More Serotonin Please

I Have A Shirt That Says This!

2007-06-01T20:20:00.001-04:00

You Learn Something New And Depressing Every Day

Hey, did you know that more than 14 million African children have been orphaned because of AIDS? Fourteen million.

Finally! A Useful Government Agency.

2007-05-14T13:35:00.001-04:00

Dept. Of Evil: 'All Of You Must Die'

WASHINGTON, DC-The department warned that all necks would feel the steely bite of its soul-thirsty axe as soon as funding is approved.

Skinny Puppy Breaks The Rules

2007-05-03T22:27:00.000-04:00

A Short Story

2007-04-30T20:40:00.000-04:00

THE DAY THE SILENCE WAS BROKEN

by Me.

The silence was broken one day. The reasonable temperament of the grand old lady had drastically changed from that of mild indifference to raging fury. The gentle silence that she was once known for had been replaced by belching, burning, scorching fury of the elements.

Mother Earth had sat quietly for most of her life. Occasionally, her inhabitants felt her presence, however, these changes in mood were, typically, predictable but nonetheless powerful and destructive. Within the span of a few human years, or a maybe just a few minutes to Mother Earth, her mood changed from reasonably tolerant to resentfully heated. The fury she had tried to contain had finally been unleashed through Earth shaking bowel movements, gusts of indigestion and rainstorms of feverish sweat.

These changes did not go unnoticed by her human inhabitants. The alpha-males of society formed committees, workgroups, organizations, lobby groups, activist organizations, political parties, and so on and so on to discuss Mother Earth’s change in mood. All opinions were shared and all ideas discussed. But, these meetings failed to garner Mother Earth’s approval. She showed her contempt by drowning cities of her inhabitants in pools of loath.

One nation said, “We have to stop wasting what Mother Earth has given us.”
Another nation said, “We have to balance need with waste.”
The activists said, “We have to stop raping Mother Earth. She hates us for abusing, stealing and infecting her.”
A third nation said, “She gave us everything to make our lives better. To not use what she has given us, will upset her more.”
A fourth nation said, “Every story has an end in the future. Our future is now.”
Quietly in the corner a voice made a tearful plea. “We are the world’s poor. Please just save us from her wrath.”

All of these meetings were not for nothing.
Action plans. Accords. Protocols.
They were all developed to appease Mother Earth. New machines were created. The humans changed every light bulb in their houses and kept building. The humans applauded their evolution and progress, believing that this would please Mother Earth and gain her favour.

For a few human years, Mother Earth went back to being silent. The stillness could be felt, the silence could be heard and her hate no longer noticed. This, however, did not give the humans a sense of comfort. They could hear the Moon and Sun whispering. What exactly they said they were unsure, but they knew for certain it was about Mother Earth. Soon, the Sun and Moon grew quiet. It wasn’t long before the Sun appeared to visit less frequently. Seasons changed. Days grew longer. The Moon would continue to visit everyday even while the sun was still present. Mother Earth was waking. She was spinning faster and then slower on her axis. She had become suicidal and no longer kept a constant distance from, the much more powerful, sun. Yet, to the humans she did not speak. The humans grew scared. If Mother Earth was not well, they would soon become ill themselves.

Finally, Mother Earth broke her silence and began to terrorize her human inhabitants. She would erupt volcanoes with a rage never before seen by her guests. The land would rumble under her anger as she shook the ground. Glaciers would break apart and melt as her temperature rose.

The humans grew angry with Mother Earth and took to the streets and screamed for a reason, an answer. “Why are you doing this to us Mother Earth? We have tried to make you happy. What is there left for us to do?”
These questions were met with an answer. Mother Earth shook violently and all of the humans went silent. Slowly, a mild and calming voice was heard resonating from Mother Earth’s core. “Humans. My friends.” she began.
Nowhere on her surface could her voice not be heard.
She continued, “I am not angry with you my friends.”
The humans were quick to counter, “Then why do you kill, torment and ruin our lives!”
“Simple beings,” she continued with her soothing motherly voice. “Simple beings. I am not doing these things on purpose. I cannot control what is happening. Much like your bodies, I have a means for curing my illness. My body is just doing what is necessary to heal me.”
To this the humans breathed a sigh of relief, now knowing that she was not trying to kill them and that there was hope to stop all of this hell on Earth.
The scientists around the world spoke together in unison, “We are scientists and we have made great progress in the ways of chemistry, physics and biology. We are sure we can assist in curing your disease. What is it that plagues you?”
Mother Earth spoke once more for a final time, “You. You are my plague. Humans are a parasite in my blood. I have an illness called humans and my body is killing you off. I have developed a fever that will only get more intense until you are all dead. I’m sorry, but it is either you or I.”

Correction!

2007-04-16T20:22:00.000-04:00

I was informed by my friend Ian that the Prodigy album I had mentioned last week is not The Prodigy, but the rapper Prodigy! I guess I'm not the only person fouled as Amazon, and various other reliable music sites made the same mistake. So there is some hope that The Prodigy can put out a good album.

Stupid rappers!

Anyway, I blame Ian! If he would get off of his harem once in a while and read my blog more regularly this never would've happened!

Last Vonnegut Thing...

2007-04-16T20:09:00.000-04:00

...I promise. My wife found this and I thought it was well done. I know a lot of you out there really liked Vonnegut as well.

For The Women Out There...

2007-04-16T20:07:00.000-04:00

You Have HPV

2007-04-16T13:32:00.000-04:00

Study: You Have HPV

ATLANTA—The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released updated human papillomavirus infection rate statistics Tuesday, which...

Ode to Kurt Vonnegut

2007-04-13T08:54:00.000-04:00

If you've ever read Kurt Vonnegut before, you'll know this Onion piece is an accurate tribute.

So it goes.

Kurt Vonnegut Dead

Kurt Vonnegut, author of The Sirens of Titan and Slaughterhouse-Five, died late Wednesday evening of head injuries sustained in a fall...

It's a sad day.

2007-04-12T11:26:00.000-04:00

Today, one of my heroes has died. Kurt Vonnegut has died at the age of 84. He wrote some of the best books in modern history and was a briliant satirist and humanist. It has been a while since he last wrote a book of fiction, but his passing makes me miss him even more. I'm very sad today!
I will miss you Kurt. Your works have affected me profoundly.

R.I.P. Kurt Vonnegut November 11, 1922 - April 12, 2007

Don't Blink Or You Might Miss It!

2007-04-11T20:49:00.000-04:00

Do you feel like you have a sixth sense about some things? Like you know the answer to a question before the question was even asked. This sixth sense of yours is specific too. It doesn't apply to everything. I have this skill when it come to music and people. I can hear a song and almost instantly I have an idea as to: whether I will like the song, whether the song will have that lasting appeal that really good songs have, or will the song be a flash in the pan for a few months. I also have this skill with people. I've been told on many occasions that I have an excellent read on people's personality, by just looking at them or meeting them with a quick two second hand shake.

Why do I bring this up now? Well I'm reading Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. This book was recommended to my by my friend Steve in, the new center of the universe, Calgary. He recommended it a few months ago, maybe even a year ago, but I only just received it as a gift at Christmas, along with Malcolm Gladwell's other book The Tipping Point. I'm not quite finished Blink, but I'm about 70% through the book and find it completely fascinating. The whole premise about the book is about how your mind works in a split second to give you a gut reaction. This gut reaction is based, a lot, on your experiences and knowledge, even though its a completely subconscious action. We have no idea how our mind does it and when asked why we have such a feeling, we can't explain it in tangible, valid terms.

A lot of people would like to say this have this ability with almost any subject, but that's just their ego speaking. I love when dense people think they can read people really well, yet they are constantly shocked by the treatment they receive at these other people's hands or are taken advantage of by these people. I'll admit it, sometimes I do misjudge someone, but that is few and far between for me. Just like the book states, I don't know how my brain decides this, but I can make these judgments. I will look at someone and I can tell whether the person is genuine, a phony, egotistical, etc. Now that may not so impressive, but nobody is really that one-dimensional. My ability goes beyond that simple layer of a personality, but I can get tell if the person is really egotistical, but a nice guy at heart, or a guy that comes across as genuine but will stab you in the back. I know what buttons to push with some to get them all riled up, just by looking at them. Are they a bible-thumper? Politcal? Self-conscious? etc.

It's really hard to explain this in text and without you having experienced this skill of mine, but trust me I have it. My brother-in-law was one of the latest to compliment me on this skill. We met someone a while back and I told him, "This girl is a bitch and has no respect for you or anyone else. She has an huge ego and doesn't like to be contradicted." He disagreed with my until he was blue in the face saying, "no she's really nice and down to earth. You don't work with her like I do, I see the real insert name here." A few months pass and she did everything I predicted.

I suggest you go and read Blink to get a better understanding of what I'm talking about here. In the meantime I will start my own business offering my services to would-be brides and grooms judging their potential partners. I see big bucks in this!

Pandatrocity!

2007-04-10T19:37:00.001-04:00

Controversy In Captivity

Oh! BTW.

2007-04-09T17:23:00.000-04:00

Just in case you haven't noticed, I've upgraded my blogger to the latest and greatest version. One of the new features I've added to this blog is the video reel you can place on your blog. I've placed a video reel at the very bottom oh my blog, you have to scroll to the very bottom of this page to see it. It's titled Dream Girl, because the video reel I've added is of the And One video for their song Traumfrau (ger. Dream Girl). I plan on updating this video reel once in a while, if I find something new and exciting on YouTube. Hope you find them entertaining.

ARGH! WTF?

2007-04-09T17:12:00.000-04:00

This is for real! The Prodigy have released their 5th studio album and it's absolute SHIT! WTF! What on earth was Liam thinking doing a Rap/Hip-Hop album? I could understand he wanted to help out a buddy and do the music for his album, but at least change the name of the artist. Don't leave it under the Prodigy!!!!

Thank God for iTunes is all I have to say. I was so excited to see a new Prodigy album up for sale on Amazon that I went to iTunes to do a quick preview of the songs. Let me just say it is extremely unfortunate that I didn't have a camera on my face when I heard the first song and then skipped to the second song and realized the first wasn't a joke.

I have not listen to the whole album, so don't consider this a review, but if you hate rap and hip-hop like myself and like the various sounds the Prodigy has had over the years then this album is NOT for you or me.

ARGH! WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY?

Chad Vader

2007-04-05T22:55:00.000-04:00

Okay people, here is something new and interesting. This has become a fun way for me to kill my days in the office. My wife was the one who told me about this show and she in turn heard about it from a friend. The show is about Chad Vader, a grocery store manager, who just so happens to be dressed and acts like Darth Vader. It's really corny, but actually very amusing. This is either some kind of film school project or just a project a bunch of bored guys decided to put together. Trust me, you'll get hooked and will be waiting anxiously for Episode 8. God bless YouTube! I've linked them all below to save you the effort of having to do the searches. Enjoy!

Episode 1

Episode 2

Episode 3

Episode 4

Episode 5

Episode 6

Episode 7

Movies My Rock

2007-03-28T20:53:00.000-04:00

So I did music, now it's movie time.

A movie I'd been dying to see for quite some time was Water. This movie is done by phenomenal filmmaker Deepa Mehta. She really has a gift for capturing the time and emotion of past events. Water revolves around a house in 1930 India where widows end up spending the rest of their lives after their husband dies. The twist on this seemingly innocent ideal is that most of these women have lived here all their lives as they were married young and became widows at young ages such as eight or nine. The movie starts with a young girl being placed in this home by her father as she has just become a widow. The movie captures the emotion and turmoil these women had to live through while delving into the issues such as love and religion. The movie sparked outrage in India and Deepa Mehta had to move filming of this movie to Sri Lanka to escape Hindu extremists opposed to this film. I think the movie is captivating, engaging, passionate and extremely well done. I would recommend this movie to anyone and strongly suggest you all see it. *****

The next movie I want to quickly mention is Walmart - The High Cost of Low Prices.
This films is a scathing documentary on the business practices of the worlds largest store chain. I was already somewhat aware of how Mao-Mart operated and and tried to limit my purchases at this store to just regular items like toiletries and other generic products. I did my best to avoid buying any clothing products from them, as I didn't want to support their Chinese slave labour. After watching this movie I've decided I will have nothing to do with this store ever again. Even my wife has joined me and together we will avoid Wal-Mart. Of course this documentary was put together by far left winged activists; however, they have not been sued, thus the content must be true and accurate. The movie simply made me disgusted with capitalism and even myself for having supported them in even the slightest. I'm not suggesting that you should follow my lead and avoid Wal-Mart as that is your own decision. However, I think if you watch this movie you will find it hard to continue shopping there. Everyone's financial picture is different and Wal-Mart does provide some relief to certain segments of society. I would like to see Wal-Mart and all of it's beliefs disappear from society forever. This will probably never happen, but I will at least be able to hold my head high and say I didn't and don't support them.

If you watch this movie and begin to debate making the same decision as myself here are a few things to consider:
1) Other more reputable stores have SALES! Buy from them when sales are on and you'd be surprised to find that Wal-Mart's prices aren't that remarkable.
2) Is saving $10 on a $100 bill really worth supporting what this company stands for? Most of us out there are middle income professional people. We can afford the $10 to not enslave and punish the third world.

Music My Rock

2007-03-28T20:32:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since I did some music reviews so I thought I would do a handful of albums I picked up recently. Hope this helps you realize the radio sucks!

Let's start with k-Os. I recently got all three of his albums as gifts from my wife and let me say on the record, "this guy is amazing!" He is genuinely talented, and writes beautiful songs. If you're unfamiliar with him he's a "rapper" from Pickering, ON and he completely redeems Canadian music. I placed rapper in quotes, because honestly I don't see him as a rapper. His songs are a blend of rap, reggae, rock, soul and funk. He does everything and he does it well. If you are looking for something a little different, yet funky enough to make you move and have some fun k-Os is your man. He has three albums out, as I mentioned earlier: Exit, Joyful Rebellion, and Atlantis:Hymns for Disco. I strongly recommend giving him a try. Download the following for a trial: Sunday Morning, Flypaper, Crabbuckit, the Love Song and Man I Used To Be.

Next on the list is my favourite band of all times, Skinny Puppy. They are the band that really evolved industrial music into what it is today. After the heroin overdose of a member about a decade ago the band called it quits and they all tried to fix their drug problems and try out new musical project. However, about two or three years ago, the two remaining members got back together to release The Greater Wrong of the Right. It's now a few years later and they have followed up with their second album since reforming, Mythmaker. It's hard to review and album like this, since Skinny Puppy will always have that distinctive sound from the '80s and early '90s. The best way to approach their new work is to try and forget their old sound and embrace their new stuff and NEW. The computers and electronics are more modern and their sound lacks the angst ridden aggression they used to have, I guess we all get older. Mythmaker is really a good follow up to The Greater Wrong of the Right. The album has a similar sound, but sounds more evolved, almost like they are re-learning what they can do together. It's a step forward from The Greater Wrong of the Right, but it's certainly not Too Dark Park or ViVisectVI. If you are a Skinny Puppy fan I suggest getting the album. I think you'll be pleased, but you won't be blown away. If you want to discover Skinny Puppy I strongly suggest picking up Too Dark Park, in my opinion the greatest album ever created.

Le Clos Jordanne

2007-03-27T20:23:00.000-04:00

Let me start off by saying...WOW! LIKE REALLY WOW!

My wife and I were blown away this wine. The wine is Le Clos Jordanne Pinot Noir by Le Clos Jordanne vineyard. This was their second from the top Pinot. Priced at $30, it's not a steal, but it's not overly pricey.

Oh did I fail to mention that this is an Ontario wine. YES! ONTARIO MADE THIS BEAUTY.

So how did I try this? Well here is the story:
I had read in an article from Vines Magazine that, renowned British wine critic, Janice Robinson recently came to Canada to promote her latest book and was given around 70 Canadian wines to sample and review. Out of those 70 only 17 got stellar reviews. Surprise surprise! Luckily for me, I have about 3 of those 17 in my cellar! Great minds and tongues think alike. Anyways, back to the story. She had mentioned that this wine, as well as the $60 flagship Pinot from the vineyard, were remarkable.
Shortly after reading this, Vintages magazine appeared in my mailbox and in the March 3rd release was this wine. Unfortunately, I didn't place an order for this wine, but luckily for me I know the people who work at the LCBO. My buddy was able to steal a bottle from the only order in the store of 6 wines. Somebody only got 5 bottles instead of 6 MUWHAHAH!

You have to have connections!

In any event, I was trying to be optimistic and thought Janice Robinson has no reason to laud this wine, so it must be good. Yet, my fear of Ontario wines was not far from my thoughts.

So finally we had the wine with a roasted chicken and risotto dinner. The wine quite honestly blew us away. Maybe because we had such low expectations, but also it is a genuinely great wine. The Pinot had everything you could want from a Pinot. Aromas of cherry, silky smooth, barely any tannins, low acidity and a firm long finish. I honestly thought I was drinking a New Zealand Pinot. It is definitely not in the style of a Burgundy, but I think that has more to do with terroir than wine making style.

I was so impressed with this wine, and wanted any reason at all to give Ontario wine a chance, I immediately searched the LCBO database for more of this wine. Too bad for all of us, this wine is long gone. Sold out in no time at all. I guess we all caught on.

My passion for this wine did not end there. I had to learn more about this vineyard and why it was so successful. Upon reading many articles, I discovered that the wine maker is a very skilled and experienced man. Trained in Beaune, France and did work terms in Burgundy, and Oregon. Both make exceptional Pinot. One thing that really got my attention was his passion for wine, not Ontario. His reason for leaving France and Oregon for Ontario was not some stupid idealistic nationalism, but his belief in the terroir of the Niagara Peninsula. The wine maker, Thomas Bachelder, also holds the same opinion as myself that Ontario vineyards are growing the wrong grapes and too many of them. He believes that the Niagara climate can only accommodate three grapes: Riesling, Chardonnay, and my beloved Pinot Noir. Another major reason why Le Clos Jordanne made such a great wine is the important principle of low-yield wines. When you make wines from low yields you create a wine from only the best grapes, not semi-ripe or rotten grapes.

I am so impressed by this wine, that I had to think long and hard about bringing it to everyone's attention, but Ontario wine needs a real kick in the pants and this wine may just do it. If those nationalistic people out there realize the quality wine that can come from Ontario and realize that what they've been drinking is shit, maybe the market will start to demand better quality. Ontario wines have a very special market. Most of their drinkers don't know a whole heck of a lot about wine and just want to support the local economy. Rarely, does the Ontario wine maker have a hard time selling wine, because of a loyal fan base. But, at the same time, expectations are low; thus, the success of selling an Ontario Cabernet Sauvignon or Syrah (not cold climate grapes).

I'll conclude with two things:

1) A link to a very interesting interview with Thomas Bachelder done by Tony Aspler.
and
2) I will be lining up to place an order for next years release of this Pinot. Here's hoping for a good year!

How to Catch the Big One!?

2007-03-27T19:46:00.000-04:00

"Hmm! No roadkill? Must be my B.O."

Ya so, I think I've mentioned Fredneck before. Well here he is in action, lowering my land value.
My wife named this redneck neighbour of ours, Fred, Fredneck. You can't tell me that isn't a perfect name.

If Fredneck isn't fishing for roadkill on our street he busy setting up an aviary for decoy geese on his front lawn.

I love having a neighbour like Fredneck. If it wasn't for Fredneck I'd be making a huge profit on the potential sale of my house, but due to his concern for my well being he is able to ensure my house value never exceeds the purchase price. What a pal!

Sure, this photo looks like a guy just testing out his new fishing line, but trust me it's not that innocent. This is Fredneck. Innocence means nothing in his world. He is just an idiot, plain and simple.

Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me later on, since my wife informed me he was still fishing on the road, but was also deep into a conversation on his cell phone. Yes, this wasn't one or two test casts. He was out there for a good half hour.

Welcome to my street.

North American News Is Really For Idiots!

2007-03-21T21:42:00.000-04:00

I had to write this after seeing one of those thirty second news updates to get you to watch the news at eleven. On CTV, Lloyd Robertson came on and said, roughly, "The death of an Alberta woman is raising questions about buying prescription drugs online. What you need to know?"

Umm. How about DON'T!

