Why You Need To Question

Question what? Everything.

Why?

Here's an example:

So I read this article about a proposed fare increase for our local transit system - which is obscene considering how expensive it already is and how many times they increase it.

"The planned increases range from 11 to 15 per cent. That would bring adult fares for one, two and three zones to $2.50, $3.75 and $5.00, respectively."

Then it says; "The increases would still leave Vancouver transit riders paying less than commuters in Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa."

Now I know that fares in Toronto did not used to be as ludicrous as here and I was sure they still weren't so I took a look at the TTC website (the Toronto Transit Commission or as my friend Edwin says; "It stands for Take The Car.") to check fares and what do you know, as of April 2006 the flat fare for an adult is $2.75. Is that more than $5.00 now? In that case, I'm trading all of my fives in for toonies.

Bolstered, I checked Montreal's STM (Société de transport de Montréal) transit fare site - and there I see that the flat rate is also $2.75.

Ottawa's OC Transpo (Ottawa Carleton Transportation) does charge $3.00 - $5.00 which puts their fares in the same range as our new rates, but is certainly not more.

So this article skews and spins the facts to make it seem like the protesters in Vancouver are being unreasonable even though clearly, we pay much more in transit fares than Toronto and Montrealers do.

And even if the false claim that "the increases would still leave Vancouver transit riders paying less than commuters in Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa" were true - what does that have to do with the local feeling that it is too much? I am also not pleased with the subtle way this discourages people from voicing their discontent over fares. It is misleading, dishonest, and generally unfair to the public to be treated this way. It also gives TransLink a carte blanche to be assholes. Yes, I can get this riled up about the misrepresentation of a transit fare. And I wish there were more of us.

So I'm Walking Down The Street...

...and I come across a puzzler of a house with two separate gated paths leading to it.
Virgin Mary statues guard over one gate while a *matching* pair of Snow White dwarfs sit atop the other.












I.Don't.Understand.

Altered?

Was it not a dog before?
Did it take psychotropic drugs?

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Jab

One thing I love about our political culture is how fond we are of the ribbing politicians give each other. I'm talking about the witty and funny stuff, not so much the malicious, incoherent yelling the John Baird is so fond of.

Last week, in response to the Conservative Party's sponsorship of a Dodge stock car on the Canadian NASCAR circuit, Liberal leader Stephan Dion, a long-time environmentalist had this to say;

"We learned this week that the Conservative Party of Canada is sponsoring a car in the NASCAR circuit," Dion said in a speech wrapping up the Commons sitting.

"This car gets just 2 miles to the gallon; it burns almost 600 litres of high-octane fuel every race. It looks like the Conservatives have finally found a climate-change plan they can support."

Maybe I'm just that geeky, but it sure made me laugh!

Froo Froo Menu Generator

I found this linked over at WaiterRant and thought it would be good for Wookiee and Huggy's meal creations. The next time I'm the 5th wheel at your couples' dinner I'd like to be noshing on Pan-Seared Panda with a Secular Sauce and Sugared Bison with a Lima Bean Confit. Thank you.

What Would Jesus Drive?

Cars: "an occasion for sin"

Whenever I see a driver with a jesus fish on the trunk of their car being obnoxious by cutting lines or ignoring the basic rules of the road, I immediately think something along the lines of 'hypocrite' or 'godly my ass' because it seems that it's very un-christian of them.

Well sinners, the Vatican has spoken and you are going to Hell.

Yesterday the Vatican's office released The 10 Commandments of Driving, which now upon closer inspection I realize says nothing about respecting the rules of the road. Damn it. Those fuckers are still going to cut me off without using their damn turn signals - the Vatican said they could.

And does anyone know why they need a separate set of commandments for driving? Aren't the base 10 supposed to cover how you live your entire life? No? Are there different commandments for different aspects of your life? What commandments does the dude who extorts cash from his flock have to live by?

The 10 Commandments of Driving

1. You shall not kill.

2. The road shall be for you a means of communion between people and not of mortal harm.

3. Courtesy, uprightness and prudence will help you deal with unforeseen events.

4. Be charitable and help your neighbour in need, especially victims of accidents.

5. Cars shall not be for you an expression of power and domination, and an occasion of sin.

6. Charitably convince the young and not so young not to drive when they are not in a fitting condition to do so.

7. Support the families of accident victims.

8. Bring guilty motorists and their victims together, at the appropriate time, so that they can undergo the liberating experience of forgiveness.

