newspaper though, one almost hopes for catastrophe so that there is more news to print and comment on. Though personally I think it is highly likely that the LTTE will be able to pull off something, simply because they are incredibly desperate and have been driven to a point where recovery is next to impossible.

It is of such concern that I’m even just a little worried about travelling to my cousin’s place for his birthday (being born on Independence is a mixed blessing I guess). Not for a possibility of being exploded but the resulting traffic jam that would mean being stuck hours in traffic while the sun rained down deadly waves of heat.

Actually that brings up something I’ve been considering, I now believe that the LTTE lost this conflict long before the current military campaign started against them two years ago.

I think that once the fear of suicide bombers stopped keeping people from going about their daily lives – the terrorists lost. Terrorism itself depends on fear, a bankrupt tactic that doesn’t exactly have a history of working out too well. The attitude of most people is a simple resignation to the dangers society presents at the moment whether it be from the LTTE or the Government.

Well, what I really want to express is that I see the possibility for greatness right now, there is so much potential for Sri Lanka and all the peoples regardless of caste or creed.

As a personal aside I’ve had to counter a lot of misinformation about the discrimination accusations fielded against Sri Lanka, mainly encouraged as a method of justifying the LTTE’s existence. Personally Sri Lanka seems much more tolerant than other countries, for example I know Canadians believe that they have the most tolerant society… but would you ever see a school in Canada that has a praying area with a miniaturized Mosque, Kovil, Pagoda and Church side by side? There is a lot more tolerance and acceptance in Sri Lanka than I have seen elsewhere, though I will admit Canadians are definitely more polite. This is not saying Sri Lanka is perfect – far from it! No country can claim moral high ground when it comes to similar issues.

I’m getting a bit vague and the aside is quickly turning into another post, so I’ll just say that no one is perfect, but with a little effort and confidence truly amazing things are possible. The sad part the road to disaster is much easier.

2009-01-23T12:28:00.000-08:00

Well last post I mentioned that I had emailed the Keith's brewery about getting some decent beer, and quite to my surprise they actually responded! I am so amazed that I actually decided to post ASAP rather than wait the usual couple of days/weeks/months... hehe small joke... uhm.
Anyway for your reading pleasure below is a transcript of the mail, though the news wasn't what I had hoped.

My passionate plea:

Greetings,

My name is Srian Fernando, I've lived in Canada all my life, though recently moved to Sri Lanka for a few months. While the weather is decidedly warmer, I find one thing lacking and it is a growing concern. There isn't a single decent beer here, when one is accustomed to Canadian beer (most notably Keiths of course) the local stuff I have to reluctantly force down (t'is a crime to waste beer after all).

Anyway I was hoping I could find out if there is someplace I would be able to get a bottle of Keiths in Sri Lanka or if not is there some way to get some? I would also like to introduce my new friends to some 'real beer'.

Thank you,

Srian

--------------------------------------
"No one writes jokes in base 13 [...] I may be a pretty sad person but I don't write jokes in base 13"
-Douglas Adams

The prompt yet disappointing response:

Thank you for your e-mail Srian. We appreciate that you took the time to leave us your comments. Unfortunately Alexander Keith's cannot be purchased in Sri Lanka at this time. In reality Alexander Keith's is growing so fast in Canada that we are straining to meet demand. Today it would be difficult to consider any export markets, however please stay tuned, as we are always thinking about the future. Thank you for your interest in Keith's.

Best regards,

Tania

Keith's Customer Service

So that is that, I'll have to settle for drinking the local beer when I have the chance... oh well. I suppose I can try the Coconut Arrack, it burns so badly you forget all about the taste... and anything else for that matter. So to all of legal age, raise a glass and enjoy what you have while it lasts, for as that ol'song says "Ya don't know what you've got till it's gone", there was also something about a taxi but it never made much sense to me. Take care.

2009-01-23T07:25:00.000-08:00

It ain't got Guinea pigs, but...

So I was planning to write my great opus of local conflicts and give a compelling argument of my take on the whole sordid mess… then my brain exploded from the depth of complexity I was trying to fit into a single blog post.
After recovering by watching some inane and pointless media I was ready to reattempt another entry but it was turning into what would be an epic novel by the standards of the Internet.
I will still attempt to write my viewpoint but I have a lot of editing to do, speaking of editing I must say that one quote has been springing to mind quite a lot recently:

“Write drunk, edit sober.”

To those who have had the experience of being inebriated I’m sure you can relate well to those words. Unfortunately for me, the prospect of endeavouring to write while intoxicated – while certainly appealing, is impractical in my case as I need to write quite a bit in relation to work and my relations in the area do not approve of alcohol consumption. In addition the prospect of drinking the ungodly stuff that passes for beer in my present local is quite disturbing… I miss McEwan’s, or a good ice cold Keiths. I’ve even taken the liberty of emailing the Keith’s brewery to see if there is someplace I can acquire the godly nectar… and no I am not an alcoholic.

Anyway I digress (actually I have no idea what that means… meh), so it finally comes around to the point where I have to decide what the heck I am going to write about. We’ll this time it will be something quite inane but can make me smile even when I’m not feeling too good (one can be surprised how often these things are needed).
So after my brain meltdown I decided to peruse some old internet sites and browsed around newgrounds, a user built site consisting the scum of the internet who make amateur flash movies and games, though some are better than mainstream.
There I came across a excessively cute but fun clip called “There She Is!” I had seen way back when, basically the story of a Rabbit and a Cat falling in love… okay I know it sounds corny but believe me it is fun, innocent and something that makes a nice change of pace from thinking about corruption, nationalism, suicide bombers, exploitation and the general ills of the world.
Though I was surprised to see that there were four more episodes or 'steps' to the clip that the author produced, and while it was a bit darker and had more depth managed to make me smile more. Give a watch for yourself and see if you can’t smile at the end.

2009-01-11T23:26:00.000-08:00

So here we go, (UNFINISHED)

The first few weeks of this New Year have passed; a brief moment in the span of lives but significant nonetheless. There is a lot I would like to write about, the storm of recent events that have passed and the worrisome thoughts they provoke. As always I am hesitant to go into a topic, not because of importance or the worry of offense (actually there is a perverse fun in being offensive), rather I always look to find the deepest root of things events and rely not on second hand knowledge but what I can observe... I guess a better way to put it is that I only trust what truth I can see with my own eyes - anything else is merely a possibility awaiting confirmation. It is a good idea in theory however it often leads one to spend altogether too much time in observation without action or as in the case of the heroic Dane of Shakespeare, the balance skewed too far into reason without passion (I'm not actually that well read, had to study the play in High School).
Anyway perhaps it is time to put a few thoughts out as incomplete as they be...

Currently living in Sri Lanka the New Year has started off with a bit of a bang... literally. There is currently a military campaign waged against the LTTE (Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam) by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces (SLAF), this year has seen the Government forces recapture areas of the Island that was controlled by the LTTE for the past 23 years. There is a lot of history behind this conflict and while it is against my better judgment I'll give a bit of an assessment based on my study the past few months here.

Firstly Sri Lanka has several different ethnic and religious groups, the main players being Sinhalese, Tamils divided further into Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and Christians. If you want a further details the CIA Factbook on Sri Lanka breaks it down as follows: Sinhalese 73.8%, Sri Lankan Moors 7.2%, Indian Tamil 4.6%, Sri Lankan Tamil 3.9%, other 0.5%, unspecified 10% (based on 2001 census). So historically there has been a bit of a conflict between the Sinhalese and Tamils, now it should be noted that while Tamils are a minority in Sri Lanka they are part of a greater Tamil Diaspora that was once the great Chola Dynasty including Southern India and parts of Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Indonesia... damn, this is turning a bit too technical and that is something I really wanted to avoid.

Unfortunately trying to explain this situation properly requires a lot of background information to get a real picture - to try and sum it up in a couple of incidents is self-serving mockery.

Then how should this be tackled, facts are in most cases irrelevant anyway... people will always find 'facts' to support their position and then it becomes a game of random figures and information.
Alright let's go with a bit more of intangible feeling of this whole mess, without giving all the details here is how it played out. Although on reflection that isn't altogether appropriate either... often times I think people tend to read articles or watch a couple of news clips and form quick opinions on complex issues without bothering to question deeper. For the most part this isn't really wrong as how can one have the time to research everything amidst the activities of daily life, though it does get a bit scary when people who really have no clue start touting their opinions as 'truth' and will with surprising energy vehemently defend the ignorance they champion.

So let me give my view and make of it what you will, though if you are curious and want to speak on the issue please do some real research, I'm tired of having read opinions of people whose only claim to intelligent thought is use of the 'copy' and 'paste' function on their computers.
Sri Lanka is now at a turning point; the military has almost crushed a terrorist group that has occupied the northern part of the Island for over 25 years. There is a bit of an ethnic schism and truthfully neither side is completely blameless, foreign factions have also contributed but that is another matter. At the root of it there is just a lot of distrust, and in some hatred. What is surprising is that the average person the common man if you will is the most open, just wanting to get on with their lives not caring about, politics or religion. Unfortunately people with a desire for power will use (or create) prevalent issues to control people, Prabakaran (leader of the LTTE) is one such and many of the politicians in Sri Lankan are the same.
Whatever said and done the LTTE have to be destroyed, terrorism isn't the way of solving problems and they have done more to hurt the legitimate causes of those they supposedly protect than the agencies they claim to defend against.

After that... is the bigger question, on top of ethnic distrust there is poverty, corruption, government policies, environmental concerns and a host of other problems to deal with that have either stemmed from or made worse by this conflict.

///Crap late for work, I wanted to finish this before I posted but will just have to leave if here and update when I get a chance, otherwise who knows how long it will take to post :P

2008-12-30T13:12:00.000-08:00

So the New Year is almost upon us and it is a good enough time as any to reflect on the changes 2008 has wrought and what the future could hold for the coming year. I’m not sure why but I’m noticed for that the people around me and even myself 2008 was a year of adjustment and some oddly trying times, and I get the feeling that for better or worse the New Year will give a few answers but ultimately throw some more ‘interesting’ challenges in our path.

I could write about my thoughts on the current economic crisis, Religion, US elections, war, peace, celebrities or the hundreds of other events that punctuated the previous 365 days throughout the stretches of routine that we call our daily lives… but I won’t. In part because I’m lazy though as well because it doesn’t really matter (or fit the purpose of this post), taking a look and seeing how much has changed for better or worse depends on each individual and their own opinions, some people were probably horrified that Obama was elected President, others ecstatic… a judgment of the year that was is in the eye of the beholder.

So if you do get the chance to ponder the year to be and reflect on the one that was, see how far we have come, how much farther we have to go, and the many mistakes made on the way. Then grab a stiff drink and toast the health of all humanity and beings great and small.

If one were to ask of me the thoughts I harbor about the year past, I think I would just ignore them because I really don’t like explaining my brain to other people and in all honesty I doubt it would be easy to put my feelings into words… though perhaps five would do: “It was an interesting year”

Uhm, yeah and in case you were wondering, yes that is a Guinea Pirate - the most feared of all creatures.

2008-11-26T05:28:00.000-08:00

Terrorists, bombs and spies Oh my…

Well somehow in between the hectic schedule of work and running around like a… something that runs around a lot, was able to watch a couple of spy action movies. Now I’m sure you’ve all heard of the first one “Quantum of Solace” the latest in the Bond series known for nifty gadgets and witty dialogue… though there wasn’t too much of that in the new movie, meh, whatever.
Quantum delivered what I suppose the movie going audience expects these days, lots of action one liners and explosions. To be honest, I did enjoy the film as a regular action movie but for me Bond represented a sophisticated spy, a well-blended mix of brain and brawn. The franchise owners must have taken a look at Bourne and thought they needed to spice up the action a bit, so that is pretty much all this new Bond does throughout the film, shoot at things and kill people, no subtle manoeuvring that is really the essence of being a spy, which means he’s just a Rambo type mercenary that wears a suit. Still for all it is a good movie and I think it is interesting how they are building the evil organization in the background. However I saw another movie that make me think the Bond franchise needs a rework or should really be put to rest.

The other movie is “Traitor”, a somewhat more realistic movie that explores the world of terrorism and the Islamic faith. This was not a movie I looked for or indeed wanted to watch, but was instantly drawn into the feel of the film as it started playing. ‘Traitor’ showed the more unglamorous side of spy work, where moral ground becomes tricky and the strength of character (not skill with weapons) needed to carry through a mission.
Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda, Crash) gives a believable performance of a man devout in his Islamic faith. The movie challenges some perceptions but in a subtle way, considering the events leading up to the US election (especially in the McCain rallies) this movie is probably something most Americans would benefit from watching – though I doubt that would happen. This movie doesn’t seem to have gotten a lot of mainstream coverage as compared to the aforementioned Quantum of Solace. To illustrate this point, the wikipedia pages on these two films is a bit different, “Traitor” has one screen of information while “Quantum” has about five times that.

All said and done both movies were entertaining in their own way but, at least with “Traitor” one can feel like they are not just wasting time watching mindless entertainment, by no means is watching a movie equivalent to understanding – but if it can get a couple of people to challenge their preconceived perceptions that it’s value is far greater than “Quantum of Solace” even if it doesn’t bring in the big box office cash.

2008-11-05T18:53:00.000-08:00

While I am happy...

By now I believe everyone in the world has heard the news, the junior Senator from Illinois Barack Obama has become the President-elect of the United States of America. To say that this is an historic event is a bit of an understatement, if not already a cliche. As I see the amount of joy and excitement created around the world by Obama coming to power... I can't seem to shake a few doubts that seem to surface whenever I want to join in on the festivity.

Don't misunderstand, I'm still happy that Obama won... it just seems that people may be placing a bit of an unrealistic expectation on this man to change a system that is ingrained in policy and economics. One also has to question how he gained the funds for his campaign, to have an impressive record breaking bankroll is quite a feat, yet I can't help but wonder who he would be indebted to. The more I ponder the subject in general the more I realize that aside from the color of his skin, Obama really is like most other politicians.

There is a message of hope and change that was used to bolster his campaign, but in all honesty if you take a look at the policies and stances on issues there really isn't anything different that what another candidate might bring. So I have to go further and ask myself, if Obama ran the same platform with the same message of change and hope but was white... would he win? Actually in all probability I think so, at least to me Obama doesn't represent the first black candidate but just a more intelligent and savvy leader especially in comparison to the previous one, the message he brought was what people needed. In a way Bush paved the way for Obama's election to the Presidency, would an America in an economic boom happy with the status quo also elect Obama... a point to ponder.

Still I can't shake this feeling that something isn't quite right, perhaps it's the blind devotion that his supporters seem to have. I've always had issues with people giving support for superficial reasons without looking into the root causes of problems or even trying to learn different aspects of an issue. As well seriously, as much as the American people might complain about how they suffered under the reign of Bush for 8 years... they were the ones that voted the guy in.

Perhaps I also have this fear that one day we'll all wake up to find that Obama was actually some 'Manchurian' candidate that was groomed by corporations to mesmerize people into blindly step in line and repeat more of the same policies keeping the rich richer and the middle class in debt.

Meh, what do I know anyway, so congratulations to Obama and the United States of America, I truly wish the best for the newest President. How much change he can bring is something only time will tell, and even for all my cynicism - I am hopeful.

2008-11-05T18:10:00.000-08:00

Thoughts of Guinea pigs…

For an odd reason the funny furry creatures known as Guinea pigs has been on my mind quite a bit lately, I seem to take some comfort in pondering the existence of the odd little mammals. To those who have not had the good fortune to have one as a pet they are probably the most useless animal in creation. They are about the size of a grapefruit, loot a bit like a rodent though with a more vacant expression. There are several different types that come in a variety of colours, I’m not going to take the time to describe them all so an excerpt from the dictionary will have to suffice, Guinea pig: a big fat harmless rat.
Quite appropriate I think, having had three Guinea pigs as pets it is without any reservation that I can remark; they are perhaps the dumbest mammals in existence (four legged ones at least).
However, all said and done I find them to be quite fascinating and there is indeed something comforting about the creatures. Aside from the obvious aesthetic features of being incredibly cute, and that they purr when petted (not quite like a cat but similar), they seem to have some quality that it quite endearing.
Perhaps it is because even though they are basically a food source for natural predators lacking any defences or special abilities except for running… err…waddling away, they retain an innate sense of curiosity. It is amusing to watch them investigate new environments, waddling, bleeping and nibbling around everything in their path.
In a way I admire the little things, which some may find odd... actually to relate a funny story; I had decided to take lessons in Kung-Fu and after the first month they had a group interview to determine if I was mature enough to learn more techniques. One of the questions asked was;

“What is your favourite animal?”

I replied, “Guinea pig.”

There was a moment of silence and the sensei said, “Pick another animal.”

Looking back (with humour) I regret not taking the opportunity to explain my choice. Guinea pigs are creatures that neither have the intelligence nor abilities to do anything other than fearfully run from anything bigger than they, yet are not paralysed by fear. They always retain that inquisitiveness that may cause them to be the midday meal of another animal, but could also lead to the discovery of something new and interesting.
I guess, it is a kind of fearlessness that I admire in them… though it might be the stupidity… oh well, either way they at least look cute. (I’m so tempted to add analogies to the last statement, but I’ve been trying to behave myself lately).