This is why I only watch the BBC! No moronic special reports about the guy down the street's spoiled brat kid who really really wants to play in the NHL.

First Day Of Spring

2007-03-21T20:20:00.001-04:00

Yes, I know. I took a long break. Really I meant it to only be a week, for the March break, but it extended a few days into this week out of laziness.

So here's a short summary of what's new with me:
1)Joined a gym with my wife -BEEEEEFCAAAAAAKEEEE!
2)Painted our two upstairs bathrooms
3)Watched a few movies - I'll discuss those shortly.
4)Wife's birthday yesterday

So that's a quick run down of what you've missed in my life.

Today is the first day of spring so I decided it was a good a time as any to start writing again.

So this quick post is about a short article I read recently. I had recently finished reading Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk and was not ready to start full-on into another novel so I picked up Tom Robbins' Wild Ducks Flying Backwards. This book is a fairly lengthy compilation of short stories, articles, lyrics, poems and other miscellaneous stuff he's written over his career. The article I decided to read - to kill some time until I started my next novel - was an essay he wrote tackling the topic of what is art? and what is politics?

I searched the web for ever trying to find a link to the essay, but it appears you can only find it in the aforementioned book. So here is the title in case you wish to search yourself: What Is Art and If We Know What Art Is, What Is Politics? In this essay Tom's main point is that art is first and foremost about the aesthetics, not the politics. This applies to music, visual art and movies. He is basically challenging the opinion that the politics makes the piece important and the aesthetics are secondary. I have always disagreed with this point as my views are very much inline with those of Tom's, in this essay. Tom's main point is that a piece is memorable, because it reaches the viewer, listener with something inexplicable that only passion and appreciation can justify. It's only after this effect does the secondary politics of the piece become more powerful. What Tom was trying to say was that artists create the art first and the art is influenced by the politics of the world around them. When artists create pieces to reflect or are driven by politics it no longer remains art, since the point of the piece is not about aesthetics, but rather the politics. Now this is certain to get many people's hairs on edge and they would drastically disagree. His argument to these people who would bring Picasso's Guernica into the argument, is that Picasso did not create Guernica to be a political message, but rather it was influence by the politics of what Spain and Picasso were dealing with. Picasso did not create Guernica to be a political statement, but rather we - as a society - saw the aesthetic value of this creation, but also saw the underlining pain and horror that influenced the piece. If the aesthetics were not there the piece would be forgotten no matter how important the message was.
In summary, Tom's argument is that should Picasso have created Guernica to be a political statement first and foremost, it would no longer be art, but propaganda. Picasso created a piece of art and it just so happened to be influence by his past, present and the situations present in Spain.

My little summary cannot do justice to the essay written by Mr. Robbins, so I strongly recommend you read the essay for yourself. Even the essay itself will be surrounded with controversy, since anytime you try to tackle the highly contentious issue of "What is art?" you will no doubt step on someone else's - very emotional - opinion.

I'll conclude with another point Tom argues and that is art is functionally useless that's what makes it so important and amazing!

The KLF Is Gonna Rock You!

2007-03-08T20:01:00.000-05:00

As I sit at my trusty iBook, while surfing the web, and sip some luscious Madiera, I decide to do this posting on The KLF.

If you're unfamiliar with The KLF, this post should help educate you. The main reason I write this post is I can tackle two items in one posting. Originally, I had planned to simply talk about the album, The White Room, which I recently bought, but after a discussion with my cousin, Jamie, I decide to cover some other interesting topics.

The KLF is not a recent group, by any means. Truth is The KLF is a late 80s early 90s techno project. Their biggest hit came with the album The White Room. This album had the memorable songs, What Time is Love? and 3 A.M. Eternal. If you were a teenager listening to the music scene during this time you most definitely heard these songs. I loved them when I first heard them; however, never bought the album until this year. Blame it on teenage nostalgia! The truth about most of the music I listen to and this holds true for The KLF as well, is they are usually under appreciated and way ahead of their time. If the KLF would have existed during the mid 90s techno scene of The Progidy, Chemical Brothers and the like they would have been a huge success. Despite their awkward timing, they apparently made a killing financially. When you listen to songs like 3 A.M. Eternal and Last Train To Transcentral you can't help but hear the influence they must have had on bands like Leftfield or Underworld. Like I said they were way ahead of their time.

One interesting revelation I was not aware of was the connection between The Orb and The KLF. My cousin was close, but not precise when saying that one of the two members from The KLF was a founding member of the ambient genius that is The Orb. He had thought that Dr. Alex Paterson was a KLF member, but in actuality he is not, but The KLF member Cauty was the member who joined Alex Paterson to create The Orb, with Youth. In any event, I found this connection quite interesting, since I like to know everything about music.

The one weakness that The KLF had was their vocals. Some songs had great female vocalists and even did a song with country legend Tammy Wynette that was acutally great. The songs that bother me the most are the ones with really crappy 80s rapping. It's hard to ignore the cheesiness of 80s rap. The only good thing about 80s rap is nobody is trying to cap yo' ass!

In any event, if you are a big acid/house techno fan you will want to pick up this album and see where the scene evolved from. CD is cheap at Amazon these days. I should also give some credit in the techno scene to 2Unlimited, even though I hate them.

Always remember, nothing is original. Everything evolved from something else...unless you believe in creationism! =)

Simple Beauty

2007-03-07T09:48:00.000-05:00

New Bike!

2007-03-06T21:58:00.000-05:00

I FINALLY HAVE A RACING BIKE!

I actually bought this bike before my trip to Denver. A local bike shop is having a pre-spring sale and I was able to buy this Norco bike, normally $1200, for $850. WOOHOO! I've been waiting for ages to buy a racing bike. I've always had mountain bikes that I use for leisure or biking to work, but I've always wanted a lean mean racing bike machine. It's far from top of the line, but it will serve its purpose and make me very happy.

As I said before it's not a top of the line bike made from carbon fiber. Those things run close to $5000. Mine is aluminum and is heavier than a carbon fiber, but still lighter than anything I've ever had before. I'm so excited for spring when I can go biking. Plus, for buying during the sale they give you a $50 gift card. I will have to go back and buy the elbow pads and V-neck with it. So if you see a bullet go riding buy...it's probably me! WOOOOHOOOOOO

10 Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead

2007-03-06T21:18:00.000-05:00

So I've been off the map for a while. Laziness isn't really too blame...well not 100% at least.

Last week I was in Denver, Colorado for an work related conference. The Protection Engineers Group, PEG Conference. The conference is an annual event for engineers in North America who are responsible for the protection of communications.

The conference itself was not too bad. Some shit presentations and some interesting and useful ones. To be expected I guess. The conference was not actually in Denver proper, but a suburb called Westminster....where all the rich white people hide. The town was actually very nice with big homes and fancy plazas and a beautiful view of the Rockie Mountains. Denver on the other hand is a hole. I swear it made me think, "a safer, more upscale Detroit". The town has nothing to do in it and really is probably just a hub for people who are going skiing in Vail, Aspen or Breckenridge. My womanizing colleague, Stephane, actually made the trip out to Vail to do some skiing and try to pick up ski bunnies.

So the surroundings were nice and I've posted some photos below, but the real highlight was the conference itself. We all know the stereotypes about engineers: geeky, no style, obsessed with math and science and can't have a normal discussion with people without taking about their jobs. Thankfully, I don't fit that stereotype...or at least I hope not! Well this conference was not a gathering to help dispel this image of engineers. The group gathered had a large majority of freaky engineers. One guy in particular stood out. This guy was probably around 75 or 80, 300lbs or more. Every day this guy would wear the same plaid shirt and it was more than obvious he never showered the whole week. His hair was always a greasy matted mess. To add to his natural sex appeal he had three cell phones and was always surfing the web on his laptop during other peoples' presentations. I found out from some other people that this guy, apparently, has 6 antennas on his car: CB, UHF, VHF, Cellular, CDMA and God knows what the 6th one was. I think my colleague from the West summarized this beast the best, "I bet he gets all the women!"

So that was my week. All in all, it was fun to spend time with my Quebec colleagues and have lots of fun insulting each other. Before I leave you with some pictures of Westminster, Colorado I thought I should give you a little bit of a heads up on the future of Quebec's separation. A lot of the guys from Quebec I was with are separatist. When asked whether they would vote for the Parti Quebecois and their cocaine snorting, homosexual leader, Boisclair, they responded "Are you crazy?"

Canada will remain unified for at least another 4 years!

We Care About Your Vagina!

2007-02-09T18:00:00.000-05:00

If you watch TV, even just a little bit like me, you will have noticed a commercial that is on quite frequently. It's very well done and leaves you with the impression that it is done by the Ontario government or maybe even the federal government. It has that same feeling those West Nile Virus commercials put on by the provincial governments across Canada. The only difference is they are not being put on by the provincial and federal government.

The ad campaign I'm talking about is the genital warts/cervical cancer, Tell Someone ads we've all probably seen too often. At first these commercials were blocked out by my hatred for advertisement, but to their credit it eventually gets your attention with all these women, concerned about every other female's fun parts, saying "Tell someone". So eventually I paid attention and got the message. It wasn't until a few weeks ago I saw on Google News a few new articles regarding how lawmakers in the states are pushing for mandatory vaccination of girls in school with the newly FDA approved vaccine against HPV. If you watch the commercials you know, HPV stands for Human Papilloma Virus.
If you understand anything about politics in the states you know that lawmakers are not looking out for their citizens' best interests, they look after lobbyists'. In this case, a drug company. That company is Merck. One of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world.

So let's add up all the facts:
-Merck develops new vaccine against HPV
-lawmakers in the US lobby for mandatory vaccinations
-New "awareness" campaign in Canada regarding HPV and cervical cancer
-In Canada, drug companies cannot advertise

So, if you were a drug company CEO and you wanted to ensure profits are high next year, and you were faced with this advertising challenge, what would you do?
OH OH OH I KNOW! (Hand raised high in the arm!)
You produce a commercial which brings forward this virus and the potential for cancer. Lobby the government of Canada for mandatory vaccinations, then sit and wait for the public to bash the government for not moving on this issue quickly. About a year passes and the vaccination becomes mandatory and you buy your mistress a new dress with the cash the vaccine's sales generate.

So don't get me wrong here. I'm not against this vaccine. I don't know enough about it myself, but from what I've read in news articles it seems to be very effective. If it really is this great then maybe mandatory vaccinations are a good thing. My issue here is we have advertising laws against drug companies, yet they have found a kind of loophole. They know people are stupid. They know that the majority of the population has a little bit of hypochondriac in them, especially parents. So what do they do? They scare people with this new disease so when any mention of a vaccine or cure is mentioned, the public will pressure the government to make this readily available; thus, drug company has nice sales figures and CEO's mistress gets big new boobs.

How do I think this commercial can be fixed? One simple statement..."This ad/commercial/awareness statement is funded by MERCK!"

At that point they would have done their due diligence of making the public aware that this is a publicity campaign, not a government campaign. Yes, stupid people will still be brainwashed, but that can never be stopped; thus, the success of McDonalds's, Mal-Wart and the likes.

Oh by the way, here is the link to the website, Tell Someone. After selecting your language of preference, if you put your glasses on and bring the screen up to your face, you will see in the bottom left corner of the site this statement:

Brought to you by one of Canada's leading
research-based pharmaceutical companies.
11-07-HPV-06-CDN-84140312-WEB

So Ladies. Take care down there!

HOLY SHIT!

2007-02-07T14:52:00.000-05:00

From the title of this entry you can probably guess this is another bitch entry. Let me put this entry into context with the following clip from my MSN conversation with my old room mate, Shenan.

Sao Paulo says: (2:48:15 PM)
oh man i don't want to give too much away, since this is going on the blog for sure, but i called 310-Bell
Shenan says: (2:48:29 PM)
AHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHHAHAAHAHAHAHAH

Is it really that obvious, that when you call 310-Bell pain is about to commence?

Well here is my story for the day...

I recently bought a new phone system for the upstairs and it's one of these Uniden phones with a digital answering machine and call display. I decided that why not cancel the Call Answer from Bell and get Call Display. I hate answering the phone so at least with Call Display I can tell if it's family or some asshole telemarketer.
So here we go. I punch in 310-Bell and get Emily. First things first. I hit 1 then 0. Screw that bitch. I care not for her "so called" assistance.
Within a few seconds my call is picked up. My eardrums are perforated by the volume my rep speaks at. After my ears adjust to his yelling, I start to wonder if this guy is alright. Not to sound cruel, but he sounded retarded. Not that that says much, since I think most of my colleagues are!
I explain to him that I would like to cancel Call Answer and get Call Display. He responds back to me very slowly, yet loudly the typical spiel, Bell forces him to give us. I could not understand a word he said. For real, I think he is retarted. Now don't get me wrong. I have no problem with his service, as he was efficient and not too annoying. I actually think it's great that he is in the working world taking care of himself. However, my complaint is with Bell. This is the company's first line of customer service. They get a guy that nobody can understand. Trust me this is worse than the overseas call centers. It was like he mumbled every word. I don't know how to explain what he sounded like other than, if you're old enough, you may remember a commercial on TV with Wayne Gretzky and a mentally retarted kid. At the end of the commercial the kid says, "Gretzky!" When we were stupid kids we found this hilarious. Obviously, this isn't as funny today. However, the way that kids spoke in the commercial is exactly how this rep sounded. Now try to imagine this voice telling you about your request. If I didn't have some kind of foresight of what he would try to sell me I would not have a clue what he said to me. All I really know is: I should have the change this evening, so in Bell time two days; and my confirmation number, which I had to ask to have repeated three times.

This is the kind of stupid decision making Bell is making and is a perfect example of why they will be out of business in a few years. If you want to give a mentally retarted person an opportunity in the organization find a job where he does not have to speak to customers on the phone! Don't screw up an already fragile relationship with the customer!

Sales rep guy, if you're reading this, I have nothing against you. You did your best.
Bell if you're reading this, I look forward to your demise.

Might As Well Continue The Tend Of Idiocity

2007-02-06T20:19:00.000-05:00

I got this from my sister's boyfriend. If this doesn't scare you, I don't know what will!

www.youtube.com/v/HCkYfYa8ePI

Complete Idiot

2007-02-06T13:13:00.000-05:00

I wasn't planning on doing a post so quickly after the essay I did recently, but this entry just wrote itself. Being minus freaking 30 degrees with the windchill I have chosen not to bring a lunch and freeze my hands carrying it from the parking lot to the building. So I've had to buy lunches this week. Today was a special event. I went to Pizza Pizza for some crappy cardboard pizza. What happened next is just another example of the lowering of the bar our society continues to accept and refuses to confront.

My story is really not about Pizza Pizza, but rather their employee I had to deal with. I, typically, don't carry cash. I prefer to use my credit cards for all purchases, since if I carry cash I spend it; whereas, with my CCs I tend to limit my purchases to essentials, excluding wine and CDs of course!!!!
So I decide to pay for my pizza slice with my AMEX, which has a tendency to be difficult through the card machines. I hand my card over and she swipes it twice and it doesn't work.
Oh before I forget, this is the second time I've had this happen at Pizza Pizza and this girl was the same girl I dealt with before.
She looks at me and says, "The card is invalid." Completely, forgetting the last time I was in. Not that I think I'm that memorable, but usually after you learn something unique you tend to remember it.
So for a second time in a month, I tell her to place the card in paper and then swipe it. This is not that unique a technique, as almost every other cashier at every other company knows to do this.
So what does she do? She wraps the card in like two layers of paper and tries to swipe it. The motion of the swipe took about two jerks to get it through. Obviously, this will not read.
She again looks at me and says, "See the card is still invalid." I tell her firmly, since my patients is running out, "Swipe it again. The card is not invalid."
This is where I loose it! She looks at me again and says, "The card is invalid. I've tried it three times, nothing will change."
I look at her with complete disgust and grab the card out of her hand and say, "Let me swipe it."
I ensure the paper is only one layer around the card and then proceed to swipe it smoothly. My account number comes up on the card reader and we have success. I then, completely by accident, say, "Complete Idiot!" I was pissed and did not intend to insult her, but I was just pissed at her incompetence.
She giggles as she realizes she really is an idiot.

Now I am not one of those people who tends to bitch at the service industry, since their jobs are not easy. I really hate it when people are pissed at a company, because of some policy, and take it out on a poor cashier. But, when you have blatant incompetence, as in this case, I just can't deal with them.

This is just another example of the continuous lowering of the bar of expectation in this world. Whether it is people who can't control their kids, frivolous lawsuits, Wal-Mart employees, or people who can't swipe a freaking card in paper through a bloody machine! Our society continue to accept this behaviour and it will only get worse. What ever happened to looking after yourself and not relying on other people to take care of you? I don't expect much from service industry cashiers. They push a few buttons, or scan items and SWIPE FREAKING CARDS! I don't even expect that they can do math anymore, since everything is done on a computer for them.

I don't know how to fix this problem, but I just needed to vent. Here's hoping you avoid an idiot today!

Don't Mistake Familiarity With Appreciation

2007-02-05T16:35:00.000-05:00

I know I speak for more than just myself when I say, "RADIO SUCKS ARSE!"
Why does radio suck so bad? I know so many people who are disgusted with what radio stations choose to play these days. So why does it remain the same with no improvement? The answer my friends comes down to morons. Morons continue to make the world worse for us all. They think Canadian beer is good, Ontario wine is stellar and top 40 pop music is unique.

Okay it's not just morons to blame, but mainly big business. Anything a big business gets their hands on they ruin. Anyone who truly appreciates beer will tell you that Molson and Labatt's are piss water. The small microbreweries tend to have superior beer, until they get bought out. But, that's industry, it's kind of expected in the grand scheme of profits and margins, etc.
What really sucks is when business invades the arts. Look at what movies have become. Hollywood continues to shit out absolutely mundane mediocre movies. If you want something interesting and unique you need to look at the independent or foreign films being made. The movie industry is not interested in making 'good' movies, they want money makers. The funny thing is they don't seem to realize that most of the time good=money. The guys with money in hollywood are afraid to take a chance so they just make movies like the ones that made money last week. What they are only just realizing is that people are starting to lose interest.
Where I'm going with this long winded intro, is to the radio.

Radio really took a hit when industry got involved. Within Canada, you'll be hard pressed to find a radio station that isn't just a franchise of a bigger conglomerate. What is really sickening is you leave a city and go to a new one and you hear the exact same music with the exact same shitty unfunny announcers. I choose the term announcers, because all they really do is talk. They're as much a DJ as I am turning on iTunes.
An example of this monopoly on radio is Corus. They own FM9Shit in London and 'The Edge' in Toronto. The Edge is a little misleading because they're as sharp as a tennis ball. If you ever listen to these stations you will be unable to tell when you've left one broadcast area and started into another, other than the fact you turned the dial from 95.9MHz to 102.1MHz.

Now I understand I have very picky taste in music so most radio music won't appease me anyways; however, what really bothers me about the radio industry is the brainwashing they can accomplish. It all started with CanCon in the 80s and now extends to the control record companies have on play lists. Do you remember the shit Canadian artists that got airplay in the 90s and some of us thought we liked them? This is brainwashing at it's best. The first time you hear the song you think, 'what utter crap'. You hear it a few more times, since they have to meet their Canadian content for the day, and you remember the song and start to think you like it. Before you know it you've bought the CD. This is now being applied to more than just Canadian content as the record companies have seen the light and now make the radio stations play their artists more often, so brainwashing can be accomplished. This explains the success of bands like My Chemical Romance, Metric. What is also disturbing is how artists who had previously created great songs or albums now get carte blanche radio play. All you need is that one good song and now you are a superstar and you can do no wrong. I'm sorry that doesn't work. I loved Nine Inch Nails or The Red Hot Chili Peppers, but admit it! Their new stuff sucks. It's unoriginal and lacks any resemblance to the great song writing they were once capable of.

It's time industry get their nose out of the arts. Art and money do not go hand in hand. Let the artists be the artists they are meant to be. They will either succeed or fail. They should not be propped up by suits with big cheque-books. Let DJs be DJs! Let them find music and play it for their audiences. Let them be the gateway to new and great artists like they used to be. Stop letting morons waste air time being 14 year olds and then pressing the play button on iTunes for us.

