Oorgo

In Memory of

Today is the 19th anniversary of the big F4 tornado that hit Edmonton in 1987. The beast killed 27 people, injured 300 or more, and caused $250 mil in damages.

I don't think that anyone living in Evergreen Trailer Park will ever feel entirely safe from the whirling beasts.

Sick of it

How are we as a race supposed to continue and flourish when the kidnapping of 3 soldiers produces annihilation of communities and mass casualties. How is this a measured response? How can anyone support this