2008-10-22T06:24:00.003-07:00

Okay okay, so looks like I went a little squirlly with the last post...

Hey look it's a baby dressed like Hitler, awww how cute in a disturbing sort of way. Anyway mediate on that for a while, later!
(quickly runs for the door and on the waiting escape vehicle).

2008-10-21T06:48:00.000-07:00

A bit more serious today...

For the most part the posts of the past couple of months have been fairly fun and actually quite pleasant for the most part. Though after being in Sri Lanka for all this time, I think I've finally come to the point where some things are a bit 'indigestible' for me. A lot of it has to do with politics (sigh, what doesn't these days), and more so the lost potential of a nation as well as the belittling it receives at the 'well-meaning' first world countries. Of course there is a lot more than just that, the attitude of common people and how easily they are mislead in the simplest means sometimes (this is a problem everywhere). It has come to a point that I need to vent a little or I might explode in a cascade of assaulting verbal diarrhea on the next hapless person to ask 'how's your day going?'.

I guess I should explain a little about how it came to this point, I've been doing a lot of reading mostly for my own interest and as well to gain an understanding of this country and the habits of people. As well I've been studying history (always a dangerous area to venture) to see how things got the way they are, and if any patterns emerge. Though one thing has shown itself to be quite clear - interference of foreign powers for their own self interest.

The reason this frustrates me is that most people in the west (believe me growing up in Canada I know the attitude more than I care to admit) have this self satisfying image of themselves as the champions of democracy, selflessly going to other countries bringing peace hope and the word of god (well, not the last part so much anymore - I need another time to rant about that particular topic). People seem to think that when countries like Canada give aid, it is like giving food to the needy or, lending a friend a helping hand. I appreciate that it is a noble sentiment but the amount of damage foreign countries do - and continue to inflict leaves me in a rage sometimes. It is only through the efforts of local activists that harmful policies are rejected, I shall give a few examples of the 'generous' support given internationally.

The WB (World Bank) decided that Sri Lanka should increase exportable goods, and recommended converting vast fields of paddy (rice fields) to grow gherkins... yes gherkins. Rice is a basic staple of the local populace but the WB said it was an inefficient use of land "it would be more productive and lucrative to the farmers to grow gherkins for export". Actually they are probably right in that regard except that they are looking at the extreme short term, fortunately local community groups realized this and strongly opposed the plan, encouraging local farmers to keep growing rice.
Then the world hit a food shortage... the price of food is going up everywhere, Canada, Sri Lanka, I mean everywhere, especially when it comes to imported goods. Now, if Sri Lanka had fully initiated the WB plan we would have a wondrous supply of gherkins for export, though would have to import most of the rice people required for daily sustenance.

This isn't the only area where WB influence has caused harm, they are pressuring the Sri Lankan government to privatize the education system. Currently all levels of education in Sri Lanka is free - yes, even university. There are some problems and competition is fierce but if someone has absolutely no money but wants to study... the opportunity is there, no need for student loans or having parents save for years just to receive education. There was a network of community schools in remote areas which gave the country one of the highest literacy rates in the world at 95.7%. With the move to privatization so far 700 local community schools have been closed forcing students to travel long distances and making education inaccessible for some.

I know that some people honestly try to help but it is just so misguided that one wants to scream, and trying to convince people of how they are hurting a country by introducing half-baked or ill-conceived methods is met with some amazingly stubborn ignorance and denial. I really should devote a more thought out post for this topic but haven't had the patience to wait while the frustration continued to build on a daily basis with every person I talked to and fact I learnt. Probably what is really scary is that the west is forcing Sri Lanka to make the same mistakes they did in regards to industry, the environment and social policies. For example there are species dying across north America with wildlife habitat reducing at a steady rate. Sri Lanka has devoted one of the greatest percentages of it's land mass to national parks, even since the times of ancient kings 2500 years ago wilderness was considered precious and vital to the survival of the people entrusted as 'guardians' of the land, not owners. It was custom for farmers to always leave one section of their fields to grow freely for birds and local wildlife to use, that practice was discouraged as an 'inefficient use of land' by the WB.

There shouldn't even be a food problem in Sri Lanka either, fruit trees grow on the side of the road like weeds - WEEDS! Coming from a place where you couldn't grow anything for 6 months of the year and even then the climate and conditions allowed only a select number of viable crops - it's pretty freaking amazing.

What I find hilarious is the fact that people in Sri Lanka can lead the type of life that westerners dream about. Warm climate fresh foods and friendly people, having the option of taking it easy or working hard depending on the day. Then people in Sri Lanka wan the type of life glamorized in the west, surrounded by glitz and glamor, driving expensive cars, with high-tech electronics and modern conveniences. Actually both images don't take into account a lot of problems associated with the lifestyle choices, but trying to convince people of the reality is always a challenge.

What really bugs me, I now realize is that the west is trying to export a broken system to Sri Lanka and the rest of the world. If you don't believe it is broken, then I have some excellent sub-prime mortgages to sell ya!

2008-10-20T07:14:00.000-07:00

Alas no photos...
Well, maybe one... though it has nothing to do with what I want to write about. The photo is a antique reminder of my ancestors liquor merchant heritage, it's probably about 100 years old. So now it is used as a prep table for cooking. As a side note the family is now mostly vegetarian and don't drink, funny how generations change.

Though to start writing about what I was to write about... of course now I completely forget. It was pretty important too, hmm. Oh well, since last post been working hard at the Daily Mirror, a local English language newspaper with their own nifty website. I get the privilege of updating the site and authorizing comments of the 'special' people who comprise most of the Internets' denizens.

However, also get access to the breaking news and all the news that doesn't get in pretty fun. As well have the opportunity to write for the paper, so while the routine stuff is kinda boring, the people and potential are pretty swell... I think some of them may even have this blog site address... Uhm the people at the Daily mirror are the most wonderful fantastic beings to grace the earth! Okay that was a bit too much, anyway my other projects are slowly progressing. Still working on websites and trying to find a decent server in Sri Lanka to host the sites, either they are affordable but highly questionable or ridiculously overpriced.

Another thing I noticed is this facination with having photo's on the internet, while designing the sites, the clients would want an absurd about of photos that didn't really relate to the subject of the site. It actually took a bit of convincing to show that having that many pictures on a website is really unprofessional (unless it's a porn site - was tempted but didn't say that to the client).

Getting the hang of getting around and other stuff, though in truth haven't done too much the past couple of weeks. Perhaps the 6 day work weeks are getting to me, but my English class is a lot of fun. Started to try more serious work to get them thinking with English words instead of just a conversation class. Though I think what keeps the students interested is that the class is a lot of fun, one said that she always laughed so hard from class that her face hurt when they went home... I think that's a compliment.

Well, that's about it for now, time to get back to work or at least what seems like work ;) To all a good night!

2008-10-12T17:39:00.000-07:00

Feeling a bit like James Bond...

Well now it's official, I am a Dual citizen of Sri Lanka and Canada. Recieved passport in the mail the other day and boy is it nifty, with nearly 3 times as many pages as my Canadian one. It feels kind of cool to be able to travel on 2 different docs, though how wise that would be... is debatable. There are a few interesting things though, with the Sri Lankan passport I can visit a few other countries (such as India) without a visa though still it is a lot easier to get around on the Canadian one.

Hmm, let's see what else... been trying to take a few more pictures for the blog though it's getting more difficult with time in short supply and a excess of security in the scenic areas. Though occasionally find a nifty shot to take. Above is the 'Green Path' that runs through Viharamahadevi park in Colombo, it's next to the National Art Gallery as well so quite a few 'Artists' set up shop along the road to sell paintings. I say 'artists' because I'm not sure how much of what they paint is meant as expression versus as a means to sell, that is something I've always wondered about. If something is created purely for monetary gain with no thought behind it what so ever... is it still art? Meh, probably, after all it is 'in the eye of the beholder' that appreciation for the art is found.

Been a little busy working on a website for my Aunt's Union, had the site launch last Saturday and it was an akward experience. Firstly I'm not exactly experience building a lot of site... in fact only 2 and they were incomplete half-hearted attempts made with the built in web tools. So this time fired up Dreamweaver with all sorts of nifty photo editing plugins like Fireworks and got to work. I was surprised I could actually design somthing half-way decent but still not too happy with the result. Another problem is finding a reliable hosting service in Sri Lanka, looking on the web I found a couple that seemed reliable until I phoned them up to ask more questions. So for the demo I had to create a subdomain on my own site and show off the few pages I had done. Actually for a first serious attempt it's not too bad, though realize it will need a lot more work to properly represent the All Ceylon Union of Teachers or ACUT. I have other comments I could make about the nature and frustration in getting proper material for the site, but not wanting to say anything negative I'll just say it was an interesting and almost typical experience of Sri Lanka.

Though now I don't have an excuse to miss future posts, I have internet! A cool USB doohicky that provides 3G services (wide area Wi-Fi) so I can be blogg'n on the road or other places... I begin to debate the wisdom of writing on this subject, oh well. Anyway the device is definately a god send which is what allowed me to finally finish the above mentioned website on time - trying to build a website without internet access is like trying to drive a car without tires.

Hmm, I suppose I should explain how I got my hands on such a wonderful little gadget but I'll have to save that for another post, until then my friends. (hey that rhymed!)

2008-10-06T21:38:00.000-07:00

Ouch, been a while

Sigh after what seemed like a regular interval of updating the posts kinda lagged there, not that I don't have quite a bit of material to use (in fact maybe too much) but slow to non-existant internet and an involvement in a variety of side projects has kept me from this pleasant past-time. So today I'll show that I haven't bummed around the whole time in Sri Lanka since my last post (though there was a bit of that too;). Below are a few pictures I managed to take but they really didn't have much place in an opinionated piece so they were just sitting on the hard drive gathering electronic dust, anyway for your enjoyment some random photos of things with a brief caption if I have the engery :)

The above picture is the road outside my house, in the community of Rajagiria Udyanaya (as well I am a figure head president of the community association by an odd series of events to relate at a later time).

On the west coast in Colombo (the urban hub of Sri Lanka), this was the day I managed to see the beach for the first time... though wasn't much beach, mostly rocks and trains. The day was a bit overcast as well but just felt the need to see the ocean and feel the salt in the air.

Now the above picture is a favourite simply because it was taken quite by chance as I was walking home, happened to look up and saw this sight... and it wasn't some exotic location, just about 30 feet from my house.

A water monitor just off a bridge close to parliment grounds, the parliment area is quite scenic but as it is considered a High Security Zone (HSZ) pictures aren't supposed to be taken... fortunately being a clueless tourist serves well to avoid any 'inconveniences'

Another pic near parliment grounds, pretty self explanatory - a buddhist temple with standing statue... or it could be an advertising thing...

That's about all I have the patience to upload right now, wish I had taken more pictures recently but sometimes it's good to not draw attention to oneself (I do that enough already ;). Anyway if I get a chance will update later with some photo and comments or if you're really luck a full length blog entry.
Ah, I do have another excuse for not being able to update in the future but that in itself is another post away... oh well. Take care all

2008-09-13T04:37:00.000-07:00

August 24th 2008
Day 11, Sunday

Cricket!

Quite suddenly one day I was invited to a cricket match for the 3rd game in an India vs Sri Lanka test match, of course being ignorant of all things cricket I just went along out of curiosity. Without much of a clue as to what the day would entail I just packed my camera and my outing hat for a day at the greens (that probably isn’t even the proper term, but just roll with it).
Was picked up by Sanjeev (the cousin who invited me to the game) around noon and we picked up a few more people on our way to the stadium. I learnt that the stadium security allows only non-alcoholic drinks, so our ingenious crew took a sealed water bottle removed the water via a small hole in the bottom and injected white coconut arrack (40%-50% sharp tasting alcohol), along with a bottle of cola to mix all was well.
As we approached the stadium I could see greater crowds of people traveling along the roadside and the traffic became quite congested. Fortunately the seats we were able to get came with a special parking pass that got us right beside the stadium – otherwise a bit of a trek with long line ups to get into the grounds. The pricing for seating were as follows; standing area for Rs. 100/ ($1 CAD), lower level seating for Rs. 1500/ and upper level seating for Rs. 2500, there is also special boxes for the relatives of the players and other officials. Again we were quite fortunate to get the upper level seating with a good view of the field, after getting seated the game had yet to start so I took the opportunity to learn at least something of cricket which Sanjeev was able to impart.

It’s similar to baseball but there are only 2 innings, the first to bat is decided by coin toss. Here is where it gets a bit complicated, there is a bowler and he throws 6 balls in one over, after an over the batsmen switch side – oh, I forgot to mention there are always 2 batsmen on the field. Instead of a diamond the field is a large oval, with an inner border, the pitching field is in the middle consisting of a rectangular track with a set a wicket at each end. The wickets are 3 poles stuck in the ground that have 2 small wooden pieces resting at the top. The goal of the bowler is to hit the wicket and knock the piece over to get the batsmen out, per inning each team has 10 wickets – or 10 outs after which the teams switch positions. As well wickets can be taken from catching the ball before it falls to the ground or penalties such as the ‘right foot rule’(if the batsmen is standing in front of the wicket so that it is covered).
There are a bunch of other rules but I have no desire to go into them here, nor do I actually remember that many more so let’s continue with the story…

As the game was about to start more and more people started pouring into the stadium, the crowd was fairly mixed though in the upper level more of the well to do and ‘cool’ people were in the crowd. I was surprised to see a five person band seat themselves not too far away, a fairly common thing they are called ‘papara’ bands denoting the type of beat they usually adhere to. It seems the band is part of the attraction of seeing the game live, I must say that they were quite good at keeping things lively.
The game started with a coin toss which India one – they elected to bat first. As the people took their positions on the field the cheering became intense and people began using these inflatable plastic noise makers that were handed out at the entrance of the stadium, even the band got louder and played a faster beat for the crowd. The cheering reached a crescendo when the first Sri Lankan bowler threw the first ball resulting in a scratch (no run or out). Afterward everyone settled down a bit then divided their attention between the game and listening to the band.
By far the center of attention were the bands, people around them were dancing and cheering along with them, as honestly to keep attention on the match itself would be kind of boring. Every once in a while an exciting play took place and everyone got up to cheer, but only the really hardcore cricket fans could really stay focused on the game all the time.
Scoring for the game was fairly straight forward, if a batsmen hit the ball far enough away he and the other batsmen would run the length of the centre pitch, being awarded 1 run for each length they ran. If they hit the ball so that it rolled along the ground over the outside boundary 4 runs were awarded. Then if they hit the ball in the air over the boundary then that was 6 runs (the most that could be awarded).
The rest of the game was a mixture of various types of runs awarded to India and a few plays that resulted in wickets. The game had a maximum of 50 overs per inning which translates into 300 pitches (and chances to score), though again if a team got 10 wickets it was over.

I’ll take a little break here to mention ‘Percy’ the one man cheering squad. It seems that for ages there was only one patriotic elderly fellow (I so wanted to use old geezer) who would be the only one cheering for Sri Lanka at international and all local events. He was so dedicated showing up for every single game in uniform and waving a Sri Lankan flag that he was officially recognized by the team and sponsors. A self made celebrity, who just loved the cricket team… or had way too much time on his hands, either way quite an interesting story. So carrying on where I left off…

After the first 50 overs (and roughly 3 ½ hours) India had 237 runs, not exactly a high score but average. This began the ‘half-time’ so we took the opportunity to get some beer and short eats, such as chicken hot dogs and nuggets. The crowd was quite large around the 4 concession tents with the beer line by far the longest. The whole thing seemed an exercise in chaos familiar to anyone who has attended a major sporting event anywhere in the world.
Sri Lanka came up to bat and the crowd became rowdier than before, as many started producing smuggled bottles of Arrack and other alcohol to consume for the second half. We also broke open our ‘bottled water’ and had a few drinks as Sri Lanka started their batting, they had to score 238 runs to win the match. Again it was a bit of a boring affair watching the game in length but dividing ones time with the festivities of the papara band and the occasional cheering moments on the field made the time go by quickly. Unfortunately Sri Lanka was penalized several times early on for about 5 extra wickets, so after only 20 overs they had only 2 wickets left and about 50 runs. It didn’t look like Sri Lanka was in any form to win against India.
Though as the game continued one could not help but get caught up in the excitement as the Sri Lankan team tried to rally for more runs, it then became an exercise in math as we would calculate how many pitches were left and the number of runs needed per pitch, and average number of runs they needed per over. For a while it was very close but India played well and wickets Sri Lanka received early on proved their downfall as the game ended at 48 overs after a pop fly was caught by the Indian fielders.
The final score was India 237 – Sri Lanka 204, actually quite a dismal showing by the Lankan team according to the spectators. The stadium emptied out pretty quickly (a few people left early on after when Sri Lanka had 8 wickets at the 20th over).

With that we waited a bit for the crowds to lessen and headed home, a few drunken revelers were outside but otherwise fairly tame. I can’t say that cricket is my new favorite sport, or that I really appreciate the game – I like the atmosphere of watching with other people, and the excitement created by the bands and revelers. A few people may have taken it a bit far in my opinion, dancing like possessed spider monkeys in seizure. Though what I also liked was that everyone regardless of age, gender, religion, background etc. was there to have a good time and cheer on the national team. In a country that has been given an image of a society divided by civil war, seeing a show of unity is quite uplifting – even if rather inebriated.