I'm sick of My Chemical Romance, The Tragically Hip, and Nickelback. I'm even more sick of telling people I hate The Tragically Hip and hearing, "how can you not like them? They're Canadian man." Ya so are lots of pedophiles...I'm not a fan of their's either. But, hey! Maybe they are!

How To Market Cars To Rednecks!

2007-01-30T21:15:00.000-05:00

Well the easiest way is to sell pickup trucks and SUVS, but this post is about marketing "cars" to rednecks. Ah sounds difficult! Most rednecks drive beat up old Impalas from the 80s that are falling apart and probably aren't street legal. Rednecks rarely buy new cars. Who is daring enough to take on this challenge?
Well first off, it would HAVE to be a domestic car maker. So we've narrowed it down to three car makers. I'd say they're on the verge of bankruptcy, but that's all three!
Well this company already has a leg up on marketing to rednecks, because they have Christ in their name...well kind of.
Yes, Chrysler has made it their mandate to sell to rednecks. Well this is my guess at least. It's not like the publicized this through a press release or anything. I've just come to this conclusion from two points of analysis.

1) Their cars look like trucks!
2) The names of their cars.

So let me first talk about the look of these vehicles. I frequently get rental cars and to my disgust the new Caliber is one I typically get, until recently. I've told the girls to find me an alternative car now one. Anyways, the first time I got the Caliber I thought, "What a god awful creation this is!" I actually thought it could give the Aztec competition for ugliest vehicle ever!
So I drive out to my site visit and before I can get out of the car the hydro foreman, whom I had to meet, comes up to me and says, "what a nice car!" He wasn't being sarcastic. I don't mean to generalize, but most labourers are rednecks. It's not really a choice they can make. Their friends, colleagues, are rednecks. Much to my shock, Chrysler had created the perfect redneck car. Sales are doing well. How did they do this?
The car is meant to compete with the likes of the Matrix/Vibe. It has a similar frame, but the front of the car looks like they Dodge Trucks. It's so FUGLY!

So I've shown how the design is attractive to rednecks, but this is probably the most shocking decision Chrysler made in marketing to rednecks. The name! Caliber, Magnum...do you see a trend?
What do rednecks like more than beating their wives? GUNS! Let's name our cars after guns and related terminology. I keep waiting for the Bazooka and Nuclear Warhead vehicles...I'm sure that's next year. Have you noticed how nice vehicles have simple names, A4, NSX, 911 (I'm sure 911 is now copyrighted in the states! Sorry Porsche, find a new name.)

So how long do we give the Ford and GM to follow suit? A year or two and we'll see cars like The Bruiser, Big Penis, Budweiser, Almost a PickUp, The WifeBeater.

Oh well. What can be done?
I'll leave you with some pictures of these atrocities.

Swiss Domination!

2007-01-28T12:38:00.000-05:00

Enter The Binary Universe

2007-01-28T12:06:00.000-05:00

Yet another post that I've had stored in my mind for a while!

This post is regarding the new BT album, This Binary Universe. If you've never heard of BT he's an electronic musician whose resume has had some interesting turns. His first two albums, IMA and ESCM, were works of perfection in the genre of ambient-techno. His third album, Movement In Still Life, was a huge change into the more dancable electro pop techno. This album was amazing and still makes me move! His fourth album, Emotional Technology...well...it's absolute shit! Just look at the album cover if you want an idea of how bad it was!

However, much to our pleasure, BT, Brian Transeau, has returned with This Binary Universe. His fifth album sees him return to the ambient techno sound, which established him, but not only is this his best album to date, the album comes as a package. The album has two discs. Disc one is the CD with all 7 songs. Disc 2 is a DVD with the most unbelievably surreal visuals to accompany each and every song on the album. Not only are the visuals amazing, but the DVD is in Dobly 5.1. Listening to this ablum in 5.1 and watching the visuals along with it opens a whole new dimension to this album which puts an already great album, in to the realm of classic.

I won't try to describe the music as any description of ambient is always lacking something. Let me just say if you want relaxing and interesting music with deep bass hooks and complex programming this is the what you are looking for.

As I mention earlier the real gem in this package is the visuals. All of the visuals are different and some are more captivating that other, but all are great. The two which standout the most for me are song 6 The Antikythera Mechanism and song 7 Good Morning Kaia.
The Antikythera Mechanism takes you through the journey of a twenty something girl running through a unique landscape very reminiscent of the bad lands in Alberta, except with snow. She reaches a point in her journey where she finds a glass cube which warps her, and us, into a C.G. created world of spirals and structures. The journey of this girl is captivating, but the second dimension of the music and it's perfectly timed bass beats and programming puts your heart out of sync.

The last visual for, Good Morning Kaia, is a compilation of home-video clips, BT has compiled of his daughter, Kaia. Maybe it's the sap in me, but I found this last visual very moving. I think it was a combination of well selected videos clips, touching text and perfectly matched music.

I cannot rave about this album enough. The music and visuals make this album a steal at the $17.99 Amazon is asking. I strongly feel that this album is a breakthrough in techno music and will open a whole new set of doors for future artist when creating their albums.

Way to go BT! You really have outdone yourself!

Some Odds and Ends

2007-01-26T21:20:00.000-05:00

Just to make up for lost time here is some more interesting things:

Songs everyone should hear:

Liquid Seperation - Front Line Assembly
Fly Paper - k-os
cubeRT - System Of A Down
There Is A Light - The Smiths
Severance - Dead Can Dance
One Drop - Bob Marley
Fumbling Towards Ecstasy (Junior Boys Mix) - Sarah McLachlan
Raining Again - Moby
Stay Together - Suede
Theives - Ministry
Happy Phantom - Tori Amos
Black No. 1 - Type O Negative
Standing - VNV Nation
Hot Fudge - Robbie Williams

Great Movies

Syriana
Blue Velvet
V For Vendetta
Team America
Any Charlie Chaplin!

Candide or Optimism!

2007-01-26T21:09:00.000-05:00

Yes, it's been a while. Really not my fault, work has been nuts - lots of traveling. Ya Steve, believe it or not I've been busy!

I've been wanting to write this entry for a while, since I finished reading this a few weeks ago. If you're not familiar with the title Candide it is probably one of the most important books in the progress of mankind. It was written in the 1700s and by Marie Francois Arouet, a.k.a. Voltaire. Voltaire was probably one of the most important people to spearhead the period called 'The Enlightenment'. This period in mankind is primarily responsible for the Western world we live in now. Voltaire and many others fought for the separation of Church and State in politics. It's important to understand this about Voltaire before you read Candide as it will enable you to pick up on a lot of the subtle humour and sarcasm used throughout the novella.

What drove me to read this was my insatiable need to learn more and more about history. I was actually dreading reading this book, since it's over 300 years old and could just imagine the prose used. However, to my surprise the story is written very well and it actually gripping. I never felt like I was reading an 'old' story.
To summarize the story without giving too much away:

It was written as a rebuttal to the philosophy or another philosopher of that time, Leibniz. Leibniz believed that since God is all knowing and benevolent he would create the best possible world to live in. So any bad events that occur are for a greater good.

Voltaire disagreed with this and wrote Candide.
The story revolves around the journey of Candide's life in pursuit of his love Cunegonde. Along the way everything horrible happens to Candide, from the Spanish inquisition, murder of a monk, slavery and England. Candide's sidekick for the start of this story is the philosopher and teacher of Candide, Pangloss. Pangloss is actually supposed to be a fictional representation of Leibniz.

I, personally, found the story to be great for two reasons: the story itself is interesting and easy to follow, but more importantly for me the history included is outstanding. I strongly recommend anyone with half a brain read this book and learn more about the past and have a better appreciation of the world we live in today. If you choose to read this story, I suggest finding a copy with footnotes and endnotes in it. I found the notes very important in fully understanding the story, since there are names of people who are important, but we may never have heard of. Plus, Voltaire almost makes this story, kind of, autobiographical in the sense that many scenes in the book are things he really witnessed in his life.

After you read this book you cannot help, but think Voltaire really was a genius way ahead of his time...or maybe just in time!

Education at Work

2007-01-12T07:57:00.000-05:00

800,000 Privileged Youths Enlist To Fight In Iraq

WASHINGTON—"I didn't realize you could just sign up," said 26-year-old Brookline, MA resident and law-school grad Daniel Feldman.

I'm Not One To Repeat Myself, But If It Ain't Broken....

2007-01-09T17:28:00.000-05:00

I realize I've been very slow in making my first posting to my blog for 2007 and the reason was, I really had nothing to say. Sure, lots of stuff happened in the news: Somalia, Saddam, Rednecks doing stupid stuff; however, I had no motivation to speak out, until now. So to the mass of adoring, potentially, 95 readers out there, I apologize for the delay.

Being a new year, some people are motivated to make resolutions, which they never keep, for the year to come. I am not, usually, such a person and I plan to remain that way; however, I did make a mental decision to make some changes. This decision just so happened to coincide with the new year. It is just a coincidence, TRUST ME!

So, what is the resolution I made. I am going to try and be more positive in my day-to-day life. When I say positive I don't mean, "yeah for rainbows, sunshine and everything fabulous". What I mean, is trying to keep things in perspective. We live in a world where context is everything. What is hot when you've stuck your hand in a pot of boiling water? What is a good job when you work under scorching sun for 10 hours a day making $10 for your efforts?
If you've been reading this blog or know me, you know that I am not the happiest person at work. I can't change the fact that my job is unchallenging and unsatisfying and compared to some of the jobs out there, I've got a pretty sweet one. The only thing I can change is my attitude and my job. I can only change one immediately and other is taking some time, but being all pissy and upset about my job is not helping me. If anything, it's hurting me mentally and physically. So this is the kind of positive I'm talking about.

So don't you worry. This blog will remain as cynical as it was in 2006. Just, to put all your concerns aside I have created the following for your peace of mind. Enjoy!

What the f**k is My Chemical Romance and Snow Patrol. Can any bands suck more than these guys?
Uww we can dress like we think we're goths, because that will give us a bad/evil image, but we'll write pansy, formulaic, teen pop boyband anthems like the Backstreet Boys. Oh wait, we don't want to be viewed the same as the Backstreet Boys so we'll swear in our songs. Idiots! Listen to Bauhaus or Skinny Puppy for real evil music.

So Saddam is dead. How tragic. We'll at least the civil war in Iraq will stop now, just like terrorism will stop once we catch Osama.

"We're so tormented!" SHUT UP!

Attack of the Clones!

2006-12-20T22:22:00.000-05:00

Look out London...it's the attack of the clones.
My bestman, one of my best friends - my cousin Jamie - is in town, visiting from Calgary. He's left the land of prosperity, Calgary and come to the centre of the universe, Ontario. What brings him here you ask? Well, unfortunately, not just me! His wife's family currently resides in London, so it works out well, since really I don't think we would be able to see each other much if it wasn't for this mutually benificial locale!
I've only had a chance to see him once so far in this visit. We went for a few beers a couple nights ago and are looking forward to seeing more of each other, before he departs for Calgary on New Year's Eve! =( Crappy!
In any event, London is now exposed to twice as much: cynasism, political anarchy, Evangelacal and Hollywood hatred, and BLOODY GOOD MUSIC!
Nothing says Christmas, in the realm of the clones, like Ministry blaring from a car. THIEVES!!!! LIARS!!!!!!!!!

Oh! In case you're wondering about this whole clone thing. Jamie and I are exact replicas of each other, in personality. We don't look alike, although I'm sure you can tell we are related. From out childhood - with cloned mothers - to our musical tastes, blunt personalities, disdain for the USA, hatred of Markus Naslund and unoriginal movies; we are complete clones. At one time we actually considered starting a musical band, together, called The Antagonists if that tells you anything about our personalities!

Anyway, here's to a Merry Christmas to everyone and having fun with family...well at least with the ones you like...BOWSER!

Frohliche Weihnacht Uberall

2006-12-16T15:05:00.000-05:00

So as most of you are aware, I'm talking German at the high school level through public school system. Part of the curriculum is to take part in annual Christmas celebration at the German Club. Our contribution, as the Grade 11 class, is to perform four songs for the audience of parents, siblings, spouses and friends. And yes, my wonderful wife attended the whole painful thing! GOOD WIFE!

So the four songs we had to sing were:

Stille Nacht! - Silent Night
O Tannenbaum
Frohliche Weihnacht Uberall
Danke Lieber Tannenbaum

Funny thing is, I love that Danke Lieber Tannenbaum song so much that I am now looking for a CD with German Christmas carols on it so I can play that song over and over again! HEHE!

Unfortunately, my wife and I forgot to bring the digital camera to take pictures, so I thought the next best thing would be to post a picture of German people singing.

Our concert looked something like this...Enjoy!

What are we doing?

2006-12-14T22:23:00.000-05:00

I know I already made a post today, and more than one in a day for me is extremely rare, but I thought it important that I bring this item to my readers attention- whether that's only one person or 95 - a little information is always a good thing.

Living in ignorant little North America, I had no clue that there were such creatures as fresh water dolphins. Well, luckily for me there probably aren't anymore left! Of late I've felt more of a connection and responsibility to the environment. I'm not psycho Greenpeace guy, yet! But, I try to recycle more, buy batteries that last longer than 1 hour so I don't leak battery acid into the dumps, etc. Today, while watching the BBC News, because in North America the only news we get is some stupid kid building a bridge out of popsicles or some old grandpa getting screwed by obvious scammer telemarketers, I learnt about these baiji dolphins. The sad thing is the first time I hear about this mammal is when it has become - and I'll quote - "technically extinct". Essentially, technically extinct means, "we can't find them and you bastard humans are responsible."

I find this sad for so many reasons. First of all, I've never known of this creature until today, so ideally this is not loss for me and it will not change my life. But, that is not the point. This was a creature that had existed on earth for billions of years, or if you're a Christian a few thousand years when we were all perfectly created by an intelligent designer. Sorry! I can't hide my contempt sometimes...okay all the time!
My real problem with this extinct creature is it's just another notch in man's effect on the planet. Yes, we have to survive and prosper and really there's not going back. We've all accepted this life and the progress we have. Some would argue that it's best of us this way. Whether we are better off living in caves dying at 30 or living in comfort until we're 80 killing off nature , is another discussion. The reality is we live in this life and time.
After hearing this story my first thought was, "what is next"? Really, what animal is next to go. The cardinal? Salmon? Ox? Deer? Can you imagine a world without these creatures.
These could be creatures our children or grandchildren will never know. We never knew the dodo. In fact, we were denied knowing the dodo, because of man - whether intent was malicious or not.

I don't really have any big point with this entry. I just really think we need to think about things in more detail. We live in a society with ADD. We hear a story and it impacts us for a hour, day maybe a week, but we always forget and move on. When was the last time you thought about the tsunami a few years ago. Everyone was all concerned about the people effected by this event, but today I bet 99% of us have forgotten. In our mind, maybe subconsciously, we think they have healed and moved on. When in reality they are probably no better off today than 1 day after the tsunami.

I think it would be a shame to loose anymore creatures from the earth. Every generation of human should know of all the creatures and if they desire should have the option to see them first hand. Sadly, we will never see the baiji swimming down the river Yangtze ever again.

If you're interested, here is the article.

Ah! Mon Sherry!

2006-12-14T17:39:00.000-05:00

There are a few categories in the wine world to which I am green. Red wine, I've pretty much got down and white wines I know well even though I don't like most. I'm a huge fan of Port, whether it be LBV, tawny, or Reserve. My wife and I go through a bottle of Madeira a week, I'm sure. Ah, Madeira - nectar of the Gods. Champagne, I'm still fairly green, even though I've purchased two bottle of champagne for New Years....and NO I don't count Sparkling Wines as Champagne. Everyone has had sparkling wine, I'm sure, and there's nothing unique about it. The one other category of wine that I'm a virgin to is, Sherry! Of course, I mean real Sherry from the scortching hot climate of southern Spain, not the crap people cook with and alcoholic live off.

In the most recent release at Vintages they had a, highly rated, Sherry for sale. I decided now is as good as a time as any to give it a try. Let me just say, WOW! What have I been missing? The first thing I noticed was how thick it was. It was almost like what molasses would be like if you watered it down a little so you could drink it. It's by no means as thick as molasses, but it gives you that impression on your tongue. When you swirl it in your glass you'll notice how it just coats the glass. If you thought Port or Madeira coated a glasses, give this Sherry a swirl. Its colour was resembled what melted chocolate would look like in a small wine glass. It had a wonderful caramel flavour with hints of spice and tar. Now, keep in mind this is only one Sherry and they probably vary much like any wine. However, if you're interested in trying Sherry I strongly recommend the Sherry listed below if you can find it.

So what is Sherry? Well, from my reading I gather that, because of the ultra hot climate and constant sun in southern Spain, the grapes grown there tend to be extremely ripe with strong concentrated sugars. There are a few grapes that are 'allowed' under Spanish Appellation rules to be grown in Jevez, Sherry country. The one used in this Sherry was the PEDRO XIMENEZ grape. I believe after harvesting the grapes they are left to concentrate even further in the sun, almost like making rasins. The grapes, after serving sufficient time in the sun, are then crushed and made into wine, like any other fortified wine; however, like Port or Madeira, it is then aged in oak barrels for a lengthy period of time. This Sherry is as old as me, being aged for 30 years. One thing I'm not sure about is the addition of Brandy to stop fermentation. Fortified wine means the wine was fortified with another alcohol, such as Brandy, prior to fermentation. However, unlike Madeira and especially Port, you cannot taste the Brandy. Fill me in if you know!

Having no prior experience with Sherry I would have to say this is the best Sherry I've ever had! HEHEHE! I think I love Sherry. It's challenging Madeira for the nectar of the Gods title. Anyway, here are the details and a picture.

Cheers!

Producer: GONZALES BYASS
Sherry Name: NOE MUY VIEJO
Grape Used: PEDRO XIMENEZ
Alcohol: 15.5%

To All The Hulk-a-maniacs Out There!

2006-12-11T18:41:00.000-05:00

So last week I was in Montreal for work. That should explain my timely absence from the blogging scene. I went for the typical bullshit: Performance Review, Christmas lunch with my section. However, I made the most of this trip and visited my high school friend Dave, the new Lutheran Pastor, the first night I was in town and the following night I went out with my work colleagues.

So obviously, I had a pretty eventful week, but that's not the most of it. On my flight from Toronto to Montreal, walking through First Class or business class or whatever they call the rich area these days, I passed a sleeping Hulk Hogan. Yes! The real Hulk Hogan. I had to do a double take, since for some reason I had it in my mind that all celebrities have their own private jets and don't fly with trash like me. So I took my seat and over the next hour of the flight I completely forgot about the Hulkster. It wasn't until I got to baggage claim that the Hulkster himself with his 18 year old daughter and former WWF manager - Jimmy Hart stand beside me. I guess things are tough in Hulkster land if he has to pick up his own luggage? With Hulk Hogan beside me I really had to debate whether or not I would say something to him. As you know I'm a big hollywood hater and I hate to give so called famous people anything to feed their ego, but this is the Hulkster man! He was a childhood icon. And with that I decided to approach Hulk Hogan holding out my hand for him to shake. I then spoke to him quickly and concisely, since the thing I hate next to famous people are famous people stalkers. I told the Hulkster that he was a childhood hero of mine and it was great to meet him. To that he told me thank you and then the cavalry moved in. Everybody, and their mother, in baggage claim came running over to get his autograph or a photo on their camera phone. Seeing that really pissed me off. The poor guy. You could see he found this a real drain, but he tried to stay friendly - probably "for his fans".

So why was he in Montreal? Well I was wondering that myself. No other wrestlers were on the plane, does Hulk still wrestle? I theorized that it must have something to do with his daughter's signing career. Later in the day, while flipping channels in the hotel room, my theory was confirmed when on MusiquePlus I see the Hulkster and his daughter being interviewed. Don't worry people, the Hulkster was wearing a bandana cover up that nasty skullet of his. Without that bandana he would've looked really bad. If you've ever seen him wrestle in the past 10 years you know what I mean!

So that was the highlight of my trip to Montreal.

Bonne semaine!

Is Love To Blame?

