An Earful

This one is an oldie but a goodie.

I was house-sitting for my aunt awhile ago and Braemar and I were looking for music to play while we shot some pool. We discovered the stereo system and a stack of CDs that we were not interested in.

Here's what I mean.

These are the titles of the last three discs we found, in order of stackage;

Jazz For When You're Alone,
Songs of the Sea, and
Here's Liberace


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Too Creepy

I didn't have a category for this picture but I had to share it because, well, it's so very creepy.


This shot was a result of me playing around with the colour swap feature on my camera.

Halloween

"Your pumpkin fell over."

"What pumpkin?"

"That pumpkin."

"Oh! Thank you! That's my Sponge Pumpkin."

"You have something called a Sponge Pumpkin?"

"I have 6! I also have 2 Sponge Bats!"

-Wookiee & Spage


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Ah Canada

It's funny, the things you come across and realize are quintessentially Canadian. I guess I've just spent enough time with Americans explaining that we don't generally refer to 'beanies' as 'snow caps' north of the 49th parallel.

I was just perusing the North Shore Rescue website which includes a list of ten essential items you should pack if you venture into the wilds. One piece of gear they recommend is a warm hat because so much body heat is lost through the head. Then it says;

"Remember the saying 'If your feet get cold put your toque on'."

I'll bet no ones' mom told 'em that in the States.


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Contract Work: Glory & Consequence

I'm unemployed. I've been trapped in a small room for three weeks. I'm not in prison, I'm renovating. I'm going a little bit crazy. I'm beginning to understand what Billy Corgan was evoking when he wailed "I'm still just a rat in a cage!"


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Ready For My Close-Up

I just uploaded some starter pics to a new photo set on my Flickr site entitled Life In Macro. If you like them, check back from time to time as I continue to add images from this perspective. I also added a link to my Flickr sets on the left panel under the blog title and my e-mail address for ease of linkage.

Magnetic Poetry #5

I ask to explore eternitys
brilliant smoke for a vision

as if seeing liquid beauty
dancing like

he did above the velvet
sea through the

dazzling rhythm haunted
like perfumed drink

worship is no magic for me

be my they after it flys
by on fresh

petals use and do him
let her shine

my sky was sacred and
yet so is his

we chant at a she

a runer of am & ly y ly

Take Offense?

Today, as an insult, I was accused of being jealous of Shakespeare.

Jealous of Shakespeare?

I can't even begin to express how untrue this comment is...and it was hardly irksome - only confusing.

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Announcement

Working in government means that over time people greet the announcement of ministerial spending with a degree of cynicism. Whether it's because of previous experience with funding being pulled after it's been committed, the short-sightedness of a funding plan, or some other snafu, people tend to react with less than whole-hearted joy when these press releases occur.

Yesterday our Director announced that one of our programs that was slated to end next year has been renewed for two more years with several hundred million dollars in funding - $526 million to be exact.

This news was greeted with pointed questions and skeptical comments, and the Director cried out, "Okay guys, enjoy the moment! Don't go to your agitated place right away!"

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Breaking "News"

A new poll was conducted to tell us that people all around the world experience stress. Wow. What a breakthrough! That wasn't a waste of time and resources at all! This is brand new information!

Seriously, this is a top story? I guess it's been inserted there to validate your stress, distract you a bit from real news, and to make you feel that during the holiday stress zone you are not alone. I think it's ridiculous, and instead you should be aware that...

"A move is underway to make Jesus Christ the honorary king of Poland"

Yes, you read that correctly. Apparently this is to be expected because the citizens are hardcore Roman Catholic. Not only that, but this is the country that made Mary (mother of Jesus) its honorary queen because they believed she helped them win a battle with Sweden(!).

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Words #2

emolument [i-mol-yuh-muhnt]

-the wages or perquisites arising from office, employment, or labour

"And they are not obliged to follow those occupations, if they prefer leisure to emolument."

-John Stuart Mill, On Liberty

Overheard In The Office #2

My co-worker was on the phone with a courier company arranging for a pick-up and I only heard her side of the conversation.

"It's going to the Kamloops Brain Injury Association.....B-R-A-I-N.....you know; the 'brain' brain?!"


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Overheard at the Coffee Shop

"I'm thirsty, I'm hungry, it's pay day - I'm out of control!"

Just Say No To Space

Ottawa has decided against supporting Canadian space companies' and the European Space Agency's (ESA) request to allow Canada's space industry to contribute in building the ExoMars rover. The decision was a big surprise to everybody, especially considering that the request was not contingent on any additional funding.

The ESA was keen on getting Canadian space companies on board because they are considered to be world leaders in robotics and this rover would be a far more advanced and sophisticated one than was sent to Mars by NASA.

"Industry Minister Maxime Bernier told the companies the government hadn't made up its mind about the future of Canada's space role and didn't want to go forward with the project."

Also of interest is the fact that the U.S. was promoting this deal and has also signed off on having Canadian companies design robotics components for its moon mission slated for 2020.

Now, with the government relaxing support for space agencies, a fear is growing that Canada will be not only be left out of space exploration, but the brain drain of talented designers and scientists that started with the cancellation of the Avro Arrow program (which saw vast numbers of Canadian engineering and technical specialists take leadership positions at NASA) will be exacerbated.

I couldn't be more disappointed with this announcement - c'mon Ottawa, get our butts into space!

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Equal Access

The Green Party of Canada has an online petition that I have decided to promote. I'm not endorsing the party, nor associating myself with them, but I think the issue they are raising is fair and I have long agreed with them.

The issue? The fact that their party is consistently banned from all televised election debates. While I'm not sure that every registered party should have the right to be on the big CBC stage during election seasons, I do think that The Man has been excluding the Green Party without reasonable cause.

The online petition can be found on this site, and I found that the fact sheet was particularly eye opening. Even though I already supported this particular cause I learned that the party exclusion was more hypocritical than I had originally thought.

Some highlights...

"In the 1988 federal election the Bloc Quebecois did not exist. Gilles Duceppe was elected in a by-election two years later as an independent, not as a Bloc candidate. Despite having no seats in Parliament, no official recognition from the Speaker and only 75 candidates out of 295 ridings, the Bloc Quebecois was included in both the French and English debates. The Bloc has never fielded a candidate outside Quebec but continues to participate in debates in both official languages.


In the 1988 general election, the Reform Party ran 72 candidates, received 276,000 votes and won no seats. By the time of the 1993 election, the Reform Party’s only sitting member was Deborah Grey following her win in a 1989 by-election. Reform did not have Official Party status and did not win a seat in the 1988 election but Preston Manning participated in the 1993 leaders’ debate, based on the 11,154 votes Deborah Grey received in a 1989 by-election with a 47 per cent turnout. In 1993, the party ran only 207 candidates.


In 2004 and 2006, the Green Party ran a full slate of 308 candidates and won 583,000 and 664,000 votes respectively, over double the Reform Party’s performance in 1988.


In 1979, the Social Credit Party was excluded from the debate despite the fact that it had 11 seats in Parliament at the time of dissolution. And in 1997, both the NDP and Progressive Conservatives were included in the debate despite not having Official Party status.


In 1993, 1997 and 2000 five leaders participated in the televised debates. This was reduced to four following the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservatives in 2003. Fair play, democratic equity and precedent demands that a fifth spot now be opened for a new national leader to join the debate. Five parties received over 2 per cent of the vote in 2004 and 2006 and all five should appear in the next leaders’ debate."