2008-09-10T02:47:00.000-07:00

Adventures in Fort
August 20th – 23rd
Day 7-10

I had scheduled this post for writing about the cricket match between Sri Lanka and India but decided I need to finish up on a few thoughts and some experiences otherwise… actually for no real reason other than to see myself write?... there doesn’t seem to be an appropriate parallel to hear oneself talk, oh well. Anyway a few things that took place in the same time period as the previous posts.

I was offered a position teaching spoken English to students, was quite surprised to learn that there is a overwhelming demand for teachers here and there are quite a few quacks that offer comprehensive English courses that don’t really teach anything practical (basically like the mandatory French language programs in Alberta – c’est merde). Even among the more illustrious institutes like Royal Academy, there is more of an interest in making money than in a students education… do I really need to add a quip here?

My first class teaching is Wednesday August 27th, well 2 classes one 10-2pm and the other at 5pm, most of the students are in their 20’s and want to practice spoken English for employment purposes, honestly it’s pretty easy work but I’m going to try to challenge them a little… an evil part of me briefly considered talking with a Newfie accent but I was able to suppress that instinct. It doesn’t exactly pay much by Canadian standards but for this location it will serve well for getting groceries, travel and various knick knacks (I’ve always wondered at the history of that phrase). Starting with one day a week then depends on my popularity as a teacher… I should start handing out candy in class, or maybe cell phone minutes would be more popular – oh, in reference to my previous post I have to add one more thing that is awesome about the Sri Lanka cell services, you can send people extra minutes! That’s right if your friend is about to run out of minutes and you have some to spare you can basically SMS (some sort of txt system on steroids) them some of your extra minutes.

Okay, so the teaching thing is interesting and we’ll see how that turns out. Now I would like to expand a bit on my first adventure touring around the main city Colombo by myself on the local transit and how I avoided pick pockets, shills, and characters of dubious repute and interactions with the friendly people with machine guns, or as they are known the Sri Lankan Military security (whose checkpoints sport all sorts of advertising – fortunately nothing too out of taste).
When I had taken the bus (for the first time) to the heart of Colombo called the Fort area, my goal was to see the ocean and head to an area called Galle Face Green, a well known park by the seaside. The place I got down was about 1km or so away and I thought it would be fairly easy to just walk down to where I wanted to go. I was quite mistaken. Firstly when one gets off the bus in Fort it seems like utter chaos busses are haphazardly moving in and out of the area, people are milling hurriedly in all directions and various street hawkers are yelling either something about what they’re selling or ancient Klingon poems (I’ll try to keep future geek references to a minimum).
I easily got disoriented as there are few – make that no street signs to speak of and most of the sidewalk space is occupied by the peddlers of things ranging from pirated DVD’s to fake designer bags. While I was tempted to try shopping a bit, my main goal was to see the beach and so I just picked a direction and kept walking. To make a long story short, I chose incorrectly. Fortunately I had a street map of the area and was able to discover my error after only about 45 minutes of walking under the hot sun. So heading back the way I came looked around for alternative routes, as well by this time my shirt was soaking with sweat not so much from physical exhaustion but uncomfortable heat and humidity. With that I really looked out of place and was approached by quite a few ‘helpful’ people that wanted to take me where I wanted to go, and one persistent fellow walked with me for a few blocks saying he was a person not ‘from Colombo’ and didn’t want any money but wanted me to follow him to his place. It seems he also collected stamps from various countries… yeah, and I was born under a Bo tree. Eventually plotted a route to take me to the long anticipated beach but was puzzled by these “High Security Zone” notices as I approached the street, then I was politely stopped by some security officers wearing very crisp green uniforms and although seeming quite well used, serviceable machine guns. After an initial language confusion was able to convey my intentions and they were actually quite helpful (if a bit hard to understand) and pointed me in the direction I had to go in.

Unfortunately this began… the term ‘rat in a maze’ comes to mind. It’s not that I didn’t know where to go but every other street or area I needed to get to was blocked by HSZ’s (aforementioned High Security Zones). I probably spent about 3 hours wandering around the center of the city at times I even smelt a cool sea breeze… and finally I found the right street to take, but at that time I needed to head back home.

That technically ended my first adventure to the area I would later learn is called Pettah, the infamous street market district. The area itself is quite overwhelming aside from the street hawkers there are several side streets that seem to be dedicated to various goods, down one street there are gold smiths and jewelry shops (mostly owned by Muslims), down another is household electronics, and down one is textiles so on and so forth. I definitely plan to do a bit of shopping there in the future but it is extremely crowded and also a bit dangerous to the unwary. Pickpockets are abound so you have to keep a close watch on your valuables – which one should really keep to a minimum in the first place. As well the shop keepers will try and charge you as much as possible so one has to be knowledgeable about local prices or fairly good at bargaining. So while it is easy to get ripped off one can find a variety of clothing and other items for around Rs. 500/ ($5 CAD) that may cost you around $20- $90 CAD back home. Eventually I did return to Pettah for a little shopping and picked up a pair of pants for Rs. 150/ and a nice shirt for Rs. 475/ probably overpaid for the shirt but even by local standards the pants were a steal… hey, where’s my wallet?

(Oh there it is, under the pile of pirated DVD’s I got for Rs. 100/ ($1 CAD) a pop - MPAA eat your heart out)

2008-09-04T00:47:00.001-07:00

A few days later…
August 20th – 22nd
Day (7-9)

So a few more observations I want to write about… actually I think we’ll skip that for now and I’ll relate my other experiences just getting around the area.
Anyway, after about a week in Sri Lanka finally felt well enough to head out on my own with the local transit system. Here, I’ll have to do a bit of explaining as the system of transit is vastly different from what you would find in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Probably the biggest difference is the majority of busses are privately owned though they do prescribe to set routes designated by numbers, for example to get to Colombo from where I am staying in Kandana means taking the Ja-ela 187 bus, or Airport bus. There are also 2 types of busses the larger 40-50 seat buses and the smaller vans, the vans are air conditioned so are a bit more expensive for the same trip, a trip to Colombo runs Rs. 24/ for the regular bus and Rs. 80/ for an AC van.

Busses come with fair regularity and the first time I went didn’t wait for more than 15 seconds (seriously) before a bus rolled up and jumped on and took a seat, the most I’ve waited as of to date is about 5 minutes for a bus. The busses themselves vary in mechanical maintenance and cleanliness, some are spotless and run as well as Calgary Transit busses, others sound like they are a large bump away from losing the entire engine and you can’t tell the original color of the interior for all the dirt – Though most busses fall somewhere in between.

The procedure for getting a bus is a bit entertaining as far as I’m concerned, you can either wait at a bus stop… I use the term loosely, or as the bus approaches flag it down. The bus slows down and the conductor shouts the destinations, you then hop on and grab a seat if available or find suitable standing room. Then after the bus gets on it’s way the conductor comes around and collects money from the new passengers. Not speaking Singhalese too well, have run into a few problems in the past but usually another passenger knows enough English to help me out. Some of the conductors also provide receipts or tickets… not sure why since no one ever seems to use or need them.

Then one just sits back and enjoys a bumpy ride listening music pumping over the speakers of the bus. The music is mostly Singhalese so don’t really understand it but it seems to suit the riding the bus and kind of grows on you. During my first trip was listening to what I though was a really catchy tune when I realized it was a couple of people who were playing music on the bus! The guy had a drum and kept beat while the girl had a tambourine and sang, it was kind of enchanting traveling down the dusty road with people singing as the bus bounced to and fro. Near the end of the route the couple passed around a basket for tips so gave a few Rupees as the experience was to be remembered.

The main bus junctions can be a confusing affair with dozens of busses moving slowly up the street trying to pick up more passengers before the leave, I’ve seen a few bus drivers roll forward and back to get people on the bus faster. In general using the bus is fairly easy and cheap way to get around, one just has to know which stop to get off at. Unfortunately there is very little in the way of documentation on the Sri Lankan transit system, routes and availability to be found on the internet or even with the transportation ministry itself. Not knowing the language can be a huge deterrent to bus travel but the experience is far better than trying to travel by taxi (and a hell of a lot cheaper).

After quite the pleasant experience traveling by bus I decided to take the local train for a few travels too and from the city. Tickets for the train are a bit cheaper at about Rs. 13/ for 3rd class but the times are a bit limited, the morning train is at 8:15 AM and the next one is at 11:30 AM. The local station is divided into two sides and to get to the other side one has to jump down and cross the tracks (a finable offense in Calgary). During the morning commute, a couple of military guards check bags at the entrance to the station, the terrorist situation is still a bit of a concern.
So after waiting a few minutes the train actually arrived 15 minutes early, it definitely had a used look to it, most of the cars were designated for 3rd class. Though the first car had signs painted in Singhalese, Tamil and English stating “Reserved for Clergy”, though either people didn’t take these signs seriously or “Clergy” encompasses a wider variety of people than I previously believed. After getting on the train found all the seats occupied so just stood near one of the door ways, actually the younger teenage passengers preferred the doorways as they would hang outside the doors while the train was moving for entertainment. The train car definitely had a bit of a used look to it but was pretty functional, there were rotating ceiling fans that kept conditions inside pretty comfortable. The passengers seemed to be daily commuters and occasionally groups would break into a song that others would pick up on as the train went on its way, then everyone would just sit as before lost in thought as their commute continued – not a bad way to travel.

One slight hiccup in the whole trip was the realization that I was indeed the victim of groping… hard to believe, I know. I brushed it off at first since I assumed it was because of crowding but even when I moved to a more open space the creepy old guy sort of followed along. I’d rather not go into details, but suffice to say it was a rather uncomfortable experience. It was only later that I learned that even among locals some people are afraid to ride the train for reasons as above and that the daily commuters have taken a very proprietary view on the train, they assume that since they’ve been riding the train for so long that a particular seat or car is basically ‘theirs’ and they have been know to force people off of train cars that are invading their ‘rightful space’. I’m not sure how much of this has been exaggerated and how much is based on truth but given my previous experience I am leaning toward the latter.

In any event travel by local transport is easy enough after the initial plunge but can definitely take a bit of adjustment. Meh, given a couple more weeks will eventually be a seasoned traveler, for now signing off for another day. Next time will tell tales of cricket and how it puts sporting events in Canada to shame – just for the atmosphere created by the audience.

2008-09-03T23:41:00.000-07:00

Of Bombs and Foreign Policy

Unfortunate result of being behind in my postings (I blame the lack of a reliable computer or internet access) is that I have to interrupt the timeline of events sometimes to the point that I’m unsure of the proper sequence anymore. Be that as it may, I need to break consistency here to make a few comments about some events that happened over the weekend of August 31st and a brief recount of some related topics in Sri Lanka.

Now, every since I came to Sri Lanka on the 13th of August I have been impressed by the efficiency of the people and in particular the military. Security guards no longer consist of overweight and extremely bored looking individuals scattered at seemingly random intervals, the army is a persistent presence along the main roads leading into Colombo and the check points are in key junctions well manned with serious (and well armed) troops. As well the terrorist group that called the LTTE has been under increasing pressure from Government troops and last week the Sri Lankan armed forces began major pushes into LTTE territory, capturing key administration junctions and training camps for the terrorist group. All this comes at the end of stretch of government victories over the LTTE as well as relative calm in the major cities with no explosions for about 3 months in Colombo – for citizens here that is considered quite a feat.

Unfortunately all that ended last Saturday when a bomb went off in the Pettah district of Colombo… an area I was in only about ½ an hour after the blast. Oddly enough I had no clue about what happened, it was raining heavily that day and many of the street stalls in the area were closed – I assumed it was because of the rain. Whether the rain washed away evidence of the blast or people have become extremely efficient at clearing areas of wounded and debris is unknown, it just highlights the one troublesome fact of living in Sri Lanka. Not knowing if you’re next bus trip or shopping excursion will be your last. [The above photo I took unawares of what happened earlier, just thought the rain was cool]

While I still don’t worry about traveling around the country (whether it is bravado or stupidity is debatable), I can’t help but notice how close I was to being in the middle of the blast. In fact I was only delayed from shopping in the Pettah district because my Aunt designated me to take a few photographs of her Teachers Union meeting. The blast itself was relatively tame by previous incidents, 45 people were injured including 2 children and only 2 people in serious condition. The fact that the bomb was considered ‘tame’ by local standards says something about the kind of terror people used to face every day. Now I don’t relish the idea of being caught in a bus explosion or having my legs blown off while shopping for knick knacks, but I don’t see the point in hiding at home or avoiding using the most reliable local transport. It seems that people here have learnt that giving into fear is how terrorists control people, and if you don’t give in to that fear then… the terrorists have no power over you. Of course this is probably the opposite of the attitude in the states where even the remotest town lives in fear of ‘terrorists’ after 9/11. I’m not making light of the tragedy of that day or the sacrifice people made, but living in constant fear does no justice to anyone, and actually allowed the US government to make the world a place were terrorism can flourish. Take a look at the current US embroilment in Iraq and how because of their commitment they cannot afford resources to other matters, such as in Georgia.
Here I have to say a bit about the perception people have about the western world in Sri Lanka. There is a certain amount of chagrin as Western powers call for human rights inquiries and election watchdogs when not too long ago the world saw picture from Guantaunamo bay and the voting irregularities in Florida from the 2000 presidential elections. In particular the United States, Britain and for some reason Norway have all take a bit of interest in Sri Lanka in ‘concern’ for welfare of the people. However the countries have absolutely no moral high ground to make any judgments are any attempts to do so are met with sarcasm. There’s a saying in Sri Lanka that the only difference between the corruption here and the corruption in the west is that they have institutionalized corruption to the highest powers of government in the west… made it more efficient if you will.
I mention this because I can guarantee you – as the LTTE seem to be approaching an inevitable end, Western countries will be clamoring for ‘peace’ and use human rights as an excuse for cessation of military operations. I’m curious as to where these people were when the US invaded Iraq… hmm, that’s a bit too easy. Though the fact is, western countries do not want strong and stable governments to exist for the reason that they are much harder to exploit. While countries do give ‘aid’ these are in reality devious sorts of loans that generally involve using the money to import goods from the donating nation, while preventing the building of infrastructure that would actually improve conditions.
I’ve gone on a bit of a ranty tangent here, but it is a topic that as I learn more about the more disgusted I become. Not that I haven’t known some of this before, but it’s only once you get close enough to actually smell the shit that you have to hold your nose.

2008-09-01T00:29:00.000-07:00

Side rant

I wish to expand a bit on the topics of my previous post… but still have a lot more to expunge (hmm, that doesn’t sound quite right… in fact kind of gross), a lot more to expound? Ah, a lot more I wish to impart (that’s better) regarding my impressions of Sri Lanka, it is difficult to write in a more orderly fashion about the subject as most of the impressions are of relatively small things that pique the curiosity as they defy the normal conventions as to which I am accustomed – or to but it more bluntly, I’ve noticed things that have broken misconceptions and stereotypes previously held.

A few examples with a bit of background; within the first week I decided it would be a wise idea to get a local cell phone as I wanted to do some traveling on my own and it would be a good way to keep in touch with relatives and perhaps ask for help if hopelessly lost or in other dire situations. Now Canada for all it’s status as a first world nation is a horrible place in concern of cell phone companies and plans offered, even with three cell companies the plans and prices are much greater than in the United States as well customer service is treated as something of a fanciful myth. I’ll share my own experience concerning my plan with Bell mobility which I wanted to suspend while in Sri Lanka since I really wasn’t going to use the phone – which they wouldn’t allow. So I asked if I could use the phone in Sri Lanka and how much would it cost? They replied that the cost per minute would be $5.99 – for roaming charges! (just to keep the cell phone on would cost six dollars a minute) As well, to reduce the plan to the cheapest available still meant paying $40 CAD a month for a service I’m not using. Even the pay as you go plans are not much better, you would have to spend at least around $100 for a cell phone and then minutes are on average $0.25/min with an expiry of 30 days.

So looking for a phone in Sri Lanka, with relative ease got a cheap phone with simm card (activation chip for the company)… with due apologies I’m going to add a bit more in my criticism of Canadian cell companies. Another thing that really bothers me is the fact that most of the cell phones are ‘nerfed’ or aren’t able to use all the features they are designed for because the companies don’t support them or use a proprietary operating system on the cell that forces you to use their services, again using Bell as an example; my cell in Canada is technically capable of using mp3’s for its ring tones and I should be able to just hook it up to my computer to add files and choose the ring tone of my choice. However Bell’s operating system has disabled that function, instead forcing you to purchase inferior ring tones from their network with additional cost of $2-$3 CAD per tone! As well if you decide you want to change companies – you can’t use the same phone! This forced loyalty only works because companies can continually get people into 2-3 year cell contracts (since the pay as you go plans are pretty bad in themselves) that seem attractive at first but in reality means a royal ass-[expletive deleted], by the company.