9. On the road, protect the more vulnerable party.

10. Feel responsible toward others.

In my book, if you have to be told this stuff, then you're barely a good human, let alone a good worshipper.

Appetite

"I haven't eaten anything today - except some circus animals."

-Wookiee

Back From The Internet Void

What the fuck happened in the Gaza Strip? I'm out of town for a few days, not able to keep up on the news and now it's a Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip? What happened?? I've got to get reading.

lovehatenyc

A multimedia artist living in New York created an awesome project called lovehateNYC "that chronicles a personal love-hate relationship with New York City".

When you enter the site, you are presented with the artists' map of Manhattan where you can select an area of the island and read changing lines of incohesive text. Next pick a specific location in that area and are you are brought to a beautiful 360 degree view of that spot, which is not unusual I know, but what is cool is that when you stop the rotational view at any point the image begins to cycle through a sort of blended stop motion of activity. Slowly the people and cars fade through their movements.

The Bowery & 2nd one shows you the day before CBGB's closed blend into its final night before becoming a vacant space the next day. The 'key' in the map shows how the colours on the map correspond to the love/hate scale (Times Square lands on the hate end of things, of course) and each scene is introduced with a few words from the artist.

It's like being in a disconnected dream of New York - something I really enjoyed, so I hope you do too.

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Pingu? Bingo? Pingo!

I am fortunate enough to have been on a journey from Vancouver to Tuktoyaktuk and back on wheels. Driving through the Northwest Territories we saw many pingos. Since then, from time to time, I refer to pingos. But nobody down here knows what a pingo is.

Today, one notable pingo made the news. In fact, it's referred to as an "icy northern wonder", is the tallest in Canada and second tallest in the world, "is one of eight pingos protected by Parks Canada at its Pingo Canadian Landmark site", and is in danger of being lost due to a bush fire.

If you want to know some cursory information about the pingos of the N.W.T., the article brushes the surface. Or, as Wookiee prefers, check out the Wikipedia page on pingos. Impress foreigners with your grasp of Inuktitut (language of the Inuit) and all things icy cold!

Pant Loon

Someone sent me a link to an article today that I had to share because, well, it's an excellent illustration of how assholes are ruining everything.

A judge from Washington, D.C. took some clothes to the dry cleaners and they lost the pants. He's saying that the cleaners committed fraud by having signs up that read "Satisfaction Guaranteed" and "Same Day Service" and asked for $67 million in compensation. The attorney for the dry cleaners has stated that it would only be "considered fraud only if the signs misled a "reasonable" person. No reasonable person, he says, would interpret them to be an unconditional promise of satisfaction."

I don't know if he's totally unreasonable, I mean, he did recognize that he was asking for quite a large sum of money for a pair of pants. He has since reduced his claim to $54 million.

Sometimes We Know Stuff

Do you ever find that as a Canadian your contributions to a conversation with Americans (or any others?) are often summarily dismissed? Maybe they think it's too cold up here for our brains to work, or maybe they're only used to hearing exactly one side of things. Perhaps they don't really believe that an average Canadian has a decent base of general knowledge to draw from regarding issues both in and outside of our borders.

This is what would be called a frivolous example of what I mean...

On the Dave + Tim European Tour earlier this year, Dave started playing a particular song as an intro to Don't Drink The Water. We (a handful of Americans and myself) didn't know what it was called or where it came from (though we sure it was a cover). Being overseas and disconnected from the fanosphere found online and stateside we hazarded some ideas but resigned ourselves to waiting for the official word on the mystery song upon our return to North America.

The Americans told me that it had to be a song by a European because it mentions a Caledonia river. Is this because only Europeans can write songs about Scotland? I have no idea, but I let that one slide. I thought (and said out loud) that perhaps it was about a Caledonia in Canada because at the time I was thinking about the ongoing Native blockade/land claim dispute in Caledonia, Ontario. In reply, I received quizzical and bemused looks - the assembled council would not entertain such a ridiculous suggestion. Apparently there is only one Caledonia, I don't know what I'm talking about, and Canada does not inspire song.

Knowing Dave Matthews' penchant for covering (and lauding) Quebecker Daniel Lanois and being aware that the cover song sounded suspiciously like the famed singer-songwriter/producer's style I decided to hold my tongue, wait, and see.