2006-12-01T20:37:00.000-05:00

After months of waiting for the domestic release of this album, I finally own the new Apoptygma Berzerk CD. My first impression was, "woh, this isn't what I was expecting." If you've been a long time fan of Apop, like myself, then you are used to a dark electro sound with a bit of a pop edge to it. Well the new album, from Stephan Groth, You And Me Against The World is definitely poppy. I'd heard rumours early on during the recording of this album that Stephan wanted to go down a more radio friendly route with this album. Let me first state that I strongly doubt you will hear this stuff on North American radio, because it's still good music; however, I think by radio friendly he meant European radio.

So overall, what do I think? It's a pretty good album. It's nowhere near as great as 7, or Welcome To Earth. It's not dark enough for me and a bit too poppy, but keeping in mind Stephan's goal I think he was successful. There are definitely some great songs on this album. Tracks that come to mind are In This Together and Love To Blame, with their catchy pop hooks and Stephan's impressive vocals. One surprise on this album was the cover of the 80's song Cambodia. I find myself singing along to this song, a bit too often.

Is this the best album from Apop? Definitely not. If you're an EBM or Industrial fan then you will prefer his older stuff, but if you're a little to scared of the dark goth side of music this may be a better intro into the best musician to come from Norway. I think this album is a great addition to my collection, not just for my OCD, but also since it's probably the best music I've bought recently. Music today is absolutely shit!

How did that happen? This was a happy post and now I'm angry! Just thinking about the top 40 shit played on radios today makes me want to cause a revolution. Is anybody else sick of that stupidly annoying new Tragically Hip song? ARGH!

Funniest Onion Article EVER!

2006-11-29T10:26:00.000-05:00

Chicago Rolls Out Cold-Weather Prostitutes

CHICAGO—"When temperatures drop, you need a girl you can count on," said area resident Phillip Eadie, who mounted four cold-weather hookers earlier this month.

Final Fantasy

2006-11-28T20:57:00.000-05:00

I finally beat Final Fantasy X on my PS2. It took over 45 hours of game play, but I did it!

Now, before you you cast aside this blog entry you have to give it a chance. Final Fantasy is of the game type, Role Playing. At first I did not see the excitement in such a game. Even when my friend Ian tried to sell me on the game with his description, "well you move around the world and learn skills and battle bosses", I was not sold! What a lame description, yet it's so correct. However, it's not as dull as it sounds. What gets you is the story and the characters. It's almost like you're watching a movie you have control over. I know I can't sell you on the idea of such a game, if you've never played, over one entry. All I'm saying is, give RPGs a chance. I'm hooked now. My NHL 2007 and Fifa World Cup haven't seen much action since I started playing FFX. I'm actually so hooked now that I've bought Final Fantasy X-2, XII and Dragon Quest VIII.

I was quite pleased to discover that Dragon Quest is actually the Dragon Warrior franchise from my youth. Apparently, at Dragon Warrior V they changed to Dragon Quest. I remember playing Dragon Warrior on my old Nintendo box when I was probably 12 or 13 and thinking this was the greatest game ever! I guess RPG is in my blood.

If you have a gaming system or even a computer, give RPGs a chance. Shenan I take back all my mocking of you with World of Warcraft!

Toilet Humour

2006-11-21T19:36:00.001-05:00

So today I was reminded of one of my biggest pet peeves. People who don't flush the freaking toilet after they use it. What's wrong with people? Are they proud of their accomplishment and want us all to see it. There are four toilets on my floor at work and two were nasty. The freaking room smells like a zoo. What are we animals!
What's so hard about flushing the damn toilet after taking a dump? You have to wash your hands afterwards anyways, just press the damn lever.

I know this is a strange discussion for women, since they don't do number 2! I wish God would've created men the same way. It's amazing how women can liquefy their waste so it all comes out as pee.

We all know women's asses are just decoration for men to look at and play with!

Diane Haskett

2006-11-21T19:36:00.000-05:00

If you are from London, lived in London or currently live in London you will know the name Diane Haskett. For those of you unfamiliar with this bible-thumping evangelical, let me fill you in. She was the Mayor of London for a couple terms. She was in office when I first came to London for University and her name quickly became known to those new to the city when the Gay Pride Parade of London hit the news. I won't go into too much detail about her history as I'll save that for the link I'm providing at the end.
The reason I bring her up in the post is that she's back in the news in London. She's running for the Conservative party in my area's by-election. Normally, I wouldn't highlight my region for discussion during an election, but it's a by-election so this is a good item for discussion.

I think it's important that someone like Diane Haskett is brought to the nations attention as she is a good representation of what Conservative values really are.

Please read what Rick Mercer had to say on his blog about Diane Haskett.

The Acceptance of Racism

2006-11-21T18:22:00.000-05:00

Wow! Did Kramer ever screw up recently? And by Kramer I mean the actor who played Kramer, Michael Richards. Now again don't get me wrong...I still hate Hollywood, but I thought this was too good to pass up. I had to comment. Does this not completely validate my opinion on Hollywood? What an ass! If you didn't hear, Michael, during a standup routine, decided to share the KKK's enrolment speech with two black men who were heckling him during a standup routine. Luckily for Michael, somebody in the audience had a video cell phone and capture every triumphant moment.

Let me first state, that I think stand-up comedians are the lowest form of human. They are pathetic. Most of them are stoned or drunk when they walk on stage and face the lights. By lights I mean the bright ones purposely shone into their face so they don't have to identify with their audience. Keeping that in mind, I think Michael was probably all hyped up on cocaine or something. This had his blood boiling to begin with, add a heckler and we have the performance we've all heard about now. Am I cutting him some slack, GET REAL! I think most people's true emotions come out when they are angry or drunk. I think he really is racist. Maybe not a 'grab your pitchforks and lets lynch the nigger', but I think he's racism is deeper than just racist jokes.

So what's my point, since I really don't care about Mr. Richards. My point is this event and what Mel Gibson did should highlight who these people really are. How many times on the radio today did I hear people call in and say, 'oh we should forgive him, I loved Kramer.'
Yo DIPSHIT! Kramer was his part. He's an A-C-T-O-R! They play parts, which are not reflections of who they really are. I'm so disgusted with people that they would look past this disgusting stunt, simply because 'ah huh huh I liked Seinfeld.'

I hope the industry screws them good. But, don't worry Mel and Michael won't be homeless, they can always be roomies and discuss ways of ridding the planet of Jews and Black people.
Hmm... wasn't there a guy from Austria that had the same idea? His name escapes me right now. Oh well, I'm sure it's not important.

So much trouble in this world...

2006-11-21T18:12:00.000-05:00

What a day, what a day. I have such a plethora of things to talk about today that I'll have to post them in spurts. Enjoy...

TV Shows That Should Be Cancelled

2006-11-20T20:03:00.000-05:00

...everything except the following:

Scrubs
Hockey
Football
American Football (unless its a boring game)
Grey's Anatomy
Jeopardy (unless its celebrity Jeopardy)
24 (if this season is good)
Battlestar Galactica (I've only seen a few episodes, but everyone is raving about it)

This concludes my list.

Am I Holden Caulfield?

2006-11-19T15:27:00.000-05:00

I finished reading The Catcher In The Rye this weekend. It was the first time I've ever read this book. I don't believe in that 'meant to be' or 'meant to happen' crap, but I have to wonder if I was meant to read this book, now. I find the protagonist/narrator of this story alarmingly similar to me. From his general disdain for people to his lack of direction in life, I feel like I'm the protagonist in The Catcher In The Rye. I find the story to be somewhat comforting to know that I'm not the only person to ever feel so confused, but at the same time I find the story scary. The fact that so many people are just living their lives a certain way, because it's all they know how to do and really long for something, anything to spark their interest, is a little disheartening. Are there that many people in society today that want something meaningful and can't find it? For some it's a career, some a love interest, and for some it's just some kind of passion for life!

If you've never read The Catcher In The Rye I would strongly recommend it. It may open your eyes to how good you've got it or it may make you realize that something is missing. Either way I think it really is a great book and deserves all the acclaim its reaped over the years. Everyone should read it at least once.

Enjoy!

Britney and Cletus Breakup. Oh My!

2006-11-09T10:46:00.000-05:00

First let me start off by clarifying this blog entry. If you know me, you know I HATE Hollywood! I prefer to never acknowledge it's existence - except when I have to get angry! Well I guess Britney isn't Hollywood, since she's a singer (tries to hold back laughter). Oh I guess she did that thing a few years back some may call a movie. My blood is boiling already thinking about the fact that Hollywood would put money into making that tripe and there are tonnes of talented artists out there burning new and uniques manuscripts to stay warm, because Hollywood won't give them a chance. I CAN'T CONTAIN IT ANY LONGER.
DEATH TO HOLLYWOOD!!!!!!!
Okay, I feel a little better now.
So anyways, back to Britney and Cletus.
I could not resist commenting on the latest news that the Queen of the Trailerpark and K-Fed are to divorce. Not that I care about their 'personal lives'; I just thought this would be a perfect example to highlight the truth about hollywood. Screw capitalizing hollywood, I won't even give it that respect. Maybe I shouldn't be listening to Ministry while I write this?
Everyone likes to make a point about how divorce in hollywood is so prevalent. Do you really think this is an accident? Stop being stupid! hollywood is run by agents. Agents do their best to make money. In hollywood money is made through attention. I firmly believe that eighty percent of the divorces in hollywood are scripted and planned. They always seem to happen when an, I use this term loosely, actor/actress is no longer in the spotlight and it's time for them to get back into it. There have been numerous examples of this in the past, but I don't care enough to remember who they were. I spit on hollywood. In fact, I think from now on any time I say hollywood I will have to spit afterward - thank you Tom Robbins.

So pay attention boys and girls, Britney is planning to make a new album and record, what some consider, music again. The whole marriage from the beginning was for attention. Give me a break that Britney would really marry this backwater hillbilly. It was shocking, for the lower species; thus, it got her attention. From what I can tell, Britney hasn't been recording or touring for quite a while now. She wanted a break. Now she's ready to return and her name isn't as popular as it was before. How do we resolve this - enter the divorce and it's media attention.

I state 100% confident that we will hear about a new tour or album or movie or some other shit in the works from Britney in the coming weeks or months.
If I am wrong I will force myself to watch that thing she made, some called, a movie. You can call me on it!

So far her agent has done his job.

I just remembered some more examples:

Do you really think PeeWee Herman didn't intend to get caught choking the chicken outside an adult movie theatre. I remember my wife telling me how one of her professors in university said that he did that to break his child lovable image. After a few years he could make a new start in hollywood (spit) without the PeeWee typecast as everyone would only remember him pulling his wiener.

J-Ho and Benflack. That breakup seemed to oddly coincide with the release of the new movie they did together.

Nothing in hollywood (spit) is an coincidence. Pay attention and quit being a pawn to their games.

RIP THE SYSTEM!

Eight Legged Atomic Dustbin Will Eat Itself

2006-11-08T17:06:00.000-05:00

What is an Eight Legged Atomic Dustbin? You ask. It isn’t really a thing, but more an event, a belief, maybe even just a group of likeminded individuals.
The book is a summary of three of the best bands, to come out of England, written by a guy no different to you or me. He simply grew up in the same community as these bands and watched them grow from nothing into internationally recognized bands. The author, Martin Roach, had neither prior writing experience nor a desire to write, before this book. But, inspired by the words of his mother and the three bands he chronicles, he pursued his passion and created a book well know by any fan of one of these three bands. The story of this author is interesting in itself, but my focus is on the book and the three bands.

The book covers the beginnings of Pop Will Eat Itself, The Wonder Stuff and Ned’s Atomic Dustbin. All three bands came from the Stourbridge, England – the black country. Most of the stories in this book are from first hand interviews done by the author with band members. The book has been revised, I believe, three times. The most recent edition is the copy I own and just finished reading. You would be hard pressed to find earlier editions as they have long become collector’s items. Trust me, I tried!
This book may not be of interest to non-fans of these three bands, but the story itself is inspiring. These three bands epitomize what music should be. All three started from nothing and their only connection was a passion for music, not money or fame. They are probably some of the hardest working musicians to have come around in modern music. They played gig after gig, traveling in beat up, unreliable vans that probably stunk. They simply made it internationally due to the quality of their music and their hard work.
I, personally, find this inspiring and discouraging. Art should not be a commodity, but sadly it is. Music is, unfortunately, controlled by megalomaniacal corporation whose only desire is to make a profit; thus, music is not created genuinely, but rather is a creation from a lab that will grab the attention of our ADD society to make a quick records sale. Bands like these three are hard to find these days, since no records label will give them the time and money required to grow into something amazing.

A lot of people think the internet and file sharing is the great equalizer. Something that isn’t controlled by big-brother. That guy in Budapest making music in his basement can reach the world with the click of a button. The problem is, are people really that willing to just download a random song from random artist? File sharing has created a new beast - the hoarder. People now just download everything without ever listening to it. The key is now the single. Make that catchy song and they’ll download it legally for $0.99. No longer is the album of importance. I find this sad. An artist’s album much like a painting can tell a great story. The concept album was an interesting way of telling a story. I worry about art and music in our society. I feel we are crushing all forms of creativity to just carbon copy what’s popular to make a profit. But, we never know, maybe there is an unseen dynamic in our chaotic world that we will recreate an equilibrium once things go too far in one direction. I hope so!

For those of you unfamiliar with these three bands I decided I would recommend my favourite albums from each, as well as a few, of what I think are their best, songs. Go buy the albums, or download the songs and find out if you like? Enjoy!

Pop Will Eat Itself – This Is The Day, This Is The Hour, This Is This

1. Wise Up! Sucker
2. Ich Bin Ein Auslander
3. Bulletproof
4. X, Y and Zee
5. Everything’s Cool

The Wonder Stuff – The Eight Legged Grove Machine

1. Give, Give, Give, Me More, More, More
2. Ruby Horse
3. Here Comes Everyone
4. On The Ropes
5. The Size of a Cow

Ned’s Atomic Dustbin – God Fodder

1. Kill Your Television
2. Grey Cell Green
3. Not Sleeping Around
4. Happy
5. All I Ask of Myself Is That I Hold Together

Fun Stuff

2006-11-02T21:13:00.000-05:00

I was talking about the new And One CD, yesterday, and found today, on YouTube, their new video for So Klingt Liebe.

Here ya go: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oc0me4Lh6SQ

Shut Up Liberal Party

2006-11-02T09:23:00.000-05:00

Most people by now know my political tendencies. I'm very left-wing; however, I'm also very open minded and will not automatically side with a party on a topic simply because they are the left-wing choice. Fact is, like most intelligent people, my opinions vary on the topic! Wouldn't it be nice if democracy followed these principles, rather than simply attacking the oppositions opinion or bill. Where I'm going with this is the Income Trust issue that's all over the news now.

In summary, the Conservative government is planning to institute higher taxes on Income Trusts.

I will in lay-mans terms, I'll try to briefly explain the difference between Trusts and Corporation for those of you out there that don't know the difference.

A corporation must pay taxes on it's yearly revenue. After this is taken into consideration the left over "profit" is usually distributed to share holders as dividends. An Income Trust is not taxed too highly on their revenue if they distribute the cash to the unit holders as a kind of dividend. The dividend holder is then taxed, rather than the corporation. This is the general principle, not as detailed as I could get, but I have lots more to say and didn't want to waste too much time on this.

What ends up happening when a corporation switches to a trust is a large part of the government's tax revenue disappears. In the past only a few corporations have been trusts, but of late large companies, Telus and BCE, have indicated they will switch to trusts. With the government, essentially, approving these conversions of two of the largest companies in Canada they have in effect said they will let any corporation change to a trust.
Who's next in the pipeline? Banks.
So if all this corporate tax disappears, who do you think will have to make up the difference...US, the tax payers.
I for one think the move by the Conservatives was appropriate and necessary. Yes, this is coming from a left-wing NDP voter. Can I also add, how pleased I was to see the NDP standup and applaud the Conservatives for their decision! This is how politics should be. Parties should applaud good decisions and not just attack another party, because they did something.
The NDP showed some intelligence and applauded the Conservatives, so what did the Liberals do? They attack the Conservatives!

What is shocking is I feel like I'm living in Seinfeld's Bizzaroland where everything is the opposite. I thought right-wingers were in bed with corporations and liberals were more in the centre balancing the needs of corporations with the needs of the people. But, in Canada the Conservatives are standing up for Canadians and the Liberals are crying for corporations. But, of course the Liberals don't come out and say they are fighting for corporate Canada. They are fighting for all those people who lost money on the stock market, because of the fall in share prices when the news came out. HAHAHA! Oh yes, cry for Grandma you spineless, corrupt assholes! What's funny is endless statistics exist that say 90% of the wealth in the stock market is owned by 10% of population and the remaining 10% of the wealth is owned by the other 90%. So, yes a few 'regular' people got screwed, but the real victims of this stock market crash are the rich who support the Liberal party. Cry me a river. So sad you can't wipe your tears aways with $100 bills anymore and will have to settle for $50 bills. The Liberal party really does look like a corrupt, old boys club that are arrogant and think they are the best!
Now, yes a few regular people suffered from this, but TOO BAD! It's called the stock market! It's an investment in shares, not a deposit into a BANK! Things change, stocks can change at any time. If you invest in the market, it's your responsibility to keep up to date with issues that could effect you. I have said for about a month now that something will happen with trusts, because of the conversion of major players. If you got caught by this, then you should get out of the market and buy GICs or bonds! You suck at investing! Yes, so old people got screwed, but they have a pension, they have old age security, they have CPP, they are not destitute they just lost some vacation money. If they were really on the verge of destitution I strongly doubt they would be investing in the stock market! Too bad so sad!

Now my final comment. I really do believe that our media is very much in bed with the Liberals, just like the media in the USA is in bed with the Republicans. Have you noticed how no media outlet is focusing on the fact that this tax will save the government from having to tax us more in the future! No, it's all about grandma losing $40,000 in her investments. All the video clips from the news are of the Liberals attacking the Conservatives defending the poor investor. Yet, they only show one response from the Conservatives. I'm sick on the Canadian media! I typically only watch the BBC, but I had to see what bullshit would be propagated because of this issue, so I tuned in. It's so obvious that the media is manipulating the clips to make the Conservatives look like bad guys and the Liberals are our saviours. Have we really hit this low in Canada!

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a Conservative supporter, but on this issue I am! I would normally consider myself a Liberal, but refused to vote for them in the last election, because of their corruption. I voted NDP, because I liked their social policies and had no concern they would get a majority and mess up our economy. At this point though, I'm so disgusted with the Liberals that I'm tempted to vote Conservative, if only they're social policy wasn't based on the bible!

My disgust for politics in this country has hit an all time low. Maybe it's time I enter politics!

Ontario Should Invade....I Mean Liberate Alberta!

2006-11-01T17:59:00.000-05:00

Have you noticed of late how Alberta has lots of money? Have you also noticed how Ontario doesn't have as much? These issues occurring at the same time is not a coincidence!

The Ontario economy is heading for the shitter! Why? ALBERTA!
That cocky oil rich, Iginla loving province is screwing modest, center of the universe, Domi loving Ontario and the rest of Canada. Alberta is making billions of dollars pumping oil from the oil sands of Alberta; thus, raising the value of the Canadian dollar. Yes, we live in a free market economy where the value of our dollar is determined on the market free of interference, but don't you think that is exactly what Alberta had planned all along!
With the Canadian dollar so expensive, the products we produce with care and love in Ontario and the rest of Canada have become more expensive; thus, reducing exports to the rest of the world. That is not all that is hurting Ontario, but also the fact we so intelligently and genuinely made one third of our exports dependent on the domestic auto industry. Do you think it's a coincidence that the domestic auto industry is on the verge of bankruptcy? NO. ALBERTA again! While we struggle to put Fillet Mignon on the table, Alberta showers in Chateau Latour!
All of these things are not innocent coincidences.

Alberta knows that all of these actions are an act of war. In complete disregard for international law Alberta has further isolated itself. Do you think it's a coincidence that hours of barren waste land, affectionately called The Prarires, exists between Ontario and Alberta? Alberta not only manufactured this boring drive to discourage invasion from the East, but also constructed a mountain mass called The Rockies! Should freedom fighters try to liberate Alberta from the West they are forced to cross miles of harsh landscape. Alberta knows they are instigating an full scale war with the rest of Canada and have prepared for invasion...umm...I mean liberation.

I say it's time the rest of Canada rally together and liberate Alberta of their corrupting and evil oil supplies. Together we can defeat the evil regime of Ralph Klein and distribute the oil wealth to those less fortunate provinces like Ontario.