Whew, well getting that off my chest I’ll continue my Sri Lankan cell phone experience, so the cell phone with activation came to Rs. 4000/ which is roughly $40 CAD, and for per minute usage it is Rs. 5-7/ $0.05-0.07 CAD per minute (with per second billing) and the expiry date of the minutes is 6 months! As well there is IDD (International Direct Dialing) from the cell, so I can call Canada for only $0.20 CAD per minute! It is cheaper to call Canada from Sri Lanka by cell that it is to use a cell in Canada for local calls! The mind literally implodes from the absurdity of the whole thing. (Of course I’m aware of labour costs, market forces and such… still there is a bit of a point here)

In any event I now have a cell phone and if anyone feels like calling me up the local number is 071 9022989, not sure what the country codes for Sri Lanka are but in any event for the price of one month of cell service in Canada I can buy a cell and also purchase enough minutes to comfortably last for about 3 months here, it doesn’t make sense but then again the world really doesn’t make much sense in general – and if it did we would all lead rather boring lives.

Unfortunately ran out of time to continue with other observations and confusions, such as seeing a Buddhist monk buying a hands free set – consider for a moment the image of a Buddhist monk as one giving up worldly possessions and living a life dedicated to reaching enlightenment as well as helping others reaching said status. Now consider why a monk would need a hands free cell phone attachment… no good reason comes to mind but I’ll expand on the subject at a later time, so much to write about and so little time (and internet).

2008-08-30T03:36:00.000-07:00

First week.

I would have liked to document a day by day progress, but as I lead a fairly mundane existence at the best of times we’ll just condense things as space requires. In any event my first week in Sri Lanka was marred a tad by the effects of jet lag, an allergy to the mosquito bites causing my joints to swell and trying to adjust to the incredible heat and humidity. Let me just comment here on how much of a difference it was to my usual residence of Calgary Alberta… at home it can get so dry that even cactus plants get dehydrated – maybe I’m exaggerating a bit (okay a lot), but it’s just an analogy, so in my first week in Sri Lanka it felt like I was being steamed alive. At first my skin felt it was about two sizes too small which made the simplest movements stiff and awkward, the slightest effort would result in heat exhaustion or light dizziness, but still with all that was enjoying my time of… adjustment.

So with that, doing anything during the beginning of my stay was accomplished through great mental effort and a bit of leading around by relatives. As well I should note that I was going full force into the local lifestyle without the benefit of A/C and a very good mosquito repellant (Off! sports cream works well in Canada but the mosquitoes here treat it like an aperitif) – so the average tourist would probably fare much better as the environmental and cultural shock to system would be minimal.

Now as to my experience the first week and a few impressions, I do have a few interesting tales to tell; firstly my uncle (who is know in the family as a bit of prankster) had been preparing for my arrival a few days before and the local children were curious and asked him what he was doing, to which he replied that a visitor from Canada was arriving – the children immediately assumed it was a ‘sudtha’ or white person and got excited at the prospect. Of course instead of correcting the children on their misconception, he proceeded to play on their imaginations with stories of how the ‘sudtha’ needed things to be very clean (hence he managed to get some of the kids to help), as well ‘sudthas’ could only eat certain foods, were very tall and giant in stature… etc, etc.

So the next morning I woke up and shortly after breakfast, and a bunch of kids came around to see the strange ‘sudtha’... I probably looked a bit strange to them but was obviously no white person. Which was taken in good humor that they had been tricked but were still curious and tried talking to me in Singhala- unfortunately I had a rather limited vocabulary. Still I managed to play a few games and even taught a few card tricks to them, though jet lag set in pretty fast so only after a few hours took my leave and zonked out again.

The next few days were more and the same, gradually getting accustomed to the climate and picking up a few extra words of Sinhala here and there. Also visited my other uncle and by some rhyme or reason became President of the Rajagiria Udayana Community Association. In fact, there is a bit of a rather lengthy background story to this that would take knowledge of my Uncles’… eccentricities to fully appreciated, but for now just assume there is quite a hilarious story behind the whole thing.

Unfortunately the same uncle had chest pains that same night and had to be taken to hospital, though he was cleared by the doctors a couple of days later. We were a bit worried as he is getting on in years but was in regular form in no time - a mixed blessing, but a blessing none the less.

Here I would like to share a few of my observations and general impressions, firstly Sri Lanka is a hot and humid country... okay old joke, actually the country is in far better condition than I imagined. I had only my experience as a lad of twelve to go by, and in comparison the country has changed quite a bit. Firstly the roads and infrastructure and in much better condition than they were previously, but more importantly there is a greater sense of national pride and confidence. While I wasn’t as aware of everything at work in the country when I was 12, I did notice that people really didn’t seem to care or had very little hope in the future. At that time the LTTE terrorists were stronger and there was also another terror group called the JVP and between the two, traveling by bus or going to market was a life threatening endeavor. I am giving a very bereft description of the situation which I hope to rectify at a later time with a thoroughly researched essay on the topic, already have a bit of documentation but the issue is so complex that it’ll take a bit of time (a slight understatement).

Though getting back to the topic at hand, another thing I noticed is the odd prevalence of western culture – and I mean odd in that it shows itself in ways I really couldn’t anticipate. For example, it was interesting to hear the orchestral themes to a few movies on the local TV stations, but their implementation left me scratching my head a bit – the theme to ‘Superman’ being used to showcase a political talk show, and the ‘Back to the Future’ theme used to introduce a nightly news program. As well the use of advertising, for some reason it was deemed a good idea that every half hour no matter what the program is in the middle of, a short ad will appear with the change of time for example your watching a debate when all of a sudden there is a beep and a graphics screen with 7:30 pm flashing and then a quick commercial of whatever company sponsored that intrusive ad – and the show itself kept on going while the ad ran!

Heck even government security signs have commercial support, it does seem quite silly and almost reminded me of some moments in the movie Idiocracy (brought to you by Carl’s Jr.), but there is one difference. The people here just use the ads for money, and loyalty to the company providing them is almost non existent, now to explain why would take a lecture on the cultural psychology that I really don’t want to get into but suffice to say, while the ads here are more intrusive I doubt they really do as much damage as to people in say Canada and the US. Again I’d like to go into that further but for another time.

Surprisingly enough say a few familiar ad signs that made a bit nostalgic for home… and made me feel a bit ill – a very strange feeling if you ever have a chance to experience it. Almost curious enough to try the ‘McRice’… almost.

Well tis getting late and I’ve written probably most of the important events, if I think of anything later I’ll be sure to add an entry on the subject, but for now I’m going to sleep -brought to you by Carl’s Jr. (seriously if you haven’t seen Idiocracy go out and buy it right now, ah, who am I kidding… just torrent it, you glorious pirating bastards)

2008-08-27T22:46:00.000-07:00

Landfall

So with departure from Hong Kong the flight to Colombo was pretty uneventful, stopped in Singapore for the plane to be cleaned and refueled. Though otherwise by this time too tired to really do anything or take notice of too much.
Although there was free Internet use in Singapore so was able to waste a few minutes while waiting for the plane.
So after about 22 hours of travel landed at the Colombo international airport without incident or any fanfare (strange I know).
Recalling my previous experience traveling to Sri Lanka I immediately noticed a few difference between my past trip 16 years ago and my current one. Firstly we got off the plane straight into the Air conditioned airport building, previously we had to get off the plane to the tarmac amid a sudden and almost bewildering change in temperature and humidity – I remember if felt like being thrust into an oven that someone was cooking water in (actually if you cook it right water can be a very satisfying meal).

From the terminal made my way to the long line for customs, most of the other passengers were locals and they had various parcels (mostly hard liquor) to carry with them. I was near the end of the whole section so about the last one through, the agent just asked a few questions as to the length of my stay and other mandatory questions – got my stamp for 30 day visit and was told I’d have to apply for an extension later – though getting dual citizenship so won’t need too

anyway.

The baggage claim was a little further on and had to pass by what I’m guessing was a duty free section for people to buy last minute gifts for friends and relatives – what surprised me was the amount of appliance stores and house wares being sold! I mean seriously how on earth is someone going to get a fridge from the airport?! For that matter who on earth would even buy a fridge from an airport? At least those were my initial thoughts, the rational part of my tired brain, droned on about customs, importation of goods, local economy blah blah blah.
Picked up my bags with ease as my delay meant that baggage was already processed, so with bags in cart breezed through customs saying I had nothing to declare, fortunately didn’t get checked – I think the customs agent took a bit of pity on me as I was thoroughly zonked out by that point (while fun my adventure in Hong Kong was a bit of a drain).

Walking out into the open I was hit by the heat and it didn’t seem as bad as I remember – though I could also have been in a state of tired shock… for sake of simplicity lets say the former. After looking around for a few seconds in a dazed and confused manner, my uncle saw me and warmly greeting me and took me to a waiting transport (a car is transport… so are elephants – no I did not take an elephant, though that would have been awesome).

After about half an hour arrived at my Aunt and uncles place in Kandana a town about 20 Km outside of Colombo – what surprised me is that it was considered a separate town, when traveling along the main road shops and buildings of all sorts appear without break so for the Canadian born traveler who is used to going for hours with only wheat fields and the occasional surveillance bush (Canadian sitcom reference) on any side of the road it is pretty hard to understand how one town is considered another.

Well getting to my relatives place we just chatted for a while then I went to bed after a much needed shower – also encountered my first super bug, a giant bright green grasshopper… thing that flew in whilst taking said shower. Given my previous knowledge of the creepy crawlies in Sri Lanka I considered this guest to be non-threatening even if it’s legs were quite sharp and pointy as well as the whole thing being about the size of my cell phone.

So ended the first day, since I arrived at about 10:30 pm at night local time, there really wasn’t that much I could see that could leave an impression, but was just glad to have arrived and a warm… make that a bed with a mosquito net under a fan to sleep, or more accurately pass out in. And with that my first few hours in Sri Lanka were over, and I had no real thoughts of anything as slipped into unconsciousness.

2008-08-21T00:07:00.000-07:00

Touchdown in Hong Kong

So after 12 hours (it seemed like quite a bit longer) arrived at the bustling city..err I mean airport of Hong Kong – the city is actually a fair ways from from the airport itself. I had heard that the airport was actually on a man made Island but it was indistinguishable from the rest of the landscape so no good photo ops presented themselves.
With legs feeling decidedly cramped and strained hobbled through the airport wondering where the heck I should be and what my next move was, originally I had planned to spend my 10 hour layover wandering around Hong Kong a bit and maybe take in a few sights and window shop – however due to flight delays the layover was now about 6 hours.

This was a bit on the uncomfortable side as if I happened to get lost anywhere along the way I would be in danger of missing my connecting flight and that wasn’t too appealing. To slightly complicate matters my boarding pass for the next flight didn’t have a gate number attached to it and the departure wasn’t listed on the board yet… and not knowing the airport too well – you get the idea. Finally after about 15 minutes of wasted indecision (and about 10 min trying to finding a washroom) threw caution to the wind and dutifully lined up at immigration for Hong Kong visitors. After about another 20 minutes in line, got to the counter and presented my shiny passport and boarding pass. The clerk did a slight double take as he noted the departure time on the ticket and asked me to clarify if I wanted to exit the airport (I’m sure he wanted to check to see if I wasn’t another silly foreigner lost in the wrong line, which was nice of him to do), I explained my intentions, not sure how much he understood but stamped an entry visa and sent me on my way.

Now still feeling quite a bit unsure of my bearings tried following the signs for MTR and sure enough saw “CITY TRAIN MTR” signs pointing the way. I changed some of my cash to HK$ and purchased a same day return train pass to Hong Kong it was $100 HKD roughly $15 CAD. The trains arrive every 12 minutes like clockwork and take about 24 minutes to get to the city, given that I still wasn’t sure what gate my plane was at as well as time to get through security I estimated that I had about an hour of gawking time before I had to find my way back to the Airport.

The train was truly brilliant, clean, comfortable, and pretty darn fast. In what seemed like no time at all passed by a few stops and finally at the HK station. Deciding to follow the crowd (I’m being generous here, there were only about 10 people) went up a few escalators and ended up in a mall – oh joy… a very western expensive and pretentious mall… joy. Unfortunately I decided that I only had time to explore the mall a bit so walked around seeing if there was anything interesting or a nice local styled place to eat. Alas if I was shopping for designer clothes or looking to sample exotic ‘western’ food such as McDonalds this would have been a great place to stop by… as it was a bit of a disappointment. With time running out I braved the outdoors in search of anything remotely local, so took a walkway that seemed to lead to a promising location.

Aside from a few nice pictures of HK city, there wasn’t much at the end of the walkway, a few tourist gift shops and a Baskin Robins (they still have those?). The heat was now getting too me and combined with the 12 hour flight I had truly ‘expired’ (see Russel Peters for reference) so went back to the mall which was called the IFC standing for ‘International Finance Centre’. Tried to see if I could find a cheap T-shirt place without luck, then got something to eat at a chique little coffee place called LGB (or was it LGF?) a veggie sandwich and coffee came to about $60 HKD, not exactly cheap or particularly local but decent nonetheless.

With time running out I made my way back to the station and right beside it found the food place I was looking for – a local busy chain kitchen serving rice with BBQ pork, fried cutlets and other fast food goodies, all for less than $30 HKD, *sigh… oh well. I took note of it for any future trips and made my way back to the airport well within time to catch my flight. Even found an overpriced T-shirt to wear for $150 HKD (it was either that or be very uncomfortable for the next 9 hours… or buy the $900 HKD designer shirt), with that my brief yet fun visit to Hong Kong was over, on my flight back definitely plan to spend a few days there seeing the sights and acting liking a foolish American tourist - just kidding ;)

2008-08-16T22:28:00.000-07:00

A little side trip...

After about 16 years and some number of months, days, weeks etc. finally decided to travel to Sri Lanka the birthplace of my parents, fine tea, and... I'm note sure what else - hence my desire to go back and discover something about the country of my origin.

Anyway regardless of reasons the trip itself is one I intend document through a written journal and when the opportunity presents itself update appropriate entries to my blog with a few pictures to liven things up.

My trip began in Calgary August 11th (I could have taken a cheaper flight on Sept 11th, but for some reason decided against it). The route I would be taking went from Calgary to Vancouver then a direct flight to Honk Kong, a 10 hour layover followed by a flight to Colombo via Singapore.

First day of journey took the quick flight to Vancouver and discovered that I could get my checked luggage sent all the way to Colombo without having to collect them in Hong Kong during my short layover - a nice bonus. As well the plane going to Hong Kong was delayed by a few hours so had to wait a bit longer than expected - not quite a nice bonus. Although they did provide a meal voucher and did give the whole "terminal" feel.

Took a few random pictures of the art around the airport and found a place to sleep while waiting for the aircraft.

Groggily got up for the boarding call for the Hong Kong flight, ended up with a window seat which I thought was good for taking pictures and was relatively pleased (at the time). The flight left around 6 am Wensday morning and immediately the plane went into "night" mode - I suppose they were set to local time and was preparing the passengers for the time zone difference. They served us a light dinner and promptly encouraged sleep, of course there was a nice entertainment system in each system that included basic 8-bit games and video on demand with movies, TV shows and other programs. I was sitting next to a very nice couple heading to Malaysia for vacation, though was too tired to go into long conversations.

The rest of the trip was uneventful until we prepared to arrive in Hong Kong. Oddly enough found it hard to believe that I was travelling but seeing the HK skyline through the window helped me realize that fact.

That's it for now, I'll next post will deal with HK and arrival in Sri Lanka.

2008-06-11T11:56:00.000-07:00

"On the Highway of Life..."

Well, the blog is mobile! Currently at a little web cafe in Merrit BC (the Country music capital of Canada! - seriously). Just about to take my second 10 day course and the Vipassana meditation centre, the first time learnt a lot... just not enough it seems. Anyway don't have a lot of time, so this will just be a placement post for now.

2008-04-14T16:50:00.001-07:00

'One of the greatest movies ever... '

Harold and Kumar go to Whitecastle will always be one of my favourite movies, not for outstanding writing, comedy or plot... mainly it was the first movie I saw where the east indian guy wasn't speaking with an accent as well was just played as a normal/stoner guy who happened to have brown skin.
So when I saw the preview for this, well I was nearly extatic with joy... or just really wanted to see a funny movie for once. Oh and this site is just classic, I'm not sure how they originally came up for the idea of NPH as a character but, wow, it works on so many levels (no I am not high at the moment).
Okay truthfully, the movie is retarded but it's non-thinking entertainment, no hidden subtext or interpetation, no tear jerker moments (I think) and just a lot of random humor from the lower end of the spectrum. What more can you ask for, so I'll going to try see it as soon as I can but in the mean time ... What would NPH do?

Later

2008-04-13T21:25:00.001-07:00

"Wish it was a dog's life"

I've been having a wierd few days, something feels off... ah well. Anyway have been tempted to reactivate my Facebook account, mostly because my birthday is coming up - yeah, birthday wishes no matter how shallow are always nice to recieve. Actually don't think I'll really do much this year, can't really say I feel like there is much to celebrate. Bah, no point in dwelling on anything, soooooo... hmm, not much else going on, trying to figure out how much a round the world trip would be (flights alone is around $3000), what I'm going to do in the summer when my contract runs out, how on earth to keep to a proper diet and excercise routine, finish accounting courses, trying to get website up finally, get car repaired, learn guitar, eat more vegetables and find out how LOST ends. So I guess there is a lot of stuff to do, just really don't feel up to doing any of it, I really wouldn't mind living a dog's life every now and then.

2008-04-12T19:13:00.001-07:00

'What's this responsibility thing?'