When I got home I checked the definitive Dave Matthews Band resource website, dmbalmanac, and found that the song was indeed written by Daniel Lanois and is called Still Water. Further, I discovered that this song debuted on his first album titled Acadie (French for Acadia), which granted, only covers a section of Canada east of Ontario, but this seems to point away from Scotland...but maybe towards Nova Scotia.

So what does that leave me with? Nothing really. Vindication? Hardly. I'm not going to phone anyone and rub it in long distance style. Self-satisfaction? I guess. *sigh* I just wonder why it is that people assume Canadians have nothing of substance to contribute. Are we really just looked at like we're adorable little colonials who naively gaze upon everything in astonished wonder? It seems no matter what we accomplish (as individuals or as a nation), or how highly we are ranked on world education and standard of living lists, we are still brushed aside. I guess the upside is that as our successes are ignored, so are our failures. But I'd rather seem them both held up to scrutiny, wouldn't you?

Northern Pirates

Not surprisingly, by the time the suits catch up to what's going on in the world, they're four steps behind.

The Governator was in Canada this week and after his stop in the PMO (that's Prime Minister's Office/Office of the Prime Minister to the NPS <-non-public servant) Ottawa tabled legislation to make the "camcording" of movies in theatres illegal. Did you know that in Canada we apparently didn't have a useful law against that? I had no idea!

Anyway, I don't care at all if they pass this legislation or not for a couple of reasons; nobody wants those crappy camcorder downloads anyway, I think we're all aware that having an official rule against this activity will not stop it, and of course, because the suits are four steps behind.

"A study by AT&T in 2003 found that about 23 per cent of online movie file sharing networks got their material from camcording.

The other 77 per cent of movies available on the internet came from screeners — industry-issued, high-quality copies of films sent to people such as actors, reviewers and film award voters — and other commercially sold copies."

The politicians must be quite pleased with themselves for appearing to do something to appease the downloading-adverse in Hollywood.

I'm reminded of the debut album title of a jazz band in my university residence: "No Showy Diplomacy". If I ever find myself in office, that quote will be the inspirational poster over my desk.

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Brace Yourself

Stephen Harper said something I agree with. At least I think so...I only have a slightly out of context two word quote about meddling with the rise of the Canadian dollar. It hit 94 cents US today and many economists are predicting that in 12-18 months we will reach parity with the southern buck.

Harper downplayed the idea of intervening in the loonie's rise to save jobs in the hard-hit manufacturing sector, saying that would be a "huge mistake."

That's all - just glad to hear he's not pushing to tank our dollar for corporate interests...of course, what he says and what he does almost never jive - but this is still the nicest thing I've ever said about Harper!

Canadian English

As you may have noticed, I'm a hardcore lobbyist for Canadiana. So of course, I'm well aware of some of the differences in Canadian English versus British or American English - note to Americans; your language is not called American. So when I read this article from the Torch, the University of Victoria's Alumni magazine, about "the four-person lexicography department of Oxford University Press in Toronto" it wasn't a surprise that we need a more specific dictionary for our linguistic needs. Although, the inclusion of things like "May Two-Four" and "double-double" only reinforce the thought that the Toronto based organization is, well, Torontonian - they believe they exist in the centre of the universe and that all things Ontarian are therefore Canadian. Try using the term "May Two-Four" out here in BC. You get blank looks. Tell them it's like a two-four of beer for that long weekend. More blank looks. Oh. Right. This is Western Canada....or maybe that's just a Lower Mainland affliction.

On the other hand, what did surprise me in the article was also an acknowledgement of a regional discrepancy: “A hoody is a commonly known item of clothing in most of Canada but it’s called a bunny hug in Saskatchewan". A bunny hug!?! Dude. That's brutal.

"The team also uncovered the unique terms locals use to indicate where they’re from. While Vancouverite and Torontonian are well-known, they had to dig deeper—usually by phoning local journalists—to find correct nouns for smaller locales. In BC these include the somewhat tongue-twisting Fernieite, Abbotsfordian, Kitimatian and Nanaimoite, as well as the surprisingly hip-sounding Smithereen and White Rocker."

And for you trivia-minded types, Newfoundland has the most region-specific entries in the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, such as "bangbelly (a cake made from cooked rice)" - !



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