New CD Alert!

2006-11-01T17:58:00.000-05:00

Finally, after a few years wait, And One has released their newest album. Of course, the North American version won't be released until next week, but I got the German version! HEHE!
I just have to say, GREAT ALBUM!
The album has some great catchy dance songs like: Military Fashion Show, and So Klingt Liebe (roughly tranlated as The Sound of Love, use your dirty imagination!) The album is an overall success and I highly recommend it for fans of Apoptygma Berzerk and Depeche Mode.
Check it out! Available from Amazon. And One - Bodypop

Work Place Dress Up?

2006-10-31T10:54:00.000-05:00

So today is Halloween. The day when little kids get dressed up like ghosts and ghouls and trick 'r treat for candy. Oh wait did I say kids, I should also add moron coworkers!

This being my fifth year with the company I'm no longer shocked to see this, but I'm still a little disgusted. Grown adults, working in a professional setting, coming to work dressed up for Halloween. Is it just me or is this just stupid? Don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with adults getting dressed up for Halloween and don't even have a problem with adults getting dressed up and going to work....depending on the job! My wife being a teacher got dressed up for Halloween and I think that's great. The kids will love it. There are certain jobs where I think it's not just acceptable, but maybe even a nice thing to do to get dressed up in costumes on Halloween and go to work: Teachers, Nurses, Day-Care workers, maybe even some retail stores. Places where dressing up will make your customers smile and have a good day.
However, I don't think dressing up in a costume and going to an office environment is appropriate. I don't want to appear as a kill-joy, but come on! We're at work. Sure many of these people who get dressed up probably don't have to interact directly with our customers, but what does this say about our workplace or even employees. Just imagine what employees of other companies think when they see these 'ghosts' walking from the parking lot to our building? Can these people not wait until 4 or 5 o'clock, when work is over, before dressing up for their kids or for a party? I'll admit I'm not a big Halloween fan, but that's not really my complaint here. My complaint is, there is a time and place for most things and working hours in an office building is not time to open your magic chest and find a new Mr. Dress Up costume.

Now people are going to argue, 'Does it really hurt anyone to let them dress up, since it boosts their morale?' So that brings me to my next point. If dressing up as an X-Men boosts your morale at work, you're probably not too smart and should be working at Wal-Mart! Anyone with an IQ over 10 cannot have their morale boosted by a plastic mask and toxic face paints, unless those toxins are damn fine. We keep lowering the bar of what is tolerated in the office place. Don't get me wrong, I like the fact I don't have to wear a suit to work, but lets show some kind of effort to look presentable. How many times have I seen people in the building wearing, what my friend Steve would describe as, Painting Clothes to work. Why is this allowed? It's always allowed in the name of morale! At my company I've seen groups have movie days, team building days, picnics all in the name of morale. Let me fill you all in on a little secret...IF YOU HAVE TO RESORT TO MORALE BOOSTING EXERCISES, YOU'RE ALREADY TOO LATE!
Morale and love of your job does not come from your coworkers catching you when you fall or sitting in a parachute as your coworkers flip you in the air. Love of the job comes from having a job you find challenging, rewarding, receiving a decent salary and getting respect. Morale comes from working with people who are intelligent, pull their weight, will help you when necessary, and who you respect as coworkers.

Using that criteria, I think I can safely say my respect for my coworkers has dropped yet again; thus, my morale is now into the negative.

Then again, this is coming from a gothic anarchist!

Happy Halloween!

On The Disabled List

2006-10-30T17:52:00.000-05:00

Damn it! When did I get old?
Yesterday, I finally got together with my friend, from work, Mike to play an hour of tennis. Let me first say that the duration of our time together was even shocking. When I booked the indoor tennis courts on Thursday I was actually debating booking them for two hours. I thought one hour could not be enough! Man was I shocked 15 minutes in to be huffing and puffing chasing down balls!
It was great to be on the court again, it's been almost 4 years, since I played a competitive match. Boy did it show! My serve came back to me about a half hour in, but my ground strokes were absolutely brutal and we won't even discuss my volleying.
We rallied for about 30 minutes and then played a set for the remaining 30. In the end I came back from down 3-0 to win the set 6-4. TAKE THAT MIKE! MUWHAHA!
Really, I didn't care if I won, I just wanted it to be competitive. From now on Mike's ass is mine! MUWHAHAH! You listening MIKE?!
So now that I've said the actual play was great, let's talk about the day after. Today!
My god I'm hurting. I have the predictable leg pains from running around for the first time in months, but my neck is completely busted up. I slept bad on Saturday night so it was stiff on Sunday, but it seems the tennis on Sunday just made things worse. I can barely move my neck today. I actually had a doctors appointment today, for something else, and made him look at my neck. He confirmed that it's just muscle pains and that I need to use heat and stretch it. So I actually left work at 2 to lie on the heating pad. After about 2 hours of the heating pad I'm able to type this and make dinner.
This is brutal man. No more old man injuries. I've got to stay in shape!

The Devil Inside

2006-10-29T20:17:00.000-05:00

I promised earlier on to recommend a few books, CDs and wines throughout my blogging journey. So that brings us to today. I just finished, last night, I, Lucifer by Glen Duncan. I have to say I was very impressed by this book. I don't think it's one of the best I've ever read, but it definitely had its moments and I think I'll remember this book for a long time. Without giving to much away, the story is essentially about God offering the Devil an opportunity to regain entry into Heaven, so long as he lives out his life as a human without doing anything 'too bad'. Rather than accept this offer immediately he chooses to give out human life a test ride for a month. Along this month long journey he explains to us the truth of his downfall from heaven and his influence on infamous evil people.
I found his historic recounts to be extremely interesting and humour; however, I found the most challenging parts of the book to get through was his life as a human. I found it a little to predictable and boring. But, all in all I would recommend this book to anyone with an open mind. If you are extremely religious I would probably not recommend the book, since it will challenge your ideals of who and what the Devil really is. I also think it's important to mention that you probably should have a general idea of the story of the Devil, from the Bible, as it will add a little more depth to the story.

I hope you enjoy!

Blondes?!

2006-10-29T08:37:00.000-05:00

We've all heard the blonde jokes before. But, seriously how many of us really, truly, believe in the message of these jokes? We all laugh and say, 'hahhaha stupid blondes', but we really think, 'blondes aren't really that stupid'.

Well I am reconsidering that thought after yesterdays German class.
In case you're not up to date with my latest activities, I've been taking a German class at an 'Adult' Education centre. I put adult in quotes, because they have all ages at this school on Saturdays. My Grade 11 class is a mix of high school students and adults. I started in the Grade 10, because I thought Grade 9 would be to basic with the level I've learned from teaching myself, but found Grade 10 to be basic. So, up I went to Grade 11 and so far it's a good match.
Ich denke, dass es sehr gut fur mir ist.
Anyways, back to the blonde part. There is a high school girl in my class who is blonde. She is from the Ukraine and quite an attractive girl, if you like Eastern European women. I like to call her Barbi when referring to her with other people. I've slowly been losing intellectual respect for her the more this class goes on, as she is not bright. But, yesterday was the quintessential moment in defining my respect for her.
She sits behind me in class, next to another highschool boy, who I'm sure has German parents since his German is really quite good.
The teacher had called on her to translate an English sentence to German. The boy next to her, I overheard, told her to say, 'I agree'. Of course, she did this and anybody within listening distance of the young boy, including me, burst our laughing. After wiping away the tears from my eyes, I thought, 'what a dits! Good thing she has looks, maybe she can marry a rich man.'

Now to be fair to her, she was obviously not paying attention and that does not accurately reflect someone's intelligence, but you have to view this in context. I've been in this class for almost two months now and this behaviour is not unique; and the German boy has been messing with her mind from day 1. Again to her defense, her parents are probably forcing her to take this class against her will, since if she was really interested she would pay attention. But, this does not take from the overall humour of the situation.

So are blondes really not as smart as non-blondes? Well here is an interesting picture to help with research. It took me a while to find some pictures on my GIS of Blonde as mostly porn came up! (Yet more evidence?)

Qu'est-ce que c'est?

2006-10-23T12:08:00.000-04:00

I found this on someone else's blog and thought I'd give it a try. You should too! I found the first two to be interesting and fairly accurate. I actually though the job propects to be quite interesting. However, the personality type I think is way off. I'm as unbalanced as they come and would disagree that I'm currently living life to the fullest, but I agree about the success part. I added a few more and you can tell me what you think?

You've Changed 60% in 10 Years

You've done a good job changing with the times, but deep down, you're still the same person.
You're clothes, job, and friends may have changed some - but it hasn't changed you.

How Much Have You Changed in 10 Years?

Your Career Personality: Original, Devoted, and Service Oriented

Your Ideal Careers:

Art director
Book editor
College professor
Composer
Film director
Graphic designer
Novelist
Stage actor
Psychiatrist
Writer

The Quick and Dirty Career Test

You Have A Type A- Personality

You are one of the most balanced people around
Motivated and focused, you are good at getting what you want
You rule at success, but success doesn't rule you.

When it's playtime, you really know how to kick back
Whether it's hanging out with friends or doing something you love!
You live life to the fullest - encorporating the best of both worlds

Do You Have a Type A Personality?

What Your Face Says

At first glance, people see you as driven and ambitious.

Overall, your true self is passionate and physical.

With friends, you seem dramatic, lively, and quick to react.

In love, you seem mysterious and interesting.

In stressful situations, you seem sad and helpless.

What Do People Think Of Your Face?

You Have a Phlegmatic Temperament

Mild mannered and laid back, you take life at a slow pace.
You are very consistent - both in emotions and actions.
You tend to absorb set backs easily. You are cool and collected.

It is difficult to offend you. You can remain composed and unemotional.
You are a great friend and lover. You don't demand much of others.
While you are quiet, you have a subtle wit that your friends know well.

At your worst, you are lazy and unwilling to work at anything.
You often get stuck in a rut, without aspirations or dreams.
You can get too dependent on others, setting yourself up for abandonment.

What Temperment Are You?

You Should Rule Mercury

Close to sun, Mercury has very long days - and is rarely visible to the rest of the solar system.

You are perfect to rule Mercury, because you live for the present - and can truly enjoy a day that goes on forever.
Like Mercury, you are quick and elusive. Your wit is outstanding, and you can win any verbal sparring match.

Some people see you as superficial, but in truth, you just play many roles and have many interests.
A great manipulator, you usually get what you want from people. And they're happy to give it to you.

What Planet Should You Rule?

The Man I Hate The Most, Right Now...

2006-10-16T21:12:00.000-04:00

I don't know about you. But, for me this man makes my blood boil. I've always thought he was an ass, but not until recently did I really pay much attention to him.
All these thoughts are running through your mind as you try to figure out who I'm speaking about. George Bush? Steven Harper? Osama Bin Ladin? Michael Sabia?
Sorry! None of the above. I dislike all of them on that list and maybe even hate some, but none can compare to this man. The people, above, on that list at least have some thing they believe in and some maybe go way off the map with their beliefs, but they are disliked more for their beliefs and actions than just personality.
The man I hate the most is as arrogant as they come and in fact he's so arrogant, he's clueless. There's a level of arrogance where the person realizes he's very confident to the point people don't like them, but Conrad Black has no clue. He thinks he's the shit.

I hate this man so much. He really does represent the stereotypical rich man. Arrogant to the point of cluelessness, pompous, criminal, and utterly heartless. He's the type of man who would throw out a half eaten sandwich rather than give it to a begging homeless man, at his side. He would, in fact, step on the poor bastard's face to get to the garbage and throw it out. Actually, he would get his servant to step on the poor bastard's face to throw out the sandwich for him, because God forbid Conrad touch garbage!

So why hate him so much now and not for the past ten years? Well here's my summary of events and you tell me what you think. I may add some 'opinion' to my summary. Just a warning.

So Zeus...I mean Conrad Black had a huge media empire. He was a rich bastard with none of the day-to-day concerns peasants like us have. One day someone stupid, like the queen of England or some other asshole monarch in the U.K., decided that Conrad Black should be a Lord in England. If you recall in the British world they have a House of Commons for trash like us and a House of Lords for our superiors. However, hold on. There was a problem! Conrad Black was a simple Canadian and our stupidly, oudated and overly cruel laws don't allow Canadian citizens to become British Lords or any kind of title for that matter. Now poor Conrad was conflicted, well maybe not conflict, but I'm sure he thought about it for about a second. So, Conrad dumped his Canadian citizenship to become Lord Black. Now, me being a fair and open minded guy, heard about this and thought what an ass and moved on with my life, because I could care less what he did back then.
Now, just between you and me, it would take a lot for me to dump my Canadian citizenship. Yes, I am a dual citizen and have the benefit of being a citizen of two great countries. If Switzerland contacted me one day and said you have to dump one of your citizenships, I would have to think long and hard about it. This would not be an easy decision, especially since my wife and I live in Canada. To disregard one of my citizenships so I can have some stupid title like "King Shit", I would pass.
Now back to our story. So Conrad slowly fell out of the media spot light, until about two years ago. He got busted by US government for being a downright lowlife bastard. All of this is accusation and from memory so it may not be entirely correct. (Wink wink, but we can all assume it's probably true!) Conrad was apparently pillaging his company's pension plan; thus, robbing his employees of financial security and what was promised to them. Remember Enron? Similar. What's with these rich guys having to rob the poor? Assholes.
Right...my story. Well apparently Canada and the US have some kind of agreement where, I guess, non-dangerous offenders who are citizens of the other country can serve their terms in their home prisons. So guess what Conrad wants? He wants his Canadian citizenship back!
Of course he would. He would rather spend his time in a luxurious Canadian prison, rather than the pound you in the ass American penitentiary where a guy named Bubba would make sure Conrad never had diarrhea ever again.

I want to make sure that Conrad Black never gets Canadian citizenship ever again. If, by chance, he realized he made an honest mistake and wanted his citizenship back without all this stuff in the background, I would think he deserves it. He was born in Canada and did make his millions in Canada. But, that's not the case. He doesn't want to be Canadian, because of emotional feelings and history. It's all about convenience and his rights! I'm sure he can't even fathom that people hate him. He thinks he deserves whatever he wants.
I am not usually a write letters to your MP kind of person. Ya I know, "shock", given my political nature. But, for this issue I will write letters, protest on Parliament Hill, do whatever it takes to keep Conrad out of Canada forever! I hope you'll join me!

Just to add some more fuel to the fire for those of you sitting on the fence. I've added a picture, below, of Conrad at a masquerade party. He dressed as Cardinal Richelieu and his wife as Maria Antoinette. Tell me you don't hate him now!

What have I been missing!

2006-10-14T19:49:00.000-04:00

I have a strange personality. I think most people that know me would agree I'm not the norm. I kind of have this voice in my head telling me to try new things. Maybe, it's just another facet of my OCD complex? I've known lots of people who drink Scotch. When I was younger I though Scotch was no better than Jack Daniels Whisky so I never bothered to try it. Things have changed over the past two weeks. Today, Vintages did their 'special' Scotch release. This got my attention and I did a lot of reading on Scotch and found it to be quite unique, a lot like wine. I decided that since, I really love big powerful smokey Shirazs I would probably like smokey Scotches. I was ready to go buy a $125 bottle of Scotch in the Vintage's release, but luckily a friend at work is a big Scotch drinker and was able to recommend a more affordable bottle for a rookie like me. He recommended Laphroaig 10 years old Single Malt.

Now, I think it's important to kind of summarize how most Scotch Whiskeys are made in order to fully understand the flavour descriptions of Scotch. I read the descriptions and thought I understood, but not until I read about the making of Scotch did I fully understand what it meant. First, what is Peat. Peat is a combustible substance found in the bogs. In Scotch, peat from the bogs of Scotland is used to create a fire to dry the barley grains that are used to make the alcohol. My understanding is the drying process can vary, thus, varying the amount of smokey/'peaty' flavour the barley will pickup which will influence the overall flavour of the final Scotch. The dried barley is then distilled in copper vats to make the whisky and then aged in wooden casks, much like red wines.
So, now back to tasting Scotch. Like I said early, I though a smokey Scotch would be my preference; thus, I purchased a smokey/peaty Scotch. Let me first say that verbal descriptions cannot properly explain the experience of tasting Scotch and that goes for wine as well. However, this Scotch is 'PEATY' . I know understanding what 'peaty' really means. It is a unique, yet interesting flavour. Scotch really has to be rolled around your whole tongue to make sure all taste buds experience the beverage. If you do this, you will pick up all the unique flavours that can be experienced, like: salty, floral, smokey, peaty. I still prefer wine, but I can now say I have a spot in my heart for Scotch. This is quite a special drink, but I can definitely see how this would be an acquired taste due to the alcohol content and strong flavours. I look forward to trying all the different flavours of Scotch available. Cheers!

I Miss Switzerland

2006-10-13T11:20:00.000-04:00

This morning driving to work, on my typically monotonous drive, down Adelaide Street I was looking off in the horizon and saw one of the most beautiful sites I've seen in London. The clouds, off on the horizon, were so fluffy and low hanging and they had the perfect colour and texture that they looked like mountains on the horizon. I had a mixed emotion looking at these clouds. Part of me was happy to see such a beautiful site and part of me really missed Switzerland.
How can that be? I didn't grow up in Switzerland and have only visited it three times, two of those I can actually remember. For some odd reason I have this weird, almost genetic, connection to that country. I've never lived there, but every thought I have of that country is of home. Not to say Canada isn't home too, but Canada gives me a more comfortable almost effortless feeling of home. It's kind of like I know where everything is and should there ever be a need for something I'd know where to look, but it doesn't give me that happy relaxed feeling, like when you were a child and would go home to mom at the end of school and everything felt in place. I don't know how else to explain it.

So, in honour of clouds that look like mountains, here is a picture I took of the mountain range in Lucerne last year.

My Political Compass

2006-10-12T21:14:00.000-04:00

I found this neat website which asks you a bunch of social and economic questions and then plots your 'politics' on a grid to create your Political Compass.

I scored:

Economic Left/Right: -7.75
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -4.21

To see what that looks like plotted click here.

I scored similar to Gandhi, The Dalai Lama, and Nelson Mandela. Interesting. Let me know how you scored.

Stand up for freedom of speech.

2006-10-12T16:49:00.000-04:00

Last night, before bed, I had a great topic for today's blog entry, but upon reading the news this morning my mind completely lost that thought. I was so angry when I read the following article about the French and the Armenian genocide, from the BBC this morning. The French decided to pass a law making it illegal to deny the Armenian genocide by the Ottoman Turks at the end of the Ottoman Empire during WWI. Now it wasn't just this new law that got me all hot under the collar, but more the combination of events like these that just highlight the stupidity of politicians, the politically correct, and in general the human race.

Was there an genocide of the Armenians during WWI? I don't know. That call is up to historians to make the ruling. The Armenians says yes and the Turks say no. So we end up in the middle. What is known for fact is that lots of Armenians died at the hands of Turks during WWI, because of the Armenians 'treason' of aligning with the Russians. I don't know all the details and I don't think most of the world knows all the details either. The problem is the word 'genocide' has become the latest activist buzz word. A genocide is what the Nazi's did to the Jews, what Mao did to the Chinese. It's a systematic, planned, programmed, well thought out process of killing a certain group of people. These days any form of inter-ethnic civil war is being labeled a 'genocide', weakening a very powerful and important word. No wonder there is so much confusion about whether a genocide really occurred to the Armenians at the hands of the Turks. With such loose a definition shouldn't the French be guilty of genocide in Algeria during their colonial days? My question is 'Does it really matter, 90 years later, if we call it a genocide or not?' Most, I think, would agree with me that, no it doesn't really change anything today. Innocent people died and that should not be forgotten, but we cannot change the past and by having a ceremony or giving it a name will not make everything better. That's my first complaint.