In the past year I've had a lot of changes, I've went from a couple of dead-end jobs to one that has potential for a career, I've made new friends and sadly realized I had outgrown others, I'm independent and actually own a car (that isn't a 1980 Chevy Malibu Wagon), I've come to an understanding of what my faith is and how I see other people, I went to my first concert and found new music to refresh my spirit, I have joined a sports team and can feel improvements every time I play, I learned how to drive a standard, I have done many things that a couple of years ago I didn't think was possible for me... yet, it still feels ... small.
I've taken a look at some old diaries I kept from as far back as 1989, it's weird looking back at the words your former self has written... it's funny, sad, irritating and can be awfully depressing. Taking a look at the hopes and goals from a ghost of a memory, as I read the lines of faded pages from a cheap plastic covered notepad - all I can feel is guilt, for letting down the person who wrote up their ideas and dreams. It seems a bit harsh, though it's the truth, I'm turning 29 on April 28th... then another year till 30, and all I can look at is what my younger selves envisioned for the future - and this surely isn't it.
It is a dangerous place to be in, though fortunately my experience the past year had given my the strength to deal with it. I have learned acceptance, the past can't be changed though I can still learn from it, hopefully in the next year I can live up to the expectations my childhood composed. I just have to keep trying and with unflinching gaze see what must be done to fulfill the promises I made to myself, I know of others who were crushed by the wieght of expections from prior dreams and truly I can understand how hard it is to have enough faith in the future to keep trying. I guess that's why we are here though, to keep trying with faith in who we are and what we could be.

2008-04-12T18:46:00.001-07:00

The picture has absolutely nothing to do with the post... look at the pretty kitty.

So where to begin...

It's been odd the last few months, and honesly I wonder how much of this is relevant for this blog. When I orginally started this little tiny piece of realestate on the web, the plan was to give opinionated views on current events and analysis of topics around the world (a bit lofty I admit). As time wore on and actual time spent reading news was purely ... nonexistant, the blog just became a general impressions of what I thought and what my current take on what I see in this life. The tone of the blog itself became more introspective, I would (will) ask questions without real answers and provide answers that really made no sense.

So taking that into account, it's probably to change my perception of how I use this site and what I put on it. It will probably be just a place to write randomly and vent, it has actually been a long time since I truly expressed anything in word, art, paperclip art ect. While I haven't really attempted to make any sense in my previous blogs, there will be a higher instance of randomness and lesser amount of coherent thought in the future blogs. Probably I'm just tired of trying to make myself understood, and really just want to write randomly in the open forum of the internet and maybe catch the interest of an organization with money they need to through at someone... hey the lottery makes about as much sense.
So in closing... SPOON!

2008-04-08T19:10:00.000-07:00

It's been another long spell between posts... I could accept the approriate blame but instead I'll shift the indignant outrage to the proper source - Facebook! The off again, on again interest in this juggernaut of 'social connectivity' has finnally run its course with my desire for sanity, to the point I have indeed quit the site altogether (though I admit for the second time - this time for sure I swear!).
Not that I think (as some have suggested) that Facebook is a sign of the anti-christ and that the makers are beings of pure evil with hatred in their hearts and a desire for consuming puppies and kittens ... for god sakes they aren't jugglers.... ahem, getting back to 'le pointe'.
Facebook is basically a site where you register to index yourself with everyone else and then search for the random people you've encountered in your lifetime. Upon finding such peoples one proceeds to call them 'friends' and then inundates them with mass mailouts of quizes, triva, pointless games, vampire/zombie/werewolf invitations (...yeah) etc, etc. The breaking point for me was an old coworker contacting me on facebook to join a pyramid scheme, at that point my disillusion with the Facebook phenom was complete.
Truthfully the 'friends' on Facebook who I did not keep in contact with through other means I really didn't have much to say to and most likely it was vice versa... and then trying to keep up with the social drama between groups is something else entirely.
Of course if one can manage their way through the rigors of online social networking more power to them, though still for all, I'd much rather have friends that allowed me to spend more time away from the computer screen than a prerequisite.

2007-10-10T23:43:00.000-07:00

Of the sweet call of insanity, and the safety of ordinary

There are a few things I should mention off the bat, firstly I'm not exactly sure how the term 'off the bat' came to be or how it really makes any real sense but I'm using it so there... secondly, I don't think I can really claim any true moments of insanity, so any argument regarding that point is highly hypothetical, I'll have to confer with a true bat-shit looney - fortunately it's Calgary, I can find one sleeping in the park a few blocks away - or one of the mayoral candidates. Err probably not, even I can handle only so much insanity, anyway getting to the realm of some sort of theme/plot/point/toaster.

I've honestly thought that it would be quite comfortable to be stark raving mad, especially in this pc society we live in. Though what is insanity? The dictionary definition is well, not exactly sure, but one randomly googled quote says 'Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting the same result'.

So in that regard, who is really insane?
/// yes that is it, an open fucking question, unfortunately have not the wherewithal to completely finish an essay type blog on insanity so please feel free to rough out that last question for yourself... I already know my answer, which lead to a closing quote also from a random google:

"It is much more comfortable to be mad and know it, than to be sane and have ones doubts"

Let's just say I'm feeling very comfortable.

2007-09-01T15:28:00.000-07:00

"Of Giving, dogs and acceptance"

Well, unfortunately missed the month of August to complete a post so kinda bummed out about that, ah well will try for a return to weekly blog entries this month.
It's been an interesting month for myself and everyone around me, not sure if it's a planetary alignment thing or it's just because it's the last month of summer... well more like something akin to summer but not quite if you live in Canada (except for Victoria).

Recent events have led me to question the concept of giving and selfishness, hmm, not exactly true... always considered those things just this past month kind forced me to form a hard opinion on the matter.
I've always been a giving kind of fellow, maybe not overly friendly but would try to do nice things for those around me. Over the years I've discovered a few things; people (especially in western culture) aren't used to giving very much of oneself - money and material goods yes... of themselves - not so much. Another is that I've steadily grown a deep and distinct hatred toward people, maybe hatred is too strong a word... distrust would be far more accurate. Giving of oneself with out expectation of return is one of the hardest things to do, because as soon as you being to expect things of others its amazing how fast one can get disappointed and end up feeling used and betrayed.
Of course I'm being extremely vague and generalizing quite a bit, but I'm sure everyone at some point or another has gone through similar experience to varying degrees. I think it comes down to having faith in other people... or trust, which is amazingly nearly synonymous with faith (at least for the purpose of this topic... err, what topic?).
Hmm, running short on time and I'd hate to relegate this post to the black hole that is the blogspot Drafts section (many a promising post be lost there). So this incomplete piece will be posted (obviously since it's being read it's been posted... or has it?) and hopefully will get around to updating it when the chance arises.
Err, though just for reference, the dog refers to the family mutt that I have to take care of for a while (serious inconvenience) and the acceptance refers to taking ownership of who one is and how you're treated by others - ie accepting that people are by far and large selfish, but that shouldn't make one change who they are to stop feeling hurt, be aware of who others are and accept them for it, while learning to .... I have no idea where this is going now, meh, it'll all make sense in the edited version... it will... really.

2007-07-19T00:29:00.001-07:00

Seeking enlightenment and other tales of misunderstanding

Well, it's been a few weeks overdue but finally decided to bite the bullet and try writing about my recent experience meditating for 10 days just south of Merrit BC (the province, not time wise).
Probably my biggest hesitation in trying to explain or share my experience (aside from the extremely personal subject matter) is the chance of misunderstanding, since it is hard to describe fully without coloring with ones own interpretations that might not translate well if there isn't a common ground of understanding... my god that sounded pretentious. Alright screw it, I'll just try my best to explain and if some people believe I've joined a flying spaghetti monster cult then so be it.

I guess it all started with my own self created doubts and problems, I tend to fall into patterns of self destruction every so often - nothing flashy just a spiraling decay of apathy and self hatred. What I would eventually realize is how universal the experience of it was, but that's for later, my usual methods of coping would be escapism. Pretty much a fancy way of saying running from problems by ignoring them or closing myself off so completely as to shut down, oddly enough I could still function if absolutely required but was unable to connect with people beyond a formal politeness. Though for a while lived pretty much like a hikkomori or shut in, still recovering from the effects of that socially and economically. So long story short, I was a bit messed and needed help in some form, and there is quite a lot of help out there, the best kind being trust worthy friends and family, or else religion, head shrinker's (can't spell psychiatrists), relying on addictions (see this), support groups, crisis help lines... you get the idea. None of the above really seemed like an option for me, mainly because I was incapable of placing enough trust in anyone/anything to share my problems to an extent to be helped.
So decided to try a 10 day meditation course, the appeal being that one has to work out their own problems - no need to rely on anyone. The cost of the course was donation based, so the hardest part was getting leave from work, had to take a course at a later date than I wanted but eventually got the required leave.

Arrival: Day 0
Drove from Calgary to Merrit on June 20th in just under 8 hours, the drive itself was restful passing by mountains and rivers. Nothing too eventful yet just beautiful scenery, arrived at the Meditation Centre just after 2pm, registered and got a room assignment as well as a roomate. The building itself was a relatively new, there were four sides with a courtyard in the middle, two opposite sides held the men's and women's residences, while the two remaining ones contained the group meditation hall and dining area. Registration was relatively straight forward, filling out name brief history, meditation experience etc, then it was free time until about 6 when a light dinner was served and the rules of the centre were explained.
Firstly men and women were to be complete segregated, to reduce distractions the dining hall had a curtain divider and each side had their own walking paths, only the meditation seated both men and women though each had a respective side. Then the five precepts we would have to follow were outlined: To abstain from killing any being, to abstain from stealing, to abstain from sexual misconduct, to abstain from wrong speech, to abstain from all intoxicants (pretty easy really). Also starting at 8pm and for the duration of the course everyone had to take a vow of 'noble silence' meaning no communicating to other meditaters verbally or non-verbally, as well no writing, exercising, practicing of rites, reading, phones etc. Our entire focus should be on the meditation techniques taught, they emphasized that it was to give the technique a fair trial and so for the next 10 days live a monk's life (I thought, for someone who lived as a shut in this would be a peace of cake). We could discuss problems with meditation with the teacher or physical needs with the course manager if necessary, but otherwise it should be a rather quiet experience. As well all meals would be vegetarian, no meats or eggs, though milk and cheese was okay.
I chatted with a few people then started the Noble silence at 8pm, took a walk around the wooded paths (quite nice actually) then returned to the building to see a notice in the foyer outlining the schedule for the rest of the course:

4:30 am: Morning gong
4:30- 6:30 am Meditation in hall or your own room
6:30 am Breakfast served
7:15 - 8:00 am Free time
8:00 - 9:00 am Group meditation in Hall
9:00 - 11:00 am Meditation in hall or your own room as instructor dictates
11:00 am Lunch
12:00 - 12:30 pm Interviews with instructor by request in hall
12:30 - 1:00 pm Free time
1:00 pm - 2:30 pm Meditation in Hall or your own room
2:30 pm - 3:30 pm Group meditation in Hall
3:30 - 5:00 pm Meditation in Hall or your own room as instructor dictates
5:00 pm tea break
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm Group meditation in Hall
7:00 - 8:15 pm Discourse in Hall
8:15 - 9:00 pm Meditation in Hall
9:00 - 9:30 pm Open question period in Hall or free time
10:00 pm Lights out

Well as one can see, there was a heck of a lot of meditating to do the next day, went to bed wondering what to expect from this course as well thinking if I was capable of working through what problems I had come here for... then I thought of pizza and soundly went to sleep.

That took quite a while to write and that's just day 0, so I'll stop for now and update with the remaining 10 days later, I guess I should mention the course itself. The course is run by the Vipassana meditation centre of BC, or Dhamma Surabi (no not Dharma -that's strictly LOST) honestly the site won't be able to provide too many answers regarding the course since it is something one has to experience to understand - and since everyone's experience is different... well you know. Though for what it's worth, I think everyone should consider taking the 10 day course, one just has to be a the right point in their lives to get the full benefit from it. Well, anyway must take nappings of power so take care and more meditatey goodness will follow - stay tuned.

2007-07-16T07:30:00.001-07:00

Ahem, back to Facecrack.. err look at the pretty flower

As the title would suggest, in stark contrast one of the topics of last post I've rejoined facebook... only 2 weeks after I quit. Though in my defense it was for economic reasons rather than a crippling addiction (hmm, that doesn't sound unreasonable at all). Meh, anyway keeping my account on facebook active while just trying not to use it as much. Let's see, well the span between blog posts has once again delved into the months, and unfortunately for me it has been a rather eventful month at that so the prospect of sitting down and blogging all that has happened in detail is rather daunting. Well, will try to update later on in the day, it's too hot to do much else - aside from work I guess. Ah, for those who are curious the flower in the picture is a winter lily found in high altitudes in the Rockies... not sure about the yellow ones though (they didn't have their own display on the boardwalk).
A short post for now, hope all are well, and enjoying the season while they can.

2007-06-03T19:55:00.001-07:00

Of Nazi raccons, Otaku II, 300 and why I'm quitting facebook

Obviously the first bit in the title is an attention grabber, though it was apparently based in facts (somewhat). No, there weren't any raccoons running around with armbands and demanding 'Lebensraum'. Though that would be kinda cute in a weird and horrid sort of way... err, actually it was a little known Nazi officer in the ministry of forestry named Herman Goring who authorized the introduction of several exotic bushy tailed animals into German forests - 'to give bored hunters something to shoot at'. Well unfortunately this well planned idea took a turn for the worse when hunters were unexpectedly called away for 'other' duties and the newly introduced raccoons found a liking to the forest and bred like... sigh... rabbits. Apparently they are considered quite a pest in Germany these days... doubt there was any point to this little story but felt obligated to explain the Nazi raccoon thing.

Well I suppose I should continue with my recount of attending Otafest... meh not much else to say really, chatted with a few people, watched some anime, people in costumes... oh, nearly forgot the highlight of the whole convention - the 404's. Basically they are a comedy improv group along the same lines as the 'Whose line is it anyway?' group, except with a bit of a skew towards geek culture... and the infamous mousetrap game - I shall leave that to the imagination. Overall for 12 bucks for 2 days, quite a bit o fun, still felt awkward but as I stated previously, learning not to care.

After the convention managed to finally see 300, awesome in many ways... questionable in a few as well, but easily forgiven since it was entertaining. I think movies like this strike a deep cord with most men, the appeal to our primitive side yearning for battle and carnage, as well as the nobler ideals of honor, valor and brotherhood.... meh, or we just like seeing blood, guts and things going boom. There were a few things I that didn't flow well - mostly plot wise, such as the seemingly tacked on speeches of democracy and freedom, bringing in a shining new age of something or other - I almost laughed at that. Considering how the movie tries to show the rigidity and harshness of Spartan society the 'Americanized' dialogue is almost hilarious. As well anyone of middle eastern decent would find the portrayal of the invaders... all too familiar. But still for all, this is a movie - and it did what it was supposed to, a rousing and bloody well entertaining 2 hours.

On to a different type of entertainment - Facebook. I've been considering it for quite a while but finally decided I'm going to quit the social network phenom that is Facebook. There are many reasons, wasting time, the Facebook platform, ect, they are all pretty familiar. Though mainly it's a personal one, I just find that using Facebook is an easy way to distance yourself from people while still technically communicating, of course that isn't true for a lot of people but at this time I'd rather have a few more real world friends.
Though I must say it was nice reconnecting with people from the past... yet, I don't think I want to use Facebook as my only recourse to see how they're doing. Email, phone and most importantly face to face conversations are more... substantial, as well it kind of annoys me how there is this 'collection' type attitude of the social networks which at first seemed pretty reasonable on Facebook, though it's getting worse. Meh, anyway I'm leaving the world of Facebook behind, I already have email and msn so if people really want to reconnect... sigh, that comes off a bit too whiny. So I'll just end by saying, 'Safe journey and my sincere good will to all I've met in life, the friends, the enemies and the ignored, wherever you are going may the trip be exciting, joyful and most of all connect you to a few more people'.

2007-05-22T23:49:00.000-07:00

'Of social networks, otaku, and why I just don't care'

Unless you have neither access to Internet, talk to people or do not watch TV - in some form or another you have heard of online social networking. It is a big craze particularly among all levels of current students, and while in principle it's a great way to connect to people, though I find that as with most things popular there are quite a few problems. Take one of the most talked about social networks recently 'Facebook', (which admittedly I am a member... actually this blog gets automatically posted to my profile... hmm, ah well) anyway, it can get very addictive yet while it isn't quite as bad as some other networks I've tried there are the same problems which people should be aware of yet unfortunately don't have the time or energy to look into.

Well one thing I've noticed about most online networks is that there seems to be a kind of 'collector' attitude. For most networks you invite people to be your friend and then you create a list of friends who you... well, basically keep as a scorecard. People will invite people to be friends and then never contact them again, unless you are actually have some real world interaction at least once in a while. To be honest that's only natural, for all attempts at realism and connecting to people, the Internet is a virtual world, IE not real, as in - not a substitute for real world interactions. I'm tempted to use the old quote regarding quantity and quality but I'm sure most people with some cerebral function left can see where I'm going.
As well there is a certain loss of privacy, and especially in Facebook where the defaults for privacy are dangerously low, it can lead to someone or some company having full access to your profile as well as all content you've shared - including your list of friends. In fact Facebook announced their new 'platform', where companies can use third party applications on Facebook granting them full access to a users information unless the change their privacy settings.
That doesn't mean online social networks are evil, just that one has to be fully aware of what they are signing up for and as painful as it may sound - read the fine print.

Well now that part is out of the way, I wish to speak now a self professed Otaku (geek), I say self professed because until last weekend, I had no idea how shallow my geekiness was - not that's a bad thing. For the first time I attended an anime convention... it was an interesting experience, if you don't know what anime is - well, mostly this, but fortunately sometimes this or this. Anyway getting back to the convention, called Otafest, was pretty interesting, a brief recap:
Day 1, arranged to meet friend at the convention so headed out on the Ctrain to the U of C campus. I could tell I was going in the right directino because of the various people dressed up as anime characters in scattered amoung the other passengers. Got to convention at 9 am, and proceeded to spend the next hour in line to get it - seriously never knew there were that many anime fans, unfortunately there were mostly considerably younger and a few had questionable hygiene. Though the fun part of waiting in line was watching the reaction of older people dropping off kids to the event, their faces basically read with a mixture of shock, confusion and horror, though in all fairness if your not prepared to see people dressed as assorted Ninjas, robots, androids, maids, Gothic Lolita's and even a few furries (you don't want to know) it can be mentally damaging.
Finally register, $12 for 2 days hmm, not too bad, pick up a guide book since it's probably the most useful souvenir for the convention. Taking a look at the schedule there are about 10 rooms devoted to viewing different anime, throughout the day they have different events to cater the Otaku such as; Iaido demonstration (sword fighting forms), sushi lessons, cosplay show, beat the geeks contest, a video game room, anime music video contest (music put to clips from anime, a la ici), Japanese fashion show, a dealer room (anime related not drugs), and an auction room to name a few. Though probably the highlight of the convention is the 404's, an improve group similar to 'Whose line is it anyway' with a bit of a geeky twist.
Not seeing anything too interesting, head to the dealer room - another huge line, fortunately it moves a bit faster only 30 minutes this time. Inside is where the magic happens, then is bottled and sold for $4.99 an ounce, a lot of different vendors from around the city are there to share their wares of DVD's, manga, plushies, wall scrolls, bokken, swords (very fake), plushies, Japanese music, and other assorted merchandise related to asian culture... I use culture in a very liberal sense. Still it was kinda neat to browse around the different stalls and see what was being sold, and to my own amazement found a series of DVD's that was planning to buy for 1/3 the normal price, can't go wrong there I suppose. There were a few interesting things such as an old NES system, some really beautiful art scrolls, racks of various clothing.
Meet up with a few friends and decide to grab a much needed drink and some food, fortunately there is a bar right in the building - score. Compared to the chaos outside the bar is very quiet, probably since most of the attendees already spent their money in the dealer room or are underage. The bar food is surprisingly good, and gives us the energy to walk around a bit. Check out a few anime shows, then decide to check out the cosplay show, to which another formidable line awaits. The cosplay consists of people in different costumes who then perform a skit of some kind or just pose if they're unimaginative, some of the costumes are impressive, some of the skits are funny... though often not both and for the most part neither. Leaving the show early check out a few more horrid anime for laughs then a live action ninja movie - again for laughs. Not much else going on so head for the C-Train and head home.
Unfortunately a bit of a story on the way back, our travelling group consists of myself a couple of friends and another friend of a friend who is a hardcore Otaku... hardcore. We chat a bit and at the next stop a group of rather attractive (and slightly inebriated) members of the opposite sex sit in the opposite booth, and for some odd reason actually ask us what we're up to... I seriously doubt anything would have happened but after a day of being a geek it seemed like a nice change of pace to talk to a few ladies. At that exact moment our Otaku friend decided to go into a rather impassioned recount of his anime purchases including some 'figurines', well that ended any possibility of conversation right there. Meh, that's life I guess, so that ended day 1 will probably post day 2 later as this post has already taken on a rather epic length and I have a few more things to write.
So first impressions of Otafest? Well honestly had to say I felt a bit like a dirty old man, it was fun but it is definitely these things are something you go with a group to, fortunately have a good group of people who are for the most part mature. It was very commercialized in the amount of rather useless shiny things that were sold - and bought. Though the things I appreciate about anime were also at the conference, people enjoying themselves without worrying about what other people think, taking time to show their passion and skill with costumes and performances.
That is probably what I'm going to take from my experience at the convention, if you have the courage dress up as Sailor moon while doing a pretty good impression of Vicky Pollard, while it's kinda weird - it's pretty damn impressive as well. The moral, I guess is don't care so much about what others thing, we're all a bit silly anyhow.

2007-05-16T23:30:00.000-07:00

A bit confused?

Hmm, where to begin, well the first post of May in addition to about a month from the previous one... meh, whatever. In any event, or happenings or even 'damn that shit's messed up', been doing a bit of thinking (just a bit) and aside from realizing I spend far too much time in various ponderings - seriously it doesn't pay very well at all, it just occurred to me how similar everyone is... and by that I mean everyone. Now previously I would probably have gone into long drawn out word thingy about life, meaning blah blah blah... now however, I think it's time to stop being an ineffectual philosopher and start really working toward something.
It just seems that so much time (and money) is spent by people trying to improve themselves, I guess the danger is when one confuses improvement with self hatred -hmm, kind of like emotional plastic surgery, eh?.... yeah that doesn't sound right. Or probably more accurately substituting an natural emotional need with something provided by marketing, to that effect I think TV should be abolished... except for 10pm Monday (you know). It is so easy to get sucked into the idea of what is considered a normal/acceptable life, and to judge oneself and others by it. So what is normal? heck is there even such a thing... what would be considered a normal person? Personally I think normal would be a bit boring... make that very boring, like English food, but I guess we have to create some imaginary median of society by which we can measure ourselves. For example there are those that may strive to become the antithesis of normalcy (goths and door to door salesmen come to mind), while others will try to do everything to blend in. Actually this reminds me of a quote I once heard about racism (yeah, a bit out of the blue but it's good stuff), well as accurately as I can remember the quote was something like this:

" Racists are not people who cannot accept differences in others, but rather
they are people who hide their own differences and cannot accept others
who don't or are unable to do the same"

Quite true I think, well as much as I hate to end a post that was supposed to about confusion with a curve ball into racism, it's late and I'm weary. So to all you beautiful and unique snowflakes out there, go watch fight club. (if the last bit makes no sense, it means...

2007-04-22T19:24:00.000-07:00

Been feeling a bit under the weather lately, but I suppose one advantage is finally able to catch up on world news and write a few opinions about it.

Though as often as not, I find I would have been much happier being ignorant of events unfolding. A case in point is the recent shooting at Virginia tech. Truly a horrible incident, not only for the deaths, pain to friends and family but the aftermath to these events.
Already one can see 'experts' showering opinions and research to us from their ivory towers of learning. The news stations naturally can't stop covering this event enough, analyzing every aspect of the shooter and victims - as well as trying to pinpoint the cause of this senseless tragedy. Hopefully they won't make a scapegoat of some musician/video game/ideology but eventually that's what it might come down to, for that is easiest for most people to understand.
Obsession with violent video games, music, erratic behavior, thoughts of suicide, sure they're all symptoms of someone in trouble and probably in danger of becoming violent- but they are not the cause, quite simply it comes from the a sense of lonely hopelessness that only people have experienced can relate to. Not something I really want to expand on for now, so instead what are they (meaning schools, law enforcement, ect) planning to do about the problem of school violence (outside of ghettos that is). From the network media seems the gist of it is that they are looking to identify patterns of behavior then educate teachers and consulars on how to determine 'potential' shooters - while I think it is probably necessary I wish there was more questioning into how to change the environment that creates shooters instead of waiting to find them.
That is probably my biggest concern - the way our society reacts to threats, we seem to be more secure with the idea of being able to target rogue elements as they develop instead of trying to improve conditions so they can't exist- as the old saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Unfortunately the way our leaders think is mostly short term solutions designed to pacify (I regret to say) a rather ignorant electorate, instead of creating programs that advocate lasting change to our society.
Well, I'll save my rant on the ignorant masses for another post ;) in dire need of some rest if work is possible tomorrow, ah well it's not like it is anything important... sigh. Meh, guess it's time to start looking for something more.

2007-04-12T23:22:00.000-07:00

Well continuing from the previous post concerning the IMF and World Bank, these organizations while undoubtedly spawned from the depths of hades are not the real problem. If one takes a look at the our society and stops for a moment to consider what is the driving force behind it - the answer is greed. Of course the answer is debatable, but for the intents and purposes of this post we'll set that aside for now, (stop questioning me, I'm always right - there are WMD's in Iraq...err) getting back to the supposed point...
If one observes daily life, it actually seems... well, normal. People go to work, come home maybe spend time with family, go out on the town, but for the most part it is for the benefit of themselves alone. It used to be a corny and overplayed mantra of children's programming to share and ... uhm, I forget the rest, but it was something of a type of moral value - probably.

Sigh, for some reason this post is degenerating into a strange mixture of bad humor and opinionated statements, not knowing a way to stop this phenomenon I'll just get straight to what my original point should have been regarding how to resolve the problems created by the IMF and World Bank.

Basically a change in the system of politics and the way countries (especially developing countries) deal with the international market pressure. I'll be blunt, democracy is great if the country is stable enough to support it, and in many cases it is horrendously wrong and just breeds a system of corruption under an 'in name only' democratic system. Developing countries are especially at risk because of the pressure from developed nations seeking resources/labour/markets.
The 'third world' has to stop giving in to demands of the western world and their market systems and basically become isolationist until they can be self reliant. I find it really funny that western culture holds independence as one of it's highest ideals yet it tries to create as much dependency as possible for struggling countries.
To address this issue are two possibilities, change from the top of government or a grass roots movement among the people. The former is by far the quickest, though in order for it to be effective a strong and necessarily dictatorial regime is required (IE China) - of course the danger is that the person in power will turn into... rhymes with stickler.
The other way is for a movement to start among the people to promote ideals not out of popularity but an informed and altruistic design of what needs to be done secure a future for our people and (dare I say) our planet. The problem is this method is by far much much harder, and it will probably take generations, because it has to be a true change in the way people are involved in their communities and the politics of their nations. Ask yourself how much do you know about the world around you, how much do you know about your neighbors? Is your community involved in things more than children's sports and the odd BBQ - does your community bring issues forward to the next level of government?
There are communities that do, but it seems that more and more it is a rarity rather than the norm. It just seems that people don't consider politics as important to daily life, and probably at this moment they might be right - though it might not stay that way.

Bah, now this post is way too serious, ah well it's late and I don't feel like editing or even spell checking of that matter - so let's just end with this:

Everyone is looking for the same thing, they just don't realize it
unfortunately, until they do most will feel alone or dissatisfied with
life in general. While true happiness does come from within, it's nice
to realize that we are not alone. Everyone has a place they want to be,
always keep that in mind - as the destinations might not be that far apart.

Yes, it has almost nothing to do with my ramblings of this post but... meh, seemed like it needed to be.. err typed.

2007-04-03T23:05:00.000-07:00

Well folks, it finally happened... I've managed to get serious enough to actually post a rather important (though still opinionated) entry after quite a lot of introspective and altogether too plainly quaint posts.

Imagine that you own a house, nothing too fancy but great property value, location, a pool... you get the idea. Unfortunately due to job loss, or some other tragedy you find yourself heavily in debt and the house falling into disrepair, the roof is leaking, plumbing needs an overhaul, the hot water heater only works half the time and you can now jump down from the second floor into the kitchen via a nice human sized hole.
Things are looking pretty desperate, when a very friendly and well dressed bank representative come up to you and says, "Well friend, it looks like you're in a bit of a pickle... tell you what, I'm willing to loan a rather hefty sum of money since our bank is there to help those in need, there are a few conditions but we'll worry about that later."
Of course being in a bad situation you willingly accept - who wouldn't, it seems like a helping hand out of trouble.
The money is quickly handed over to you, and on top is a list of conditions on how you can spend it.

And at the very beginning of the list it stipulates you cannot spend any money on the repair or maintenance of your house - though you can sell parts off to other people, who may or may not repair it themselves. As well you cannot spend the money on education or training to get a better job, you must also spend money only at certain approved stores even if they are more expensive.
The list goes on, and it quickly dawns on you that following this list of conditions will not only prevent you from recovering from debt, but forces you into a worse situation by spending resources on more material goods instead of building value into the one asset you have... your house, which will end up as someone else's property by the end of it.

Now this sounds pretty horrible right? If any bank were to do that to an individual it would be downright criminal. So then how can organizations like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund get away with doing the exact same thing to developing countries?

If you've ever wondered why there were so many protesters around the G8 and other such organizations ... well it's mostly because of the weed the kids be a smoken' but a few of them understand that these organizations do not have a mandate of helping other countries. Even under the guise of 'aid' developing countries are blackmailed into selling off the rights and control of their own resources for money that will in the end do little or no good.

An example is during one of the previous G8, a resolution to absolve the debt of struggling countries was put into place. Of course it sounds amazing... I'm sure Bono must have been pretty proud of himself as well, unfortunately the attached strings to these debt cancellations are not meant to help anyone but big business (I hate generalizing like this but hopefully can edit this later). Some of the conditions include forcing countries to increase the expenditure on importing goods from G8 countries, privatization of their natural resources and companies such as water and power, shutting down various 'dead weight' government run agencies (hospitals, schools etc.) in the name of cost cutting and effectiveness - just to name a few.

The really sickening thing is that these organizations actually portray themselves as humanitarian while underhandedly stealing the future out of the hand of the people they are supposedly helping. So what should be done? Stay tuned for the next post, have a couple of ideas and one that isn't going to be too popular.

2007-03-31T00:01:00.000-07:00

Well, as usual it is not for lack of things to write but rather an over abundance of thoughts both random and (if I do say so myself) inspired, that has led to the current situation of almost a month of no posts.
Actually not sure what this post should be about, so I'll just rattle off some of the ideas that met with an untimely end.

The Duality of man, was planning an ode to full metal jacket with my own view on peoples ability to be composed of good and evil, really though I just wanted an excuse to use one of my favourite movie quotes:
"I do know that for the sympathy of one living being, I would make peace with all. I have love in me the likes of which you can scarcely imagine and rage the likes of which you would not believe. If I cannot satisfy the one, I will indulge the other"
Seriously I get chills from this line, wish the movie was better, ah well.

Ponderings of international conflicts and capitalism - who am I kidding this post was dead before a word was written since the amount of effort it would take to actually check ones facts is a bit beyond me at the moment.

Lament of the nice/awesome/great ie more of a pet than friend guy, a whiny topic that I think is better left forgotten.

Introduction of geek culture to mainstream - a look at geekiness, and how many people who are geeks will never- ever admit to it. As well as a bit of questioning as why certain things are socially acceptable for fanaticism while others are considered faux pas. ie people can loudly proclaim (while only partial dressed even) their devotion to a sports team/individual, while a milder devotion to say one of a trilogy of movies is looked upon as a tad odd.

I could go on, but for the most part the other topics are branches of the previous in some form or another. For next post will think about expanding on one of the topics above but most likely will find something else to write about then. To all a good night.

2007-03-04T10:47:00.000-08:00

Shamless filler post.

Well, unfortunately broke a streak of weekly posting... though I had good reason, sort of... well just didn't feel like it. Anyway it wasn't for lack of anything to write about as the amount of truly insane observations makes it hard to pick any one topic (or 5 or 10), a bit short on time so just going to leave a link to a pretty decently funny and honest monologue from Craig Ferguson's late night talk show (you may remeber him as the british guy from the Drew Carrey show). Perhaps later today will manage a proper post... but until then.

2007-02-13T23:55:00.000-08:00

Valentines!

Well, it's that time of year again, actually debated whether or not to write a post about Valentines day... it would be too easy to get into a soddenly over verbose philosophical rant on a day that seems to have more commercial meaning that anything else, oops almost started there. Anyway love it or hate it, February 14th has become recognizable from every facet of life, mostly from media advertising.
So in light of the inescapable nature of this day among days for love the post is well underway, with a commitment to convey some thoughts and observations all the while keeping some humor about the whole subject... hopefully. Of course a good way to start is with a few experiences I had working as a clerk at 7-11 a couple of years ago: I've worked the evening shift on Valentines and was always amazed by the number of people coming in at the last minute to try and find cards/candies/roses etc. though probably the funniest was a guy came in and bought a pack of pens just to sign a valentines card before he got home - I am not making this up.
The geniuses at 7-11 never really thought it through about valentines so we never had any appropriate 'valentine' gifts for sale, so it's pretty amazing how the desperate manage to cobble together some last minute gift consisting of candy bars and personal hygiene products... I mean if you're going to do something like that might as well take the hit for valentines and make it up some other time, I doubt anybody would be satisfied with a 7-11 valentines gift (though we did have some nifty butane lights for the pyros in your life, they even came in red).
The well prepared gift givers probably pre-ordered their thorn less roses and assorted Belgian chocolates, or if they had some extra money a few diamond sprinkled jewellry. As nice as those things are I have to agree with a poster on bash.org who expounded the virtues of a new symbol of love more powerful and meaningful than the common rose- the potato! (now the pic makes sense doesn't it). Of course it would be better if it were a red potato (or potatoe) to keep with the whole 'heart theme', actually when you think about it a potato looks very similar to an actual organic heart compared to the card versions, so it really should be the new symbol of valentines... meh, I think it would take a pretty enlightened lady to happily accept a raw potato - hmm, maybe bake it first... add a little butter, some herbs and voila! a treat to rival any box of chocolates... yeah... seems doubtful.