My second complaint is about the idiocity of the French parliament. This new law says you cannot deny the Armenian genocide. So does that mean I'll be arrested when I visit France, because I can neither agree nor disagree that a genocide took place? This law was a kind of rebuttal to the Turkish law which basically disallows any discussion on the topic of the Armenian genocide and should you be daring enough to say a genocide occurred you will be in violation of another law regarding insulting Turkishness. Am I the only one who sees a kind of irony here? France is telling their populace what to think, just like Turkey is telling their populace what to think. What happened to freedom of speech? What happened to everything Europe stood for? What happened to the ideals Voltaire pushed into the mainstream; thus, creating the sense of freedom we now enjoy in the Western world? What a huge step back France just took. I know some of you are thinking, 'Well most Western countries make it illegal to deny the Holocaust'. I see that as different. The denial of the Holocaust is usually propagated by hate groups used as a form of anti-semitism. Plus, I don't think many educated people would argue the Holocaust didn't take place...it's a fact.
But, where things have really gone off the track is that fact that the French are using this law as a means to draw the line in the sand for Turkey's membership into the EU. There is a huge division in the EU around the potential membership of Turkey. Turkey does not fit the EU mold. It is a Muslim nation, not Christian. Yes, it's modeled after a Western style democracy and in the large cities you would be hard pressed to notice any religious fanaticism, but in the rurals, there is still a strong religious presence that does not like the path Ataturk led Turkey down.
The fact is the EU sees a clash of cultures between itself and Turkey and they don't anticipate good things coming out of this partnership. But, they are all afraid to speak the truth. Rather they hide behind meaningless, stupid laws and political rhetoric. What happened to the world? I speak my mind and a lot of people don't like that about me, but a lot also do. I don't say hateful things, I just call it as I see it. Yes, sometimes I can go way off base, but that is usually just to ruffle feathers and I know my audience most of the time. The fact is the world is now a spineless shell of what it used to be and I blame not the Muslims that sparked a lot of debate, but the West for not standing up in what made us special.

All this brouhaha really flamed up after the Muhammad cartoons. Muslims around the world went apeshit, because a Danish newspaper published cartoons of the profit Muhammad. According to Muslim law or beliefs such an act is blasphemy. What did the Western world do? Stand up and fight for freedom of speech! No, they capitulated and said we won't do it again. Were the cartoons in bad taste and some even prosecutible under Canadian hate laws? Yes, I think they were done with the soul purpose of pissing off the Muslim world, but we live in a free society where religious law does not govern civil and criminal laws. Every newspaper in the Western world should have republished the cartoons, excluding the hate crime worthy ones; thereby, saying 'we believe in freedom of speech'. What if the Pope now declares that mocking the cross is just as bad as publishing a Muhammad cartoon? What if all the Christians start protesting like the Muslims did? Does that mean we will stop allowing Madonna to do her stupid concert with her posing as Jesus on a cross?

The West and the Muslim world have a huge clash of culture. Does that mean we change our beliefs to not offend them? My point is not to inflame and anger the Muslim world, but make it clear that in the West our laws and beliefs are different and we will not adapt to be PC friendly. Just like if anyone from the West should visit a Muslim nation they shall abide by Muslim laws while there. I'm picking on this issue, because it's the most recent and probably emotional, but it's just the tip of the iceberg. Just look at how politicians skate around abortion, homosexuality, crime, education, almost any topic. We are no longer proud of our beliefs and opinions and too afraid of who we may offend. It's an opinion not a weapon!

We need to learn how to appreciate different peoples opinions and stop getting offended at every comment. Most are not meant to be derogatory or hateful, you just think it is!

Turkey Day

2006-10-06T14:35:00.000-04:00

It's just about time for Thanksgiving up here in Canada and the big question coming across everyone's mind is...What red wine can I drink with the turkey meal? Okay, maybe not.

I'm going to be a little generous this time and share with you one of my favourite wines. The reason I'm being generous is it's a Pinot Noir. One of the most difficult wines to make; thus, one of the most difficult wines to find. There are plenty of Pinot's on the market, but few are stellar. I have found a few really good Pinots over years and this one is one of the best, though not the best (I will never share that with the public hehehe!).

The problem with Turkey is it's not a very strong flavour; thus, big reds don't go well with it. Most people resort to white wines with turkey but, you know me, I want RED!

So what choices do you have? The obvious Gamay/Beaujolais which is really a difficult wine to appreciate, since most are very thin and lack depth and sometimes way to fruity. Your next choice is another lighter red, but unlike Gamay, Pinot has that refined delicate touch with great fruitiness that will win over any wine lover.

So my recommendation is:

This Pinot Noir from New Zealand is unbelievable. The price is moderate, probably around $30-40CDN a bottle. Considering that this wine could compete with some top-notch Burgundies, which will costs upwards of $100, I think it's a steal. The wine is from the Marlborough region on the bottom of the North Island of New Zealand. They have come a long way in New Zealand to master Pinot Noir, as well as, Sauvignon Blanc. The producer is Te Kairanga. I tried the 2004, yes they can be drunk young unlike Burgundies, but have yet to try more from this producer. The 2004 was amazing, everything a good Pinot should be. If you've never tried Pinot I suggest you wait until you can try one highly recommended. Pinots are very hit and miss. If you try a bad one first, you may be reluctant to try more in the future. If you can find this Pinot you will discover a wonderfully captivating red wine. You will be hit instantly with the aroma of cherries, but as you delve further into the wine you will pick up subtle hints of plums and spicy undertones. The producer says there are aromas of cinnamon, but I did not discover that in my tasting. When you finally take your first sips you will float off into heaven. There is an almost refreshing personality with this claret. My first tastes, honestly, made me smile. The wine is a perfect balance of low acidity, very mild tannnins and a long savoury finish. If there are only two of you drinking this bottle you will find it very hard to not drink the whole bottle, as my wife and I discovered.

There is something special about Pinot Noir. Probably the most difficult and elusive wine to find in good quality, but when you find one you will never forget it. I'm a huge fan of big, powerful, fruit forward wines like Shiraz, Cabernet and Merlot, but it's hard to find a better wine than a well made Pinot. I wish you luck in finding one and hope you all enjoy your Turkey Day.

Cheers!

To Be NDP or to not be NDP?

2006-10-04T21:44:00.000-04:00

I decided today's post should tackle the issue of Canadian forces in Afghanistan. I also, felt it important to take a look at the NDP party stance while evaluated this issue. If you've spoken to me in the past few years or so, you will be very aware of the fact that I'm very left-wing in my political views. I've always said, "If communism could work, sign me up." I feel it's important to get a full view of my political views before delving into my opinions on this issue. Last election I voted for the NDP party. I specify the NDP party because, God bless the British electoral system, I can not for the life of me remember the name of the person running for the NDP in my region. But, hey that's another post in the future. As I was saying, I voted NDP for a specific reason. Not because of my left wing tendencies, but because I could not vote for the Bible thumping Conservatives or the corrupt Liberals. I like the NDP party, but find their fuzzy math and extreme views a bit too scary sometimes.

Now that I've summarized my views I can get into the meat of the post. The NDP a few weeks ago has been, essentially, crying for the Canadian military to leave Afghanistan. They don't like the fact that we are taking an offensive role over there rather than peace keeping and 'Nation Building.' As a left wing person I find these comments completely embarrassing and frustrating. We, Canada, are part of an organization called NATO. NATO has taken it upon themselves to play this role in Afghanistan, because the Americans essentially, "Found It, Fucked It and Forgot It." The NDP would like that we essentially not uphold our member responsibilities to NATO. They want to have their cake and eat it too. NATO will protect us, and we'll do nothing. That's my first problem. My second issue is with people not understanding that it is essential that Afghanistan stabilize. If it does not stabilize it will just become home to another extreme Muslim government who will allow terrorist groups to breed on their soil to plan attacks on whomever they please. That being said I also don't know how this will ever be accomplished unless the people of Afghanistan accept democracy. Democracy is really the answer to the problems there; however, democracy has to be accepted, it cannot be forced upon people.
The West is really quite arrogant and I can sympathize with the Arab countries why they hate us so much. The Americans and the West are trying to force the people of Afghanistan and Iraq to accept democracy through a revolution. The only way these Muslim countries will accept a democracy is for the people to evolve in much the same way the West did during the age of enlightment. The people in the Middle East view our "good intentions" as an attempt to undermine their religious beliefs. Let me ask this question. What country in the Arab country has a real democracy? Turkey is the only country that comes to mind. Jordan, no it's an American sponsored 'Monarchy'. Most countries in the Arab world are Religious governments or some kind of oppressive 'Western Sponsored' government.

What's my point? My point is simple, but my point won't help fix Afghanistan and get our troops home. My point is we cannot force Afghanistan to become democratic until the people have realized and believe that democracy is in their best intentions. This won't happen anytime soon. We can install a mock government, maybe in a few years, and leave only to return in another 5-10 when another Religious leader has a successful coup and takes over the country. Coups don't work when the people reject them, eventually they will fall. The people always hold the power in their hands. The problems come about when the people select someone like the Taliban.

I hope for the best for our troops, but really wonder if what they are doing will really have a positive effect on Afghanistan or the World.

Here's to hoping they can stay safe!

Why I Love The WhiteHouse.Org

2006-10-03T10:00:00.000-04:00

This post from the Whitehouse.org is a perfect example of why I love this site. In much of the same vain as theOnion.com, it is a satirical look at the Whitehouse rather than the world. The juvenile humour is just soothing sometimes. If you wish to see the entire article just click on the photo.

Closet Redneck?

2006-09-29T10:56:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, my wife called me a Closet Redneck. Her explanation was, "You are like a Homophobe or Gay-Basher. They publicly slam homosexuals, but are secretly one at heart. You publicly slam rednecks, but probably at heart want to be one." I thought that was hilarious. I think I laughed out loud.

I'll close my eyes and picture my life as a redneck....

(Dream)

I hear the screaching of Axl Rose's voice as Guns 'n' Roses wails in the background. I'm watching Chyna bodyslam X-Pac, on the TV, as I view WWF wrestling. I have a Labatt 50 in hand resting on my beergut and my legs are reclining on 3 cases of empty Labatt 50 two-fours. I adjust my Skoal baseball cap and scratch my armpits, underneath my 'I wish my wife was as dirty as this shirt!' T-shirt. I stand up to pull the wedgey, created by my track-pants since, I'm going commando, out of my ass. I fart and burp at the same time and it makes me laugh. It's almost time to go to the Monster Truck rally so I clean myself up by changing my shirt to a 'Dale Earnhart is God' T-Shirt and spray some Brut cologne on me, to cover up the smell of B.O. I beat my wife for saying hello to the mailman and tell her to have dinner ready when I come back and jump in my 1987 Ford Bronco with 'deer scarring' spotlights on the roof and 'Bush - Jesus 00-08', 'Europe is for Homos' and 'Save a Life - Stop Abortion' bumper stickers on the back. I drive two blocks and run over a child on a bike and then crash into a tree and die, because I'm driving with 4 times the legal blood-alcohol level.

(Wake up)

No, I think I'll stay educated, cultured and intelligent.

Random Though #1

2006-09-29T09:05:00.000-04:00

I was driving home from work the other day and passing in front of my car, at a cross-walk, was a young boy, of probably 5 or 6 years of age with light brown hair and a grin from ear-to-ear, as he held his mothers hand. I watched the young lad cross the street with great interest. "He's so happy", is I all I could think. I really pondered this for a few seconds, as I waited for the light to turn green, and came up with the theory that we all are trying to achieve the childhood happiness we experienced at the age of 5 or 6. The more I thought I about it, I was able to realize that not everyone had the great childhood I had and this has an important impact on how we try to achieve happiness in our lives as adults.
I justify my theory by recalling what it was like to be 5. There was no school, no work, your mom made everything better, you just wanted to play with friends and the worse part of your day was when your parents tried to make you eat vegetables. I think this was the peak of happiness in most people's life and we spend the remainder of our life try to get to that peak again. Some people can do this. They can achieve this happiness through starting a family of their own and watching their children start their lives, or being a volunteer in Africa, or traveling the world, etc. I think this explains why a lot of parents can work crap jobs and deal with it better than people in my shoes. They are happy and their job is just a small setback in their lives. People like me have lots of great things happening in their lives like a loving spouse, good job, I've seen a bit of the world and have good health, but I'm not as happy as I was when I was 5. Since, I'm not as happy as I was at 5 I have to shine the spotlight on my unhappiness, my job, and it becomes such a focus in my life that I can't be happy until it is corrected.

On the other hand people who didn't have such a great childhood, rednecks, abused kids, etc., find the peak of their happiness at other times in their life. Some of them can't get over high school when they were so popular, and part of the football team or cheerleading squad. Some of them never went on to anything else so they sit around and lament about that game they scored 3 touchdowns. It sounds funny to us, because it's high school football, not profession football where the world would remember such an event. But, the fact is that was the happiest day in their life. It was their peak. A lot of us sit around and lament about the carefree days of childhood, because it was the happiest time in our life. Then there are the few that find their current adult life to be the happiest and we are all jealous.

I will continue to strive for that happiness, because I know it can happen. It just requires a lot of work and a lot of patience and may not come about the way I expected it, but it will happen!

What would life be like?

2006-09-26T18:34:00.000-04:00

We've all seen these people. You know them! The stupid people on Earth. It always amazes me how stupid people are or can be. Today, I had one of those days where it felt like I was surrounded by stupid people. Well I should restate. Everyday, I'm surrounded by stupid people, but only the really stupid stand out so much you remember them at the end of the day and write a blog entry about them.
Today's first experience was a moron woman driver. No offence women, but the majority of you suck at driving! I will not take back this comment, because of an important clause in the sentence...majority! There are some very good female drivers out there. My wife is very good, my mom was pretty good when she drove and so far my sister seems pretty decent. I'm sure many more are out there, but lets face the facts most women drivers are BAD drivers. I always said women are bad drivers and men are crazy drivers. Men cause accidents because of stupid risks. Women cause accidents because they don't know how to operate the machine called car!
Anyway, back to my point. This stupid women decided she wants to turn right while waiting at a stop light and she is in the middle lane infront of me. It appears that she had stopped too close to the vehicle in front so logic would dictate that she would need to backup to make enough room in front to move her car into the other lane. Logic would also dictate that when reversing on a roadway you would look behind you before commencing! She decides to just backup without looking in her rearview mirror or over her shoulder. Lucky me, I'm behind her. I think I pressed the horn for about 10 seconds, because it took that long to get her attention!!!!!
Idiot number two today, was a car no where near me that I saw turning left into the Masonville Mall. This person turned left into the oncoming lane. What got my attention was all the honking and cars reversing to let this idiot through without causing an accident. Now, my first thought is, old lady driver. I never saw the driver so I can't confirm my suspicions.

All of these events and many more, from past experiences, got me thinking. What would life be like without stupid people? I really think stupid people are the main reason I hate people so much. I make friends with people who are smart, have the necessary cognitive skills to function in society. I don't have any friends who are stupid. They, and myself included, have done stupid things, but on average these are lapses in judgment not serious brain trauma.

So all of this got me thinking. What if we eliminated the stupid rules, in the world, created to protect stupid people? We could, by process of natural selection, create a society of intelligence. Just imagine...No pollution, low crime, we would have a feasible renewable energy supply, no Wal-Mart, etc.

Here are some of my new rules as Supreme Ruler of the World

Pedestrians J-walking must run out of the way of on coming vehicles or face death via impact of the car. I understand when no vehicle is coming you will J-walk slowly, but if a vehicle is coming I hate people who stroll along knowing we cannot hit them or we face punishment. These people are inconsiderate and deserve to die.
Parents who don't control their kids at the store. We should be allowed to discipline the child ourselves and then kick the father in the nuts and the mother in the vagina. Since, when did parents start to suck at raising children. Children are so spoiled today and parents are afraid to make their kids cry. This is why we have a sudden influx of stupid people in the world. Plus, I hate parents who let their 3 year olds push grocery carts. Like they can control the damn thing!
People who drive SUVs or Pick-Up trucks should not have clean vehicles. If they are clean we should be entitled to throw mud and rocks on them. These vehicles are not luxury vehicles. Hence, the name Sport Utility Vehicle or Truck. If you don't use these vehicles to haul large objects or go off-roading with them you shouldn't own them. Buy a fuel economical vehicle and stop thinking you have a big penis, because you drive a "man's" vehicle.
Corporations that break the law should be punished more aggressively. If they are repeat offenders the government should take control of the corporation with the help of a special government organization that specializes in these situations. The guilty parties in the corporation should face a real jail term, a significant fine and have to face their employees, where their employees have the right to do whatever they want to them and face no retribution. I'm sick of hearing about how corporations pollute and pay the fine, because the fine is less expensive than cleaning up their operation. Our how executives essentially rape the company of all value and end up in a club-fed jail and pay a fine of only 1% of their earnings and the employees of the company are left unemployed and screwed.
People who tailgate people who are behind a long line of vehicles. The driver being tailgated should be allowed to stop suddenly and kill the driver behind them. Their damaged car will be replaced by the deceased persons estate or insurance. Are these people really this stupid? I understand tailgaters who want a slow person to move, but if there are 6 cars in front the flow of traffic is stalled to the speed of that first car. Tailgating the sixth car will not speed things up. These people should die slowly.

That's about all I can come up with at this moment, but as I think about it I'm sure I'll have future posts on the subject.

Black and Tan

2006-09-21T13:03:00.000-04:00

Last night, I went out with a friend of mine from work. If you know me you know that I don't have too many friends from work. I consider most of the people I work with acquaintances. Rarely do I like the people I work with. Honestly, I dislike most. In normal conditions, I probably wouldn't spend more than ten seconds talking to coworkers if I met them outside of work. I did have one friend, here in London, Steve who is now off to bigger and better things in Calgary. We have very similar views on the world and work. So we got along well. I also have my colleague in Montreal, Stephane The Womanizer, who I get along with real well, but obviously due to location differences we don't see much of each other. Aside from them, most of my friends are in Toronto and I rarely see them anymore. So I'm kind of lacking for male companionship!

However, back to my original thought. I went out with my friend from work, Mike. I've known Mike for a while now and we've always been saying we should get together for a drink or play guitar, but it never came together until last night. We went out to a British pub in the downtown, where there was a murder a couple years back, and chatted for a few hours. It was quite fun and we both had some good laughs...mostly at our work colleagues expense. The great thing about Mike is he plays TENNIS! Finally, I have a tennis partner in London. I haven't played a competitive match of tennis in years. He also plays racquetball, so I plan to learn this winter. Mike is an interesting guy with a very interesting project on the go. He's making a movie. The movie has already been filmed and just needs the final touches, on editing and audio, so he tells me. I'd link to his website, but his ISP has dropped the ball. No. It's not Bell. (gasps of surprise) However, once he gets his site up and running again I plan to add the link so you can all be exposed to his movie when it's released. Cool eh!

Now to my Entry Title. Black and Tan. For those of you who don't know what it is, it's a drink. In the same pint glass they pour Guinness on top of Harp; thus, creating a black layer on top and a tan layer. I suggest you try one if you ever get the chance. Nice drink. Much lighter than a Pint of Guinness. Anyway, if you've never heard of said drink, don't' be embarrassed. I thought, when Mike was referring to the beverage, that he was talking about a hound dog!

CHEERS!

Fake Plastic Testicles

2006-09-19T17:25:00.000-04:00

Today, driving home I ended up behind some redneck in a beat up old Ford pickup truck. If that wasn't evidence enough of his white trash, redneck nature; what hung from his trailer hitch was sure to clinch it. He had fake plastic testicles hanging from his hitch, much like the one in the picture. Obviously, he's trying to show that he's a real man.

Why do rednecks exist? Do they serve a purpose? People always say I'm such a snob, but honestly how can anyone defend people like this. Sometimes, rednecks are so stupid that they are fun to laugh at, but in this case his fake nuts failed to even trigger the giggles of the eleven year old inside of me.

One thing I found interesting was the colour of the fake testicles...blue. BLUEBALLS anyone.
Jeez I wonder why he has blueballs. Maybe because he's a filthy, dirty, intellectually devoid redneck! Go drink some rancid rainwater, a.k.a. Labatt 50.

Oh, The Humanity!!!

2006-09-19T11:12:00.000-04:00

I found this old Onion article on a shooting and thought it would be a nice posting considering yesterdays post. Enjoy!

Click on picture below to access the article.

Let's Find An Excuse!

2006-09-18T21:31:00.000-04:00

So it's about time I made another posting. I've been debating for a while what my next post should be about and just as I sit down, in front of my trusting iBook, ready to type away my topic hits me.
The shooting in Montreal.
In case you live in a cave under a rock, here's the summary. Guy goes on shooting rampage at a local college and kills one and puts more in intensive care. Here's a link to an article on the event, if you so desire. I suggest you read about the event before continuing on with this entry as you need the whole context.