Symbols aside and obligation aside the main theme of valentines is to share a day with someone close to you, and this is where the lines get split into the lovers and haters of this day. Many feel that it is the perfect day for going all out with that special someone, while others are forced into depression for not having a special someone. What I find truly bizarre is that both sides of the camp are equally commercialised! It isn't too hard to get Valentines sucks or anti-valentine cards as well as other merchandise, well I suppose it is a capitalistic society after all, still it does make one feel that any true meaning is lost in the mad race to buy gifts.
Speaking of the gift giving, I have to say particularly from a guy's perspective Valentine's day truly does suck, mainly since it fall's upon guys to give most of the gift giving, women aren't as obligated to reciprocate in any way (a few may, but let's be honest... they can get away with not giving anything). Now the Japanese have a far superior system in place, on Valentines girls give chocolates to guys they like, then a month later on March 14th or (White day) the guys reciprocate - so at least there is some sense of balance.
I guess lastly is the whole "finding your special someone" theme to valentines which if you're single kind of makes it hard to get into any sort of good mood during this time of year. I should point out that I am single and this may affect my views of this day, but while I loathe the way Valentines makes a single guy feel with all the external pressure surrounding it... truthfully I do like good ideals behind it. Showing the people you care about how you feel, that should be the real spirit of Valentines, one shouldn't be giving chocolates, or expensive gifts... just share what's in your heart. Meh, a little too mushy even for me, so I'll conclude with a link to a seemingly accurate observation in male-female relations that will give a few people a chuckle and a few more an "all too true". So whether or not you have someone to share the day with, just live today with bit more love towards those around you... who knows, it might enable you to find what you're looking for (meh, or just gorge on sweets, that works too).

2007-02-08T04:40:00.000-08:00

Marching under the banner of a Rat's Anus

There are days when one just has to throw reason out the window and feel free to make an idiot of themselves, not to such extremes as lighting your hair on fire while sorting newspapers at a gas station - but just a simple step outside the boundaries of safe routine. I've affectionately decided to term these days "Marching under the banner of a Rat's Anus days" or MUBRA days for short, it is actually a term inspired (IE stolen) from a Mitchel and Webb skit. The goal of such days is to proudly wear the banner of idiocy in the face of ones own inhibitions as well as the social norm (to an extent). Oh I should mention the nifty banner I made, it should translate as 'Victory from a Rat's Ass'... poetic - isn't it? Ah Latin, you make everything sound classy... err, getting back to topic, too often it seems like one can get stuck in a rut of life, living the daily grind and not taking any chances for fear of mistakes and consequences. Being mindful of the consequences of your actions is a prerequisite for living among other people (heck even non-people), though when one starts passing up opportunities and especially chances to become happier because of self regulation... well, that's what MUBRA days are for.
Honestly, it won't always work out, more to the fact you'll open yourself up to things one usually tries their hardest to avoid and depending on how much of an idiot you can be, it won't be very pretty. Still for all - that's life, the sad truth is only by feeling pain can we become stronger, protecting oneself from hurt can work... but you won't be able to grow or move very far in life's journey. Of course there is the off chance that a day of idiocy will open doors that you never thought existed... still haven't had one of those yet, but I've decided to at least try to be an idiot a little more often.
So every now and then march proudly under the banner of the Rat's Anus, you probably won't win too many battles under it, but once in a while it is a good thing since you know what they say, 'you learn more from losing than winning'.

2007-02-07T05:34:00.000-08:00

Search for the elusive Yo-Yo

I'm not sure of the reason but I've always needed to do something with my hands, either flipping coins or bouncing a ball to even just poking the nearest random person. So naturally a yo yo seems like an ideal toy since unlike a ball it won't accidentally bounce away and hit someone in the face (yeah, that's a retail sales career ender).

Now the first yo yo I ever had was a cheap plastic dealie (similar to the picture) that was given away at a conference I volunteered at, but it essentially did what it was supposed to... go up and down on a string, or tie itself in knots. As with many odd little toys and such the yo yo got lost and eventually I tried to find another one, a search of local stores only turned up an intricate ball bearing-balanced-xxxtreme $14 yo yo... in a common lapse of judgment I decided to purchase this yo yo (it was xxxtreme!). Though it looked impressive and even came with it's own tube of yo yo lubricant (seriously) it was a severe disappointment, while using it at work the think hit the floor, cracked, then on the next yo broke apart and hit a customer in the face (meh, didn't like working as a sales clerk anyway).

That ended my yo yo fascination for a while, though recently decided to get another one (of course planning to stay well away from people while yo-ing). Unfortunately visiting local stores proved it nearly impossible to find any really simply toys, one could easily find weird, complicated and just downright stupid toys, seriously what kid wants a transforming princess dinosaur spider rider? (hmm, Christmas is only 1o months away). There were action figures of action stars, inaction figures, dolls with brushable and unbrushable hair, lego kits of washrooms, and plastic toys that looked like something out of a bad acid trip... still no yo yo, and don't get me started on trying to find a simple plastic Frisbee!

Why is it that one can't find simple enjoyable toys... I mean one could probably search for one on eBay or something but that seems like a lot of effort to go through. I don't want to sound like a Grinch but a lot of toys today are totally useless and unnecessary, and without a doubt probably the worst thing one can spend money on. Too bad a lot people don't really have a choice, with the amount of marketing directed at kids, I guess it's not surprising how things are. I'm not against toys, but I think there's a difference in a toy designed to be fun, and ones just produced to make money. Xxxtreme yo yo aside, I think kids would be a lot happier with simple and long lasting toys if they just had the patience to appreciate them... bah, who am I kidding, they're kids - heck even adults fall to the same marketing ploys, how else can SUV's be so popular.

Well, anyway finally did get my yo yo - found one at the dollar store... it lights up... shiny.

2007-02-01T08:15:00.000-08:00

First post of February!!

It's been a bit of a dark few weeks but as promised a post filled with a bit more levity continues below.

Back from a trip to the United States, it was fun and honestly a good way to get perspective. I've mentioned it before but it is oddly surreal to visit a place one practically knows through media, anyway besides the spending of savings it wasn't too bad - plus finally got a great digital camera (see above picture). The Canon SD600 a darn nifty little thing, as a result actually went a bit nuts snapping pictures of anything I thought was odd... and that includes almost everything.

Speaking of odd, I must relate an interesting incident from the past couple of days; As I happened to be waiting at the bus stop (public transportation... err, rocks?) a group of 4 Native American youths (I'm so pc) came running from a nearby condo complex, rested at the bus stop for a minute then split up and walked in opposite directions down the street. To be honest my first gut, initial reaction was "what were these hooligans up to?"... yet my sense of fairness forced me to reconsider and only observe while not drawing any conclusions. I mean they could have been having a race... or playing tag, or something equally harmless or perhaps even a noble effort - one must not jump to conclusions about a person from a single meeting. And so feeling a bit better about my politically correctness, I became lost in thought again while waiting for the bus to show up (did I mention public transportation rocks?).
A few minutes later a rather haggard and confused looking white guy shows up, and proceeds to ask if I've seen 4 youths (or yuut's if you prefer) run by and which direction they went. After I relay the relevant information he takes off after them while turning to say:
"They tried to steal my car"

Well there goes any illusion I had of being nonjudgmental, so long story short... you can't judge a book by it's cover - unless it is a magazine... though magazines aren't really books anyway... Meh, I guess there really is no true rhyme or reason to the world, it doesn't make sense so have a sense of humor about and live on, or it will probably drive you mad.

2007-01-26T19:32:00.000-08:00

America!

Safely in the states and have had many opportunities to observe the native American in their natural habitat... bah, whom am I kidding? Truthfully spent much of my time here surrounded by family members with their own sense of ... odd-wierdyness that one can expect and appreciate only in family. Needless to say that family matters are not suitable for broadcast into the ether's of the world wide web so I'll have to fall back onto a few thoughts that have crystallized themselves during my few brief trips the much talked about and widely publicized United States of America.

Firstly I must comment that it is oddly surreal to visit someplace that through countless movies, TV shows, news broadcasts and even for that matter books! Driving through historic backdrops all along the Interstate 95, and passing by all manner of iconic buildings from 'THE' White house (I have seen other white houses and they were okay I guess) to the Poe museum... err...Edgar Allen Poe ... the Raven... anyone? Anyway either from a real sense or implanted media suggestion, the US feels more historic than any place I've visited up north in Canada. Not only that but over all the impression is of a more... veteran people... if that makes sense.

The people in America (at least the north east side I've visited) seem to have a feel of a people that have lived through troubled times and are the more experienced and a bit hardened because of it. Again it's just a general impression as compared to Canadians en masse, my home country does have a more peaceful and dare I say ... bland history in comparison to our southern neighbors, but can that account for the slight difference in atmosphere one experiences in a country? Having neither the scholarly background nor the inclination to really study this further (as with so many other thoughts) I'll just leave the observation out there and make of it what you will.

Besides the proliferation of flags (seriously I believe there must be a flag makers lobby doing some thorough work in the states), one can't help but notice the nature of media and advertisements in comparison the Canada's. While one can hear about it in such movies as Bowling for Columbine it doesn't really have the same impact as watching an hour of network television and being bombarded with a decidedly more aggressive and oddly mind numbing series of advertisements. While probably Canadian ads are more subtle about it, one can't help but notice the common threads among ads which seem to be; material goods can make you happy (enlightened even - as one ad proclaimed), debt is okay if you can buy what you want, unless you buy _____ you will stay a loser. Amid the early days of the Iraq war I once attended a meeting of supposed communists (meh, had nothing else to do) anyway the speaker there described the American need for consumerism and it's growing and unreasonable demand for resources as a symptom of an unviable economic model and the reason for the imperialistic invasion of Iraq. To put it a bit more simply, those greedy Americans are so fat and hungry that they need to hog as many resources as they can to satisfy an ever increasing appetite. At the time I neither agreed or disagreed with the idea, though experiencing the daily onslaught of propaganda, I can't help but consider it valid.

People have to buy things, lots of things, to keep this economy going... if one considers North America as a self reliant entity then this isn't necessarily a bad condition. However given that most of the world hasn't the luxury of even a fraction of the material goods forced upon consumers and in some cases can't even receive the basic necessities of housing, water and food... something is definitely very, very wrong here.

I think it is dawning on many people in the country, however I'm not sure that there is any quick recourse to take. One can be aware of the absurdity of the system, doing something about it is another matter altogether... actually it's for that same reason that I find the 'reality' documentaries done about the 'system' such as, the corporation and Darwin's Nightmare so depressing, both films (and many others like them) expose and decry the injustice of the system and how it is contributing to the suffering of the common man... yet gives no real way out of the situation. It is like walking up to someone and explaining how horrid and hopeless their situation is - then walking away while smiling and patting oneself on the back for a job well done.

In any event I highly doubt any form of radicalism is the answer (as much fun as protesting might be). A real fundamental change of our system of beliefs and economics are required, either from a grassroots or top down approach - though personally I find the former much more likely, yet without strong leadership doomed to failure.

This post has gotten a bit too wordy and preachy, next one will definitely be on a more frivolous topic - less depressing and easier to sleep after writing. To all a good night, and I wish that all may find the answers to the questions that plague one mind - or at least a suitable compromise.

2007-01-18T23:41:00.000-08:00

Tis been a stressful day to say the least, but it's almost over, actually what truly amazes me is that I've probably finished more posts in the past few days than in the previous months! Well it is a new year and things are finally getting interesting-er (I am aware of the abhorrent grammar).
Taking well deserved... err actually just taking a break from the current scenario to visit some relatives and have some fun. Though it does involve crossing the border and as a darker skinned individual, one can't be too careful. Especially as my passport was a tad late in arriving so have to travel just before the restriction with and return somehow... worst case scenario will be exiled from Canada and will have to work as an illegal in the states. Meh, I guess there are worse fates, as an illegal I wouldn't have to pay taxes and there is apparently a huge community of illegal workers that I can just join... I wonder if they're union? Anyway whatever happens one way or the other will make for an interesting tale... just hope they have internet access in Guantanamo (very bad joke... sigh, very bad).

2007-01-18T00:18:00.000-08:00

Every day events take place around the world, some worthy of international attention and 24 hour news coverage, others maybe a glance from a passing stranger. Most of the time we can ignore the terrible things happening around us, one can hear about people dying in some country half a world away and briefly think sadly about it, yet that is all it is. It also seems that from safe distance one can even justify death for the sake of ‘a greater good’… I’d better stop this part here, as the temptation to be sidetracked into a different topic is too strong. I’ll continue with thoughts about our proximity to tragedy and it’s effects, as the old saying goes it’s hard when something hits close to home.

Although I can’t help but ask why? Should it matter how close we are to something to care? Or even why should we be affected because of how close we are to it?

Let’s take an example of death. I’m often reminded of a song by (in my opinion) an extremely underrated and misunderstood musician:

“The death of one is tragedy, the death of millions is just a statistic”

Honestly it is the truth, we can easily shrug off a headline from a newspaper declaring rising death tolls it some country we haven’t even heard of, though one can be absolutely devastated by the death of someone close. The simplest explanation is that we care most about who we know, family and friends, yet to varying degrees as interpersonal relationships are - What does hell does that mean?!

Can one feel loss as strongly for a faceless stranger half a world away, compared to a close loved one? Conversely could one be as nonchalant is the situation were reversed? Either scenario would probably make for a pretty unhealthy individual, either paralysed by emotional suffering or cold heartedly indifferent.

All above situations seem distasteful for some reason… I guess I’d like to think that it isn’t because of shallowness that people use degrees of separation to feel anything about the death of someone. Perhaps it is just a way of surviving in a world where death is a part of life, or it could be that when we are faced with the passing of someone close we are reminded of own lack of power to prevent it. There doesn’t seem to be anything we can do when someone dies in front of us… actually that’s not exactly true I suppose.

There is always prayer, I don’t think it matters what form it takes and it really is much, but spending a moment of ones life to acknowledge the passing of another is something precious. It does seem like a small thing but the more I think about it, there really is nothing more valuable to give than a moment of life, to offer peaceful rest, enlightenment, safe journey to the next incarnation or any other wish for a life ended.

I guess I could try to expand more, but really… life’s too short, and one can either understand or question the meaning in the previous paragraph – either is fine with me.

2007-01-15T23:20:00.000-08:00

Bootwhistle
(originally created October 9th 2005... and just finished)
Concepts, ideas, philosophy, drunk-talk... sweet beautiful drunk talk [pop culture reference #48293, see Simpsons] all are expressions of thought, and much of it is unoriginal. People have been thinking for well over... hmm, correction, some people have been thinking for most of human history, about life, existence, science and shiny objects.
Thought in and of itself is unfortunately as useful as a roast turkey at a vegetarian thanksgiving (shudder). At this point I could give a few quotes that seem to illustrate this point but I think the turkey thing does a damn good job of it... anyway hmm, perhaps paralleling to Hamlet would better illustrate whatever point I think I'm making (lest one think too highly of me, Hamlet is probably the only Shakespeare play I've read - it can be paralleled to almost anything including toast!).
Anyway in Hamlet there were various characters and each composed of varying degrees of reason vs passion, logic vs impulse, yin vs yang, crips vs bloods etc. etc. Our hero Hamlet (or Hammy as called by his friends - who die most horribly) had an overabundance of reason which hindered any action he should have taken to seek vengeance for the murder of his father. The villain ... I actually forget his name, Hamlet's uncle now king -guy (unking-guy) is ruled by passion as apparently evidenced by his murderous tendencies. As the play progresses various characters die most horribly including our hero and the unking-guy, till only the more balanced people are left. This includes the noble Horatio who as it turns out has a balance between the desires of passion and the processes of reason.
So let's see... I guess the moral of the story is be balance between your desires and constraint, if one thinks too much about everything nothing will be accomplished and if you act without thinking then the consequences could be most ... unpleasant.
Of course finding the balance might be a bit tricky as one must cross either side of the line to know where things stand... and usually quite a few times. Whether or not that actually makes any sense for others to decide. Right now I think I'll go to sleep - not sure if that's the passion or the reason talking, but who gives a [expletive deleted] anyway?

2007-01-14T21:38:00.000-08:00

A few note about the previous post, first of all it was amazingly difficult to find the right picture and even then I'm not totally satisfied with the one I chose. Seriously, using Google image finder to find examples of faith turned up weird and confusing results from crosses (of course) to dogs and for some odd reason a rotting turnip... meh, go figure. Speaking of interesting Google search results, I've heard that when one used to type 'I love Jews' in the search engine, Google would helpfully suggest 'Did you mean: I love Jesus'. Of course once informed the correction was removed and people could once again safely proclaim their Judaic love... okay that was bad, but damn well funny.
As for the subject of the post itself, the matter should really have treatment in an essay with actual editing and research but of course given the uhm... budget, yes budget, I have to work with, it will suffice to have an inaccurate and grammar mistake ridden post in an out of the way blog. As a bit of clarification, by the end of the post it may seem that I draw a line between religious faith and faith in humanity - that is by no means the case! Actually some of the people most devoted to humanity were highly spiritual, off the top of my head Gandhi and Mother Theresa are prime examples. Of course on the flip side (is flip side a real phrase?) a religious person isn't necessarily devoted to their fellow man... but to be fair there does seem to be a higher percentage among the religious... oh well, thoughts for another blog post. Sometimes the hardest part of blogging is actually stopping short of creating a incomprehensible mess, though it is fun to write at least. Anyway as much sense as this paragraph makes let's move on to a few random musings.... or not, I'm tired and will save that for another day. So in conclusion, always remember to pack a towel.

2007-01-13T03:19:00.000-08:00

Ah first post of the new year, actually had a couple of entries on in the draft stages but unfortunately an inappropriately timed reload click erased any trace of written wordyness - it's a word look it up. So after much procrastination finally getting around to retyping a particularly good entry (at least in my humble and oft irrelevant opinion), so without further ado feel free to scroll a bit down, and read the newest post - Faith.

Faith, it can mean almost anything to anyone. everyone has their interpretations - mostly in terms of religion though to be clear (and sound smarterer) as Websters defines it:

Faith: 3 : something that is believed especially with strong conviction; especially : a system of religious beliefs

Though for the purpose of this post, let's look one of the other definitions 1 a : allegiance to duty or a person [] (2) complete trust. That is to say the faith that we put in others, a belief in the heart of humankind if you will.
I'm not sure why but I think the idea of having faith in humanity is a bit overshadowed by religion... probably better marketing. It just seems to me that having faith in a religion tends to be a lot easier, for example: would someone find it easier to put faith in an all powerful Deity of whom one will never expect any accounting for action or inaction as their will is unknowable and therefore infallible. Conversely can one put faith in the fallible, downtrodden often selfish and usually ignorant fellow mortals that populate this small planet in such great numbers?

I can only speak for myself, and my response would be that placing my faith in religion is a lot easier than putting my faith in my fellow man (and woman... heck, guinea pigs as well). Of course the level of faith I'm considering here is at the level of devotion... sure it's easy to say "hey man I have faith you'll return my CD's later", but can one find it easy to take humanity as a whole and proclaim faith that as a race, no as a species we will be able to make the best of the world given to us?
One only has to turn on news or if your old skool a newspaper, to glimpse the world's problems; disparity between rich and poor, pollution, senseless wars, genocide, racial hatred spanning generation and reality TV. If your faith is in a higher power, one could possibly chalk it all up to 'god's will' or something, though for faith in humanity it gets a little difficult... because we know ordinary people just like us are behind the decisions affecting the world and instead of seeing ourselves in others we try to separate 'us' from 'them'. To make a distinction about people just to put ourselves on a higher level only serves to illustrate how truly unworthy we are to claim superiority. Of course we do it all the time, it is an almost subconscious trait... even America bashing (though extremely popular and fun) only serves to undermine the faith one can put in their fellow man (I'm using 'man' as inclusive to all genders/trans genders... so there!).
Hmm, I guess what it really boils down to is my new interpretation of faith and how I perceive it now. While I have nothing but the utmost respect for people who devote their faith to religion, I reserve my admiration for those who can devote their faith to the ordinary and weak humanity. As for myself, currently have yet to find my faith in either... though I'm looking and hoping for the strength to put my faith in the latter.

2006-12-08T02:00:00.000-08:00

Bootwhistle

White fire truck?... the thought foggily ran through my frost addled brain. Upon a recent trip to Edmonton (which gets really, really cold during winter) I was out doing errands when the sight of a white fire truck driving by stopped me in my tracks. Of course my first consideration was that I had just confused the whiteness of the truck with all the snow on the ground, but several blinks confirmed that there was indeed a white fire truck driving past me. Aside from briefly imagining that maybe it was the secret stealth fire crew that needed to catch fires unawares ... I really was unsure of what to think of a friggin white fire truck... in the middle of winter in a city covered with over a foot of very white snow!!!

Now the above little story really has no point other than to illustrate the confusion that this world seems to offer. Rational reasons for man made constructs are many but sometimes the practicality of them escapes most people. One can easily imagine over rationalization as being just as dangerous as someone being completely without reason (cough [insert name of disgraced public figure here] cough). The real issue I want to bring up is the balance between the illogically stupid and the intelligently practical... hmm that's a bit too much of a wordy way to put it - how about the balance between imagination and realism? (meh, still not quite right but it'll do) .
Perhaps to put it simply, the difference between how a child and an adult may see things. Children may look at a white fire truck and consider it special, even create a background story with the truck being ridiculed by the other red and yellow trucks... hmm, this sounds oddly racist so let's try something else (well at least I didn't mention the black trucks - I know this is very bad).
Or maybe a quote from ol' Albie Einstein would be more appropriate:

"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."

Now I wouldn't consider everything is a miracle (a flushing toilet is a flushing toilet) but seeing everything as practical and mundane isn't too healthy either. So getting back to the main point - it's all about finding the balance, being able to see the miracles of living and knowing when your watching parlor tricks. Though I would contend with there is usually a third way to live ones life... and that is to be so devoid of consciousness that miracle or not - one doesn't see anything. I'm sure almost everyone has experience it, that zombie like state where one just exists for whatever task has to be done - be it at work, home or someplace inbetween. I guess it could just be referred to as apathy, a state in which one no longer cares about anything but plugs along like a good peon of their society/whatever social structure you believe in.
We often get caught up in our day to day routines that seeing anything beyond it gets to be impossible, so next time your at work/home/space just take a look around you - how you see the world is your own business, just so long as you see it. So if you ever get the chance to see a white fire truck driving through a snow covered landscape... find your own reaction to it, little things like that can make your day a bit more interesting.

2006-11-14T02:07:00.000-08:00

Bootwhistle
It's the end of the world as we know it! Though that can really apply to any given moment in time since essentially every passing moment means the end of the known world and a start of a different one.... too much I know, just thought a little philosphical gibberish would be fun.
So anyway, something is fast approaching as evidenced by the increasing frequancy of jolly jingles on the radio and the appearance of related lights, trees, banners, fat guys in suits (no, not a cosplay convention), it's Christmas. Already one can sense that tension in the air... the stores become busier, the people more frantic, the roads more icy... hmm, ok that just because we live in Canada, but my point is that though the Christmas season is supposed to filled with good will toward humanity, consumerism takes an equal if not more important part.
But for all it's faults Christmas is still a great time of year, and as long as some people can find some joy to spread, I think that makes up for all the 'side effects' of the Christmas season. Though for this year I'm going to at least try to get involved in some volunteering effort, since there's only so much one can take before they have to give back... I guess, haven't really taken that much so not sure what the actual limit is, and I think it would be rather fun to find out. - Oh well, maybe after Christmas.

2006-11-08T23:48:00.000-08:00

Bootwhistle
As always, time seems to be passing by just a bit too quickly, since the last post Ralph Klein told a very dirty joke about Belinda Stronach, the Democrats gained majority in the house of representatives (though more from inaptitude of the Republicans than any real work on their part) , and someone invented a car that is powered by bat guano... still have to verify that last one. So the topic for today's post will actually be more of a continuation of the previous one. Where I made comment as to the nature of environment in Calgary, seems that I was completely wrong. Calgary isn't alone in this new self serving environment, seems like all of Alberta has been caught up in it. A recent visit to my hometown of Edmonton brought about the realization that maybe Calgary isn't the source for all the pricks in the world as I've previously believed, a lot seems to have changed in just a couple of years. People in general seem more in rush to get ... wherever the hell the have to get to, though one can only hope it really is important (though I have been told hair emergencies do count).

So I can't just pin my observations of people squarely on Calgary (damn, back to the drawing board) seems like it's a universal condition. The hard part now is deciding whether or not the way people act is something new if one just has had the opportunity to recognize it. Meh, that's for people smarter than me to decide, all I know is that the world is full of self righteous pricks, and you can't escape them where ever you go. Wonder how that moon colonization plan is going?

2006-09-10T03:01:00.000-07:00

Bootwhistle
Well, seems like a lot in the world is just a keeping on keep'en on... not much I can say that would be worthy of comment especially in current state. Actually have had very little opportunity to read/watch news or any other informative program. So pretty much out of the current loup, so I thought I'd take an opportunity to blog about the current environment in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. As a current Calgarian I've come to notice quite a few things about this city... firstly every native Calgarian seems to give this undefinable aura of arrogance and self importance. I'm not sure how they manage it but if you meet anyone in Calgary that isn't horrible self involved they must either be tourists or too new to the city to have picked up any bad habits. Actually that is another thing that boggles my mind concerning Calgary... why on earth would tourists be coming here? Honestly there really isn't anything very relevant to see in Calgary itself, maybe if you went to Banff or Jasper. Anyway I digress (I'm not even sure what that means), Calgary is a city full of people going somewhere... it may not be anywhere important but they have to get there in a hurry and damn any unconcious homeless guy the pass on the way. Yeah, that pretty much sums up the Calgary environment.

2006-08-26T11:16:00.000-07:00

Bootwhistle
I've been quite busy working two jobs so haven't had much time to do much of anything besides sleep. Finally got some free time and decided to take a look at my blog and see if I had the energy to create a new post... to my surprise I found an entry I couldn't remember writing (see previous post).
Though I think I can piece together what I was trying to blog about - pretty sure at least (and no I'm not currently drunk). Anyway putting aside the effects alchohol has on mind and body, let's all move on to the original idea behind that particular post. Oh and in case anyone gets the wrong idea that was my first night drinking anything stronger than coffee in about 4 months.
So anyway about the service industry, which basically includes servers (waiters/waitresses), bartenders and at the lower end of the spectrum cooks (of which I'm a current member). I honestly believe that the most interesting people are found in the service industry, although my definition of interesting is very wide indeed. Aside from the part timers composed mostly of students, at the core of the service industry are the odd, disgruntled, and just plain insane (in a good way). For in truth no one really wants to be part of an industry that looks after regular idiots day in and day out - believe me normal people are mostly idoits. So our industry tends to attract or 'catch' the people who are a little different, still intelligent and mostly coherent but with their own quirks or circumstances that made them choose a different path than is considered "normal".
This is where my drunken brain was trying to go in the last post, since at that time I went out to drink with said industry people and met serveral characters of note, so of course thought that it was a wonderful meeting such interesting people (though that may have been an effect of the alchohol). Actually have something else more important to post later on, but unfortunately time runs short, and don't feel like editing this post or saving it to do later. (Welcome to the Night Shift)

2006-08-20T04:46:00.000-07:00

Greeetings, at the time of this post, I am quite quite drunk, it is only through a perserverance of quality and spell checker that words be formed in recognizable form.
Was thinken for a while what to post but really nothing came to mind. but due to current state of mind alteredness, feel that there are more stuff to said be. For instance the "industry" which referes to the coalition of peoples making up the service industry - which would sinculde servers, bartenders, cooks, ect. I' ve worked on and off in the industry for a few years and it's interesting to note the certain trends or composition of people working in the "industry".
maake more later tired, and only one eye will focus, one last note, I hate you all.

2006-08-11T00:16:00.000-07:00

The forgotten...

Been catching up on some old news and came across some extraordinary events in Cuba... hmm, well, maybe not in the same league as Lebanon and Iraq but interesting in it's own right. So anyway, seems that Castro had surgery and decided to turn over his authority to his brother Raul (every time I think of "all hail Raul" I can't help but laugh... but that's beside the point), so seems that this unprecedented event was to be followed by mass uprisings of the Cuban people, democracy flowing through the streets like an off season flood, and apparently a US invasion? The last part seemed particularly ridiculous, I mean it's not as if Cuba has any oil or anything, and I doubt that Bush is a cigar smoker (though his predecessor apparently loved them... a lot).
In the end, nothing really happened - Castro had surgery, recovered and if the news I read was semi-accurate, people just went about their daily lives. ... but I still can't get over the fact that people were actually expecting a US invasion to take advantage of Castro's surgery - maybe after having US attention for so long Cuba is getting a bit jealous of Iraq... okay, that last sentence was stupid enough to be insulting so best to ignore it (I could have deleted it, but really who has time delete things nowadays).
Anyway from what I gather, Cuba isn't doing too badly in comparison to other Latin American countries, it does seem that inspite of being under a dictatorship Cuba is stable and progressive in education and medical needs. However, one has to wonder what will happen once Castro's reign ends? Will Cuba fall into chaos akin to what happened to Yugoslavia once Tito died?
Ah well, one can only ponder so many crises at once, and I think at least for now Iraq and Lebanon have the unfortunate honor of taking centre stage.

2006-08-09T00:22:00.000-07:00

The not so recent events in Lebanon are something I've been avoiding talking/thinking/looking and most relevantly blogging about. One reason being that I doubt any one person could do either side in this conflict justice, when there is more than enough hatred and death to last generations how can one have the arrogance to claim moral superiority?

I know people of both Israeli and Lebanese decent, and all are good people, they're ... well, just normal average people. As expected everyone is disgusted by the violence in the middle east, and again as expected each person rationalizes their side of the conflict. I could try arguing for or against one side, highlight media bias, or even provide a time line of events and cross reference to international events while drawing parallel's to instigations of certain superpowers... but in all honesty it isn't necessary. People with open minds and a little curiousity can easily find most information on their own and if they have any intelligence are already taking any broadcast news as less reliable than anything on the cartoon network (and probably a lot less interesting).

So where does that leave the purpose of this post my opinion on the conflict?
In all likley hood no where... about the only thing I can be definate about is Lebanon needs a strong spiritual leader, their own Ghandi if you will. A movement to non-violent resistance is needed, although realistically all but impossible, since any leader would undoubtly be targeted by both Israel and militant factions in Lebanon. Actually I think the best solution would be to send a 5 year old to the negotiation table and have her explain in the simple and honest terms why they should stop fighting. (well not really but it did seem like a cute idea)

2006-07-24T23:58:00.000-07:00

*sigh* I've been trying to keep to a weekly blog schedule but unfortunately work and tv watching have been taking a priority... well that and the fact my computer is still out of comission - actually interesting story...(cue wavy flashback sequence)

It all started a few months ago when I moved from Victoria BC, to Calgary... I decided to ship most of my stuff including my computer via UPS as they had pick up service (actually that involves another story, but another time). So first few packages arrive in Calgary no problem. Then I had to leave town for a while and since UPS doesn't deliver outside buisness hours no one was at home to accept deliveries, thus it happened that UPS decided to ship my computer, monitor, and box filled with financial and personal papers back to Victoria.
So when I got back, had to call the UPS customer service and get the packages returned, also instructed them to HOLD the packages at the shipping centre so I could pick them up instead of always missing the delivery guy (the temptation to use dude was high - MadTV reference). Well guess what UPS did? The packages were held for one day and then shipped back to Victoria again! So called them and asked them to return it... again, and instructed them to hold it and contact me once my boxes arrive... again.
A few days pass and I manage to get my computer, but somehow the monitor and other box got seperated and for some reason being shipped to 'overgoods' which is the UPS lost and found of sorts. Now at this point I think most people would be screaming bloody murder at any UPS employee, but unfortunately for me it isn't very easy to get me angry... so I just thought 'okay, they know where the boxes are, I'll get it in a few days... no worries'. Boy was I wrong... my packages get back to Calgary and then the same $%^ing day UPS sends the packages back to Victoria!!!! After that they tell me the packages are lost... and UPS has a policy against compensation for personal goods shipped... I actually feel sorry for the lady who answered my call to UPS that day, because the damn burst and any and all rage was probably transmitted pretty clearly over the phone line. I think my whole ranting rage went on for a good 45 minutes covering her and then her manager, who didn't do a damn thing either except repeat the UPS policy. She also had the nerve to suggest buying a new monitor when I complained that I couldn't use my computer without the one UPS lost... that probably lengthened my tirade by a good 15 minutes.
Anywhoo, UPS actually found my box containing my financial info... but my moniter is still gone - and that is why it has been hard to update my blog on a weekly basis, thank you and good night. Also boycott UPS as they are an incompetant organization (well at least the Calgary shipping centre is).

2006-07-04T07:45:00.000-07:00

Bootwhistle
Oops, took a bit longer than I tought to blog again, oh well.
Recently during the Canada day celebrations in Ottawa, some youths (or yoo'ts) were photographed urinating on a war memorial, one of the pictures made the front page of the Ottawa Citizen. Needless to say veteran groups were outraged by this, and rightly so - then began the complaints about the 'disrepectful youths', 'decaying values' ect. ect. Thus the only apparent solution was to for veteran groups to demand a full time police presance at the memorial... sigh. I wasn't sure whether to be amused or saddened by that, it's funny since law enforcment is highly unlikly to have the budget and manpower to act as full time security guards, and it's sad because a more reasonable and mutually benifical solution would be to simply educate the newer generation about the significance of WWII and the surviving veterans. Why hasn't it occured to anyone that perhaps having more veterans visit schools to tell their stories would be far more effective than posting guards?
Unfortunately it seems that education is often overlooked in favour of more short term and in the end detrimental solutions. Meh, what do I care, it's not like I fought in WWII...