There has been a lot of pointing fingers trying to figure out what caused Kimveer Gill to do this. Some people point fingers at Gothic music and their Vampirefreaks.com web sites. Others to his gun fascination and his playing of video games based on the Columbine Massacre. I find these people humourous. They have no proof of any of these things being the "trigger" that sent him over the edge or even started this violent process. I was goth. Believe it or not, most goths are artsy, left wing people who feel alienated from society and pull away to what makes them comfortable. They despise violence and think more like Greenpeace members than NRA members. It's a childish culture, now that I look back on it. They all say they want to be ignored, but it's hard to ignore someone in all black with a white face and black lipstick. My point in any event is gothic music is dark and may sound violent to the untrained listener, but in most cases has a political message about war or religions. The gothic culture is not a violent one. I also find the video game excuse to be a bit tired. How many millions of people around the world have played this, completely tasteless and ridiculous, Columbine shooting game but have not gone on shooting rampages themself? The game is probably rated for adults. That being said I'd like to reiterate that the game should never have been made with such a theme about such a tragic and specific event. These games are rated for adults since, most adults have the ability to distinguish between real and game. I can see how games like this can easily warp young children, but adults have seen worse on the news and can play a game and then re-enter the real world safely. I've been playing Splinter Cell 2 for the past 4 days and have yet to go stalking through the streets with a pistol and silencer taking out "suspicious Indonesian spies". It's a game that's realistic, because the video game market wants believable games.
The biggest thing in the news of late is the police and society screaming that people on Vampirefreaks.com should have raised alarm bells when Kimveer was posing with guns on his blog. Through Wikipedia I was able to see the blog entries in context and have to say that if I came across this guy on a blog, I wouldn't have thought about telling the police. He looks like an attention whore who admires guns and is trying to look tough posing with them. I saw nothing in the blog that would lead me to believe this guy was a killer or doing anything illegal. To be honest, I think anyone who owns guns is a bit nuts, but our laws allow it so he doesn't stand out as crazy to me. You decide for yourself. Check out this link.

So now to my point. My point is Kimveer Gill was depressed, alienated, and not well mentally. This is why he did what he did. Does it make it right? No, absolutely not. What I'm trying to say is "Sorry society, but there is no one horrible and specific man made thing to blame here." The fact is anyone in this kind of mental state can do this and more will do this. Society wants an easy answer and something to blame so they can go back to living life carefree and not terrified. Banning violent video games will not stop murders. Should they be banned is a different issue. Will banning metal and gothic music reduce murders. No. Guns? Well that's a tough one. I think guns should be banned, but we are far too late for that to have any effect. Illegal guns will always stream into our country and end up in the hands of people who shouldn't have them. Plus, if someone really wants to kill someone or large amounts of people there are always other means, guns are just the easiest. Home-made bombs and knives can still kill.

The real issue here is the mental and emotional state of people. Kimveer was depressed and felt hopeless. It pushed him over the edge and rather than committing suicide, like most depressed people, he went on a shooting rampage before ending his life. Lots of blame is being directed at jocks in high schools for picking on the geeks and freaks. Jocks are asses I agree, but many people have had to deal with bullying and don't act out violently years after finishing school. We don't know all the details surrounding Kimveer's life yet, but the goal to understanding what he did stems from his mental state. Most likely, depressed, unemployed or in a bad job, lonely, and hopeless.

How many of you have felt the same? I have, but we never snapped and killed people.
Kimveer did! Kimveer is not the norm of society!
People like this will always exist and people like this will continue to act out as they have for hundreds of years. The only good thing is these people are a small percentage of the population so these events should not occur frequently. Let's hope the rest of his victims pull through.

Books, books, books...

2006-09-13T14:52:00.000-04:00

I don't have much to say today so I'll draw attention to my new addition to my blog. You'll see about half way down the page on the right side I now have a little widget linking to my library of books I've catalogued with LibraryThing. It should have most of my books. I tried to complete the list from memory so one or two may be added when I get home.

I have to give proper credit to Prim as she originally had it on her webpage, so I copied her. What can I say? Nothing is original!

Here is my list! Maybe one day I'll add comments or reviews. For the moment I've just rated the ones I've read.

Ode To Rivella

2006-09-12T11:27:00.000-04:00

Ode To Rivella

(To the tune of Show Me Mary by Catherine Wheel)

The cow sticks it's tongue out

The farmer pulls on her utters

The pain from drinking makes me shout

I scream out to Mutter!

The golden liquid streams down

My mouth waters

In the liquid I want to drown

Lactose is no bother

How does it hurt?

OW OW OW!

Show me Rivella.

So what is Rivella you ask? It is a secret the Swiss have kept for a long time. (It's a secret not by their own doing!) Rivella is a carbonated soft drink derived from milk serum. Don't ask, I don't know exactly what milk serum is. My grossmama used to buy this for me when I was in Switzerland and on my last trip there with my wife in 2005 I had it yet again. It's a golden colour, as you can see in the picture above, and the taste is hard to describe, even for a supertaster like me. Even though the taste is hard to describe, it tastes wonderful. It's not too sweet, but unique and enjoyable. The bottles come in 3 colours representing 3 different types. Red is the original, blue is diet and green is a green tea flavoured of infused. I prefer the original. So now you're wondering why haven't I ever heard of this before? Well the reason is, because North Americans don't seem to be interested in a milk serum derived pop. I believe Rivella has tried on two occasions to break into the Coke and Pepsi dominated United States and on both occasions flopped. The first time I think they tried going into supermarkets and the second time they focused on specialty food stores and on both times never penetrated the market. However, in Europe it is very popular.

My biggest problem with Rivella is...it's made with milk products. For someone who is lactose intolerant this pop is like a Snickers to someone with a nut allergy. Last time I had this drink I was in Lugano, Switzerland and thought I was going to die. I actually had a rash on my chest. My body didn't want more lactose at all! So the world has created yet another milk product I love, but can only enjoy in limited quantities. Rivella joins the ranks of cheese, chocolate and ice cream in my books.

If you ever go to Europe be sure to look for Rivella and enjoy one or more for people like me!

Quality At A Reasonable Price

2006-09-11T18:29:00.000-04:00

Concha Y Toro is one of those great Chilean vineyards that has mastered wine making in this gorgeous South American country. Concha Y Toro offers a great range of products from top quality wines at higher Chilean price range, still affordable compared to French or Italian wine prices. As well they offer a decent quality mass market wine as "Casillero Cabernet Sauvignon". You know the wine, it around $12CDN with a red devil on the label.
Today, I want to take about their midlevel wine "Marques de Casa Concha Cabernet Sauvignon". At the moment you'll probably find in store the 2004 release. I will be speaking mostly about the 2003 release as I haven't had a chance to taste the 2004.
This medium body red wine is everything you could want. Great price, around $20, can be drunk early, and the quality is that of a much more expensive wine. The minute you pour the wine into your glass you see a deep red, bordering on black colour. With aromas of vanilla, casis, cedar, and a hint of plum it is sure to wet your palate for that first taste. From the first quaff this wine will not disappoint. The flavours live up to the aromas. Low acidity and mild tannins give this wine a wonderful finish that will stay with you for minutes.
This wine always scores well with Wine Spectator, 90 or higher.
I highly recommend this wine first for quality and second for price. Cheers!

Paul Martin?

2006-09-10T10:14:00.000-04:00

I have a new respect for The Onion.

Take a look at the picture below from one of their recent articles. I always thought they had models for their pictures or used Photoshop on regular pictures, but now I believe they just use photos from the news and place them where ever they want. Thus, Paul Martin is now a Caltech Physicist! That makes it even more hilarious!

Never Assume, It Makes An Ass Out of U and Me!

2006-09-08T12:45:00.000-04:00

If you recall from a previous posting I did, I was having some difficulties with my Bell landline at my house. They had crossed my line with someone else's. I had called in to report this trouble after my original call to report something was wrong with my call answer service. Of course, nothing was wrong with my call answer service, because I was trying to use it on someone else's line. Anyway, I concluded that post predicting that they would uncross the lines and probably screw up my call answer service, because the left hand doesn't talk to the right hand.

Well, make a fool out of me. I'm just too pessimistic I guess. I underestimated my employer and boy did they show me. Nothing was wrong with my voice mail. BUT, THEY CUT MY FREAKING SERVICE! WHAT THE (expletive delete). I'm completely blown away by this. I really didn't think Bell could drop any lower in customer service expectations, but they over achieved once again. So for two days we were without internet or dial tone. So I called in the repair again and they did their best to piss me off and promised to have the line corrected by yesterday night. They failed to do so, so I plan to complain to the executive office and report it to the CRTC.
However, to continue my story, I decided that the odds of this being corrected over the weekend were slim and took the matter into my own hands. I know a technician in the city who I work with frequently and decided to request a favour from him. I could fix the problem myself in about 3 minutes, but I don't have the tools necessary to make it happen. I knew the problem was at the crossbox and not the switch, since my phone number was still active and the call answer service still picked up. All that was missing was a jumper in the crossbox from the feeder cable to my distribution cable. All you need to know is what pair the phone number is on in the feeder cable and punch it onto the pair my house is connected to, which I can identify, since I have a toner and probe to hear them. In any event, he said no problem and he would come out today hopefully in the early afternoon. What a nice guy.

I decided to go to Starbucks and grab a coffee and pick up a case of beer for him as a thank you for his favour. As I'm leaving I see Ajilon, a contractor we use, at my neighbourhood's crossbox. I assumed he was probably fixing my line issue, but I carried on expecting them to screw it up anyways. I came back home pleased to hear my phone ringing. I doubled checked that the phone was the right number and that my internet is working and then proceed to call back my technician friend to tell him not to bother to come, because the issue had finally been corrected.

I have so many issues with what happend here. I didn't loose my phone service because of a storm or car accident, but because some incompetent dumbass technician, probably a contractor, screwed up when we was trying to fix the line crossing issue. Where is the verification, the competence, the intelligence? Customer service is absolutely ridiculous. You get a call centre in India who has no idea how the business works. They take your issue and plug it into the database and that's it. They can't help you! They don't even know how dial tone gets to your house! Amazingly, this issue got resolved, but this easily could've gone on all weekend and if I didn't know internal people to call I would've been without phone service for almost a week. I am pissed! I want to make sure I am refunded for five days of phone and internet service at a minimum.

How sad is it that when people say, "Bell sucks" or "Bell customer service screwed me and doesn't care", my response is not, "wow, that's unusual", but rather "oh I know. Bell sucks".
This company is doomed for failure and will continue to loose customers if they cannot get their customer service worked out. For a start, stop outsourcing your telephone agents. I don't care if their Indian or Canadian or French. They should be really Bell employees who know how the telephone network works so they can take real notes on the issues, not "*98 doesn't work", and direct the issue to the correct database and staff. Secondly, don't make timeline promises if you can't keep them. They made at least three different timeline promises to me and kept none of them. For something as insignificant at *98 I can expect slow resolution, but no phone service is supposed to be a 24 hour turn around. The telephone is deemed an essential service. We were without 911 for 2 days.

I plan to report this to the Executive Office, CTRC and internally in the company. Even though nothing will probably come of it. What's really sad is that the company continues to downsize. Not the people who are useless, and trust me there are many, but people who should stay. Expect customer service to deteriorate even more in the next few years.

I'm so glad everything is going IP. In the future I see no more tv or phone providers, just internet providers. Everyone will use software driven programs for their phone, like Skype, and television. We just need to see bandwidth increase a little more. Then Rogers and Bell will just be internet service providers, but maybe people like Google will continue to come along and offer free wireless internet service and Bell and Rogers will go bankrupt. What a happy day that will be!

DEATH!

Grapes

2006-09-07T14:05:00.000-04:00

As I sit in my cubicle farm eating some red grapes I start to think, "what kind of grapes are these?" Most of the time at grocery stores the varietal of the grape is not listed. It's either green seedless, red seedless or black seedless. Occasionally, the have the Italian varietal Muscat. What exactly am I eating? No real unique flavour. Sweet, crunchy and I guess satisfying, but not memorable. I assume they are not wine making grapes, since I've heard that they are not very tasty to eat. I would imagine a thick skin grape like Cabernet Sauvignon or Nebbiolo would be disgustingly bitter. I have never tried them so it's just an assumption. Maybe, they're used in Ontario wine. No I'll give them some credit. They at least use the proper varietals, they either don't grow them well or still haven't mastered oenology after all these years. No I think these grapes are probably what makes the grape juice given to those people who make their own wines. Why do people do this? Unless, you have your own vineyard in France or Italy, etc., HOMEMADE WINE IS PUTRID!

The funniest thing is how defensive people get about their homemade wine. Every time I meet someone new who makes homemade wine I always say, "I don't like homemade wine, it's never very good." I try to be polite, rather than say, "HOMEMADE WINE IS PUTRID!" The response I always get back is, "oh you haven't tried mine."
I don't need to. It will be shit too!

People there is a reason wine makers age wines in barrels and study oenology at school. IT'S A SKILL! You can't age grape juice in plastic buckets and expect it to taste good. Yes, you've mastered organic chemistry. Sugar->Alcohol->Acid. But, it requires knowledge, equipment and experience. Not a plastic bucket, a package of yeast and a dim room.

*******PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT**************
If you make homemade wine, please stop offering it to people! We don't like it. If we say we do it's because we are too kind. I'm not part of that we, because I'll tell you it's shit!
**********END OF TRANSMISSION************

My Fist Did Not Just Hit The Table.

2006-09-06T16:59:00.000-04:00

DEATH to Bell!
DEATH DEATH DEATH.
The trifecta is now complete. Prim has Bell pissing her off. Breakers has Bell pissing her off and now I'm pissed off at Bell...well more than usual!
Yesterday, I found that something was wrong with my voice mail. To be exact when I hit *98 instead of getting a request for my password, the bitch said something to the effect of "This service is not on this line." YES IT IS BITCH!
So today I called 310-Bell and reported the problem. Shortly thereafter I had an epiphany and thought "I bet the dumbass retards crossed the lines at the cross-box". So I tried calling my home number with my cellphone. It rings on the cell but not at home! That would explain why we've been getting the same caller calling asking if our number is 652-something. He was dialing the right number it just wasn't going where it's supposed to. So I call back repair and the girl asks for my number and says yes it's crossed. So tomorrow one of their more talented monkeys will come out and try to repair the cross. I could probably go and fix it myself, but don't want to expell the effort, plus nobody important calls us!
So I can already predict the upcoming events. Bell corrects the crossed lines. The left hand doesn't talk to the right hand and they end up screwing up my working voice mail!
I hate corporations! But, that's another post!

Bus Part Deux

2006-09-06T14:52:00.000-04:00

Okay people! I realized that I should be considering the monthly pass. They have a weekday only monthly pass for $63. Divide that by 20 days and it's $3.15/day. Cheaper than tickets and more of a savings over the car. Just needed to clarify. YEAH Public Transport!

The Freaks On The Bus Go Round-And-Round

2006-09-06T13:49:00.000-04:00

So today I took the bus for the first time.
Why? You ask. Well the main reason is we finally have a bus route in our neck of the woods in north London. For a few years they've had these signs up saying "Possible Future Transit Stop", finally they made them a reality. The stop is no more than 3 minutes from my door and the bus runs every half hour to the mall where you have to transfer to the bus that takes you downtown. I always said that if there was a useful bus route to work I would take it, so today was my trial run. I hope to keep riding my bike except on rainy days and take the bus. When the weather turns bad in the cold and snow I'll ride the bus regularly. Currently, I pay $48/month for parking, plus gas for the month. I'm not sure about that expense since I use the car for more than transport to work, but I think $30/month is conservative. So I spend approximately $78/month to get to work. If I buy bus tickets at $1.76/per ride times two per day times 20 trips a month=$70. WHAT!? Where's the damn incentive to stop driving? Oh man I'm confused now. I'm gonna call the city and tell them to raise the parking rates so my decision is more obvious. Anyways, as I write this I'm still at work so I can't comment on the ride home yet, which I'm sure will have lots of freaks.
The ride to work was pretty painless. It took a total of 30 minutes including the transfer, if you can even call it that. My drive to the parking lot and walk from there to work take 30 minutes as does my bike ride. Within ten minutes I was at the mall and the next bus pulled up a minute later for the transfer, we actually passed it on the road. Twenty minutes later I was downtown and walking to the building, which was a very short distance from the stop. This week the ride is free, I guess to introduce people to the route. I saw the new route bus heading in the other direction this morning with lots of high school students on it, probably because the bus stop directly in front of the high school, but by the time it made it's loop and picked me up the bus was empty. My trip to the mall had only an old lady as another rider. Not bad! The bus downtown was busier, obviously. However, there were no freaks! Just business people and university students. I actually didn't mind the ride since it was so quick and sans "gangsta rappas" or "wannabes".
I'm a little concerned about the ride home, since it will be starting from the downtown. If you haven't been to downtown London here is a summary of the people you might see:
Guys talking to themselves; Teenage pregnancies; pitbulls; Gangsta rappas, drunks; white trash(redundant); guys who play trumpet for money; guys with electronic keyboards, worth more than a months rent, begging for money; fat redneck girls who think they are hot, only to Jabba the Hut.
You may now understand my concern. What is it with the bus? I guess I already know the answer...cheap transport. That is why the dregs of society congregate to them. Even the Greyhound seems to have freaks flock to it. Compare the average Via Rail passenger to the average Greyhound passenger...scary, isn't it?
The bus is usually not a pleasurable means of transport.
I recall my days of working in Brampton at the Maple Leaf Meats factory with Sheman. We used to take the Torbram bus to work. If you're not familiar with Brampton, Torbram road is nothing but factories. The ride in the morning was not horrible, but coming home just imagine the stench of a bus full or every different culture possible sweating and tired. Yes, excuse me while I puke from memory. My friend Een, who used to take the same bus, referred to that bus as "The Stench of Humanity". Fitting I say!
There is just something odd about the bus. In Toronto the subway has it's share of freaks, but most people are business people. The bus just attracts the freak I think. The thing that always gets me and I can never understand is most of these freaks on the bus don't have a job. Where are they going? Why are they wasting $2.50 a ride on the bus? But, today it hit me. They're freaks right? They have nothing better to do with their time. So they ride the bus for eternity. The bus drivers don't really notice where you got on and the fact you never get off. The route just keeps repeating. They sit on the bus forever; thus, the freaks on the bus go round-and-round. I think I've just solved the mystery.
Now that I look back at my potential savings of $8 I'm torn whether it's worth it taking the bus. Pro: Better for the environment, don't have to drive through snow, can read or listen to my Ipod
Cons: Have to wait in the rain or cold when it's late, less convenient when I want to pick up things after work, "stench of humanity", maybe freaks

Hmm. Leave me your comments. I'd like some opinions.

Someone Press The Stop Button

2006-09-04T12:51:00.000-04:00

So it's been a while since I last made a posting, but I was quite busy. I took one week of vacation from Hell and went up to my sister-in-laws cottage in Northern Ontario with my wife. It was nice to get away to absolute silence and water. The weather was great and we were able to swim everyday in the lake. I hope to post some pics later on. I came back with a little more colour, but no major tan. We concluded our time up at the cottage on my birthday as I'm now the big 3-0. I don't feel a day over 29! HAAH!
After my birthday dinner with my family, my wife and I hosted my parents and aunt at our place for the weekend. So in short I've had no time to write. That doesn't mean lots of things didn't happen.
This weekend saw the retirement of one of my childhood idols from the tennis world. Andre Agassi ended his long and memorable career at the US Open. He was really suffering from back problems at the end and I think it was obvious to most he wasn't going to retire with one more title. In honour of my childhood tennis idol I thought it would interesting to do a comparison of his styles from when I grew up with him to his current look today.
Looking back at his original image you've got to say, "wow! The 90's were almost as bad as the 80's for style!" I remember the first time I saw Andre with his shaved head I thought, "Hey, it's the lead singer from Live!" I'll miss watching you on the court Andre!

Another interesting thing happened this weekend. Steve Irwin, The Crocodile Hunter, died! Can you believe it? We all saw this coming, but he didn't die from a snake bite or a crocodile chomping down on his skull, but rather a sting ray punctured his chest with it's barbed tail. Ow! In a world of boring people, I'll miss a nut like him! Ciao Mate!

I also discovered that the battery in my iBook is not a potential house destroyer. I checked the Apple website and the serial number on my battery is not one of the recalled group. Yeah!

So what else could have happened this weekend. Well a weekend wouldn't be complete without a redneck incident, or rather a Fredneck incident. On our reasonably middle class cul-de-sac we have the token redneck, named Fred. My wife came up with the name Fredneck. Let me lead into this by describing his property. When we all moved into our homes on the street we all started referring to his house as the "Junkyard". He had a 4x4 with deflated tires on the driveway, a garbage bin at the side of the house and random shit lying all over his lawn and driveway. He leaves his, originally red, Christmas lights up all year round and they are now a lighter shade of pink or completely white. Just two weeks ago it was apparently X-mas at their household and the lights were turned on. He easily fits into crowds while wearing his army fatigues, driving his minivan/4x4 with big lights on the top of the roof. You know the ones, they use them to scare the deers! Well, this weekend we woke up and looked out the window to see this...Yes, fake Canadian geese on his lawn. If you look carefully you will see he even set one of the geese up by a small bird bath so it looks like it's drinking. CLASSY!
Even better, in his garage you can see an odd looking wicker object. I believe this to be a cage that he probably hides in when hunting ducks or something with these fake geese. Why are rednecks so clueless! Do they not realize they are freaks and should commit suicide!
Just last night at my brother-in-laws, his redneck neighbours installed what can only be called a full scale street light over their swimming pool. The light in the lamp is like a full halogen light that glows bright enough that a plane may decide to land in his backyard.
Let's pause for a second and imagine a world without rednecks. Land values around the world would shoot up, sales of pickup trucks and SUVs would fall, drinking and driving would all but disappear, NASCAR wouldn't exist, Labatt's would stop production of 50, no more house fires from deep fried turkeys at Thanksgiving and the world would smell better. I say forget the pause button...Someone Press The Stop Button.

War In The Middle East

2006-08-24T14:13:00.000-04:00

I wanted to make a posting about the "crisis" in the Middle East, but decided since my previous post was quite preachy I'd tone things down a bit and make my point with some humour. My opinons on the Middle East are fairly well demonstrated through the satire in this article from The Onion. Enjoy!

Know The Rules!

2006-08-24T09:45:00.000-04:00

So, yesterday, I had my first bike crash since I started biking to work. Yes, I'm fine. A few scrapes and bruises, but nothing major. How did this happen you ask? Stupid person, that's how. Are you surprised? Probably not, I wasn't. It happened in the park along the bike trails on my way home after work. It was down a hill section. I saw a skateboarder ahead of me and started down the hill. As I normally do, when passing someone, I dinged my bell to inform them to stay to the right. What does this genius do? He panics and moves to the left. I had to slam on my brakes, as at the speed I was going I probably would have hurt him pretty bad. Yes, I was in a good mood! I was able to stop in time, but lost my balance and toppled over landing on my arm and butt. My backpack cushioned my back. The guy was very sorry and helped me up and even ran after my runaway water bottle. He was genuinely sorry so I think that's why I wasn't too upset. After I got up I told him to go ahead as I was fine and he descended down the hill. I got back on my bike and continued down the hill as well. As I get to the bottom guess who lost control of his skateboard and almost got hit by me again! Moron. In the end all is well. Nothing was broken and aside from some small pains in my arm I'm fine. On my way back home I realized that my bike gears were messed up. The way the bike landed I think messed up the gears a bit. So last night I had to do some minor repairs on the gears, but I think I fixed it. I didn't get to test my bike out today as it was drizzling this morning and is supposed to thunderstorm later. So my wife volunteered to drop me off at work and pick me up later. I'll have to wait until after my vacation to test it out again.

My complaint today is our lack of respect for the rules. I don't mean to sound like an anal freak, but if we have rules we should be enforcing them. I started on this topic, because of my little accident. Not necessarily because of the guy I hit, but how so many people were clueless about the ringing of a bell on a bike path. This guy was not the first person using the bike paths to hear the ring and panic and try to move to the left. When bikers ring their bell it's to signify that we are passing you, stay where you are! I'm not really focused on this rule, as it might not even be a rule. My wife suggested I look up biking etiquette and see whether I'm right. My point has more to do with more pressing rules in our society and our societies general lack of enforcement. Don't get me wrong I think rules should only be made where necessary, but if we have rules they should be enforced strictly. We have speed limits that nobody obeys, including myself. First let me state that our speed limits on the highways are too low. They should be raised, we can safely do at leased 120km/h on them. But, the fact is the speed limit remains at 100km/h, yet it's rare to see in enforced unless it's a police highway blitz. We used to have photoradar that I thought was great. It enforces the rules and makes easy money for the government, but of course the lowest common denominator complained until finally a new government made it part of their platform and eliminated it. What they should have done is raised the speed limit and enforced it with the photoradar. Then we have the fines for speeding. Essentially, if you stay under 16km/h of speeding your fine will be minimal, $40 or slightly higher, and you loose no driving points. So, in my mind, the law is saying don't speed, but if you want to stay under 16km/h over. That's just one example.
Let's look at the work place. In general understanding, most people recognize that if you steal from an employer or sexually harass somebody or assault someone that is sufficient grounds for dismissal. But, in reality how often do employers live up to their end. I've seen employees steal from the employer, get caught and not be fired. When I worked in an auto plant one union member punched a manager and was fired. The union then wildcat striked and the offender was brought back and suspended with pay. I've heard a story from a HR colleague at my current employer where a male employee went behind a female employee, with massive boobs, and fondle her breasts in front of people. She turned around and slapped him, but both of us expected that he wouldn't be fired, but sent on a sensitivity training course. My point here is our society cuts too much slack and we've created this unimpressive society and workforce. How many steps back did we take cutting all of this slack? I wonder how much more efficient, productive and richer our country and society would be if we enforced the rules we've created.

Everyone knows I'm very pro-Switzerland. Maybe my points are biased, I'll admit it, but two things people know about Switzerland if they ever visit the country is: it is a very rich and productive country; rules are enforced strictly. I don't think these two points are coincidences. In Switzerland, if you exceed the speed limit by about 4km/h your fine will be significant. Large enough that my very well to do uncle obeys the limit and most drivers do. There is still the odd idiot. However, maybe to compensate for the strict enforcement, the speed limit is about 120km/h on the highways. The same can be said for Germany. Everyone know about the lack of speed limit on the Autobahn, but what people don't realize is when the Autobahn approaches a community a speed limit is posted and it is strictly enforced. In the Swiss workplace, most employers sign a contract with their employees. Not a contract like in North America where you become a contract employee, but a contract outlining behaviours, pay and raises, time limits, etc. Should either party break that contract, dismissal or suits are easy to enforce and usually are. Switzerland has an unemployment rate of 3% and one of the largest GDPs per capita in Europe and the World. I believe by creating a society that values and respects rules, they've created a lean and efficient society that is the envy of most of the Western world. In contrast, we have the typical office dullard screwing up jobs and not fearing for the mistake they knowingly make in North America.

I think a little bit of fear never hurt anyone.

Man, Woman, Lesbian...What is it?

2006-08-22T09:34:00.000-04:00

Last night my wife and I vegged in front of the TV. We searched through our hundreds of of useless channels on the ExpressVu dish and settled on Canadian Idol. I would in most cases rather gouge my eyes out than watch Canadian Idol, but I was tired and wanted to just veg with my wife. So we watched Canadian Idol. My hearing is still recovering from the atrocities we heard. I can't believe this is still on TV, but that's besides the point. I'm not using this posting to do the typical bashing of the concept of this show. I'm not going to slam the concept that, because you can sign Karaoke you can be a pop star. But, then again looking at our current group of pop stars (Britney, Jessica, a pile of crap), maybe the Idol shows know how to find more unoriginal, untalented would be singers. Who am I to say?

My posting today is about Craig Sharpe. I'm not quite sure what it is? The name Craig would indicate male to me, but we live in a society where Kelly can be a unisex name, so who knows? The reason I'm perplexed is it's performance on August 21st was a scary sight to be seen. Not just because of the singing. I really could not tell the sex of this would be future nobody. Look for yourself...
What do you think? Male, Female, Transvestite, Hermaphrodite? My conclusion is it's a male trapped in a female's body with both sexual organs that is bisexual. If that's not the case then I suggest it says it's a female and it's a lesbian. It kind of has that K.D. Lang look. Might start it's singing career off on the right foot!

A Little Bit of Culture

2006-08-18T11:34:00.000-04:00

I decided that my post today should be a simple one. I think I'll repeat this concept in future posts. The idea is to talk about my favourite things: Wine, Music, Books and sometimes movies. I may start to run out of these items in the future, (maybe not CDs!) but for this post I will mention a bottle of wine, a CD and a book that I recommend.

Wine is probably one of my biggest weaknesses. I just love it. If it went with breakfast I'd drink a bottle with my pancakes. I prefer red wines, but there are a few whites that I don't mind and actually like. For the most part, most of my wine recommendations will probably be reds, but I may throw in a few Rieslings, Chardonnays, Sauvignon Blancs or Fendants.

Today's wine is one of my personal favourites (my stock has diminished faster that I thought).
Kilikanoon - Killerman's Run Shiraz 2002
I won't provide a score as I'll leave that to Robert Parker who gave it a 92.
This southern Australian wine is quite affordable for the quality. Around $19 a bottle. This is their entry level Shiraz, but it tastes like it could be any Australian's flagship Shiraz. It has the undeniable aroma of a Shiraz from the first whiff. There are smokey undertones to the nose and palate. A very powerful and opulent wine that will knock your socks off. It coats your tongue with an oiliness and has wonderful depth. Overall, for the price I paid, I think I stole this wine. Can't wait to try the 2003s.

Anyone who knows me well knows my passion for music and my obsessive addiction to collecting CDs. At the moment I probably have over 1000 CDs not including singles.

So today I wanted to share with you one of my all time favourite albums. The artist themselves are well known, but I feel this album is under appreciated. The artist is The Cure and the album is Wish. Wish was released in 1992 and has been a favourite of mine ever since. It is my favourite album by The Cure. To me, it is a perfect blend of the styles most people associate with The Cure. It is dark and moody, yet still catchy and not too poppy. Yes, this album has Friday I'm In Love. Yes, it's the most obvious pop song on the album, but really no other song on the album is in this style. Songs like From The Edge of The Deep Green Sea and To Wish Impossible Things will captivate the listener while songs like Open, Cut and End will will smoother them with an anxious emotion. My personal favourite is A Letter To Elise which is one song I can never get sick of. It's the perfect introductory album for virgin Cure listens, that will probably make life long fans out of them. Enjoy!

Now for the book. I read a wide variety of style, but this one book has always stood out for me.
I read this book a few years back when it was first released and the story is still stuck in my head. It's yet another brilliant book by Irvine Welsh. Most people know Irvine Welsh, because of the Trainspotting movie. Like Trainspotting this story incorporates shock, disgust, karma, and an entertaining story that can sometimes hit too close to home. The story is about four boys who are all friends and details the different paths their lives take growing up. As with typical Welsh books, he is able to make the reader find sympathy for some of the worst people in his stories. If you've never read Welsh before this may be a good introduction to his kind of story telling. This book will always rank as one of my all time favourites!

Maybe these recommendations will open some new doors for you!

Give Us Your Money!

2006-08-17T21:08:00.000-04:00

So I got some good news yesterday. Well...ya I guess good news. I received notification from my provincial engineering association that I have officially been accepted as a new member; thus, I am almost a Professional Engineer. I could have applied for membership a few years ago, as I met all the necessary criteria, but I had little incentive to do so. I wasn't going to make more money at my job, I really didn't need the P.Eng for my job and I didn't want to pay the annual fee. My parents really wanted me to do it and I finally decided it might be a good idea to have it since I don't see a long future with my current employer. Plus, being a P.Eng from Canada, in Switzerland is apparently a valuable thing.

But, back to my original thought. Money! I stated above that I am almost a P.Eng. In the correspondence the association sent me, they very clearly indicated that I'm not a P.Eng yet. I must first pay my annual membership fee before they will send me my stamp, certificate, and wallet card. I can take a step back and see the importance of paying the annual fee and the need of the association to keep some leverage to ensure payment from newbies, but come on! We've had to pay hundreds of dollars just to apply and take the ethics exams. We've just passed our exam, received notification that our experience is satisfactory and they can't even throw us a bone and send us our bloody stamp. They have to receive their money first.

I think I find this quite disheartening due to the fact that the association isn't really a business. I expect this kind of behaviour from a business. So I have no other point. At this moment I'm not a P.Eng, but in ten minutes after I pay online with my credit card I'll be a P.Eng!

Do the Stone Masons work the same?

A Society of Waste

2006-08-15T09:48:00.000-04:00

Today I biked to work for the first official time. I've biked to the downtown before, but never to work to actually do work! It's nothing excessive, just 10km. It took me 25 minutes this morning and can take up to 31 minutes when there is a strong head wind. It was actually quite relaxing and energizing. I got to work with my eyes open for a change. What a difference it makes. It's already just about 10am and I'm still in a good mood...we'll see how long that lasts! I'm at work after all. I usually leave home around 8:00 and get into the office at around 8:30, when I drive. I have to get to the parking lot and then walk about 5-10 minutes from the parking lot to the office building. Biking I got to the office at 8:25. I would have been at my desk earlier if I could've figured out how to open the bloody door on the bike cage. You have to push IN, not pull OUT! DOH! After that I went to the bathroom and changed into work clothes and my day started. I feel great and didn't have to pay for gas. I think I'll keep this up until the weather turns awful.

Now to my title. I'm not really attacking specific people per se, but rather a culture or mentality. Our North American mentality is the CAR. We have to use the car. In a lot of situations we have no alternative. We live to far to bike or the transit system is brutal and doesn't reach our destination and if it does you need to transfer 5 times! What really gets me is in Europe, a continent that is much older than ours, they have public transit in a fairly useful manner. Some countries better than others. In North America, a relatively new continent, we should have had some foresight and laid down an infrastructure pro public transit and pro cycling. Now it's almost too late. Without tearing up entire cities, it's impossible to put in bike lanes along the roads or put in place bus lanes or street cars or subways. Our future is now following a path drawn up by unintelligent people. Let's think back to the 50's or 60's. Gas was cheap. Everyone thought gas would last forever. HOW STUPID! We knew the source for our fossil fuels was, hence the name...fossils, and we have no idea how to recreate theses fuels, but for some reason we thought they would last forever! Brilliant! Humans are a ridiculous creation. We're stupid beyond reason. We waste and destroy. If only the earlier generations had taken the time to say, "yeah gas is cheap and easy to get now, but one day it will run out. We should try to conserve this resource." We might actually have alternative means of transport today. So as a result of earlier decisions it has become really difficult for us to make smarter ones now. Thus, a lot of us have no choice, but to waste when we would be more than willing to use an alternative. The worse part is we live in a generation with great education and knowledge. Yet, people continue to waste by buying stupidly large SUVs, which they never take off-roading and are upset to see dirty! I don't see any turning point for this human race. I think we have done irreversible damage to our species. Reason I say species and not the Earth is I think and a lot of scientists do also that the Earth can heal itself, but it might do it my creating another ice age killing us off.
Earth 1 - Humans 0

Pea Soup

2006-08-12T18:08:00.000-04:00

So what did I do today? I went on a 40km bike ride along the bike paths in London. It took me about 2 hours to do the distance. It was a nice ride I discovered a new path I had never seen before which connect the downtown to Springbank park. I have to give London some credit with respect to their bike paths. They are for the most part in good condition and quite extensive. Go in the morning though. If you decide to go in the afternoon expect it to be quite busy. I went at around 10 am and the trail was quiet...except for some vicious geese. As you can see in one of the picture the geese have taken full control of the path. As you approach them you have to really slow down as they won't move. They pull back just enough to let your bike slide through, except for me. One of the mad geese decided to stick his neck up in full attack mode with his mouth open and hiss at me as I rode by. I thought the bugger was gonna lunge at me. I've heard stories of geese shattering shins with the impact they can through out with their beak. My tour also took me by Storybook Gardens. I'd never been there before and was pleased to see all the cool birds that make their home in the water between the path and Storybook Gardens. I saw swans, ducks and more deadly geese. All in all it was a good ride and I got to take some nice pictures and if you look carefully you can see a few canoers on the water. Don't fall into the pea soup!

Redneck Women Welcome

2006-08-11T19:46:00.000-04:00

So how many reasons can you come up with why that title is horrible? I've been waiting to make a posting on this topic for a few days. Reason being is I had to take this picture first. This is a REAL photo taken in London. Yes, I know this could have been taken in Barrie, Brantford, or even Hell. Who on earth would want to welcome redneck women into their Karaoke Store. Yes, some men like the sluttiness that is redneck women. You have two varieties. There's the chain smoking girl who is probably bleached blonde with buck teeth and has successfully smoked herself thin....maybe even anorexic. The other variety is the fat, I eat three Big-Mac's for breakfast, unclean, wearing a belly top, showing the world that not only can she not see her belly button, but we can't either. The thing that always shocks me about rednecks is their lack of shame. They are proud they can't spell and think fast food is a normal healthy diet. They're shocked to learn there is more to the world than Canada and the USA. The sad fact is, if you're born into a redneck family you probably will become a redneck yourself. The level of education and culture you are exposed to cannot overpower the draw of Labatt 50, Lakeport, Laker, pickup trucks, COPS(the TV show) and teenage pregnancies. Sure, a few make it out, but they are rare. Sometimes you can hear them. The next time you see a clean cut man in a business suit or professional women in a power suit and you hear them say, "Y'all" or "Youse" or even the dreaded "Right on!" You will have encountered that rare beast that is a transformed redneck who still has to battle, everyday, the need to watch NASCAR.

England Prevails (wait that's where rednecks originated!)

My Curriculum Vitae

2006-08-09T21:17:00.000-04:00

I've been holding off on doing a real posting as I thought my first should be a memorable one. But, in the end I'm saying screw it. Breakers requested that I reveal a little bit about myself. So fine here we go:

I think I'm obsessive compulsive. I have to collect things. My wife thinks all guys have this problem. I have over 1000 CD's and religiously collect books and wine.

I love wine. French, Italian, Australian, Chilean, Argentinean....You name it. If it's good quality I love it.

...That being said. I hate Ontario wine. It's like vinegar. There are few that are diamonds in the rough, but most are still in the excrement form. (Potential future post!)

Did I mention I love wine?

I love cooking. Provided it's something new and fun. The more challenging the better. I hate making the same dishes over and over. Maybe I should have been a chef?

I hate people. If I talk to you outside of a defined function (i.e. work, family gathering) I probably like you.

I pretty much hate TV. The only shows that really excite me are sports (only a few) and Rock Star.

I love Jeopardy. It makes me feel smart!

I love to bike. I'm thinking I'll start biking to work. It's only 10km, about 20 minutes.

I am half Swiss, half Jamaican. I like to say my top half is Swiss and the bottom half is Jamaican. (Wink wink)

I use a Mac, an iBook to be exact.

My wife and I are planning to move to Switzerland next year. Maybe I'll have some interesting postings.

I drive fast, but safely!

I was in love with Tori Amos until I saw her big ears.

I hate Hollywood.

I hate a lot of things.

I love to read Kurt Vonnegut, Tom Robbins, Irvine Welsh, Douglas Coupland, and Christopher Moore.

I think most things in popular culture are uninspired and boring.

If humans were capable or it, I'd be a communist. But, we all know that will never happen.

I'm political.

I only recently started to eat fruits and vegetables. Since, a child I would not eat any fruit and the only veggies I'd eat were corn and potatoes. I will now eat almost any fruit and most veggies. Yuck! Broccoli and Cauliflower!

When people first meet me they think I'm shy. Afterwards, they realize I'm not.

When people look at me they think I'm a nice guy. Most realize shortly thereafter that I'm usually a jerk.

East Indian girls have a bizarre attraction to me!

The Start

2006-08-06T22:32:00.000-04:00

Why?

Why would I do such a thing? I'm still trying to figure this out. So, in summary this is my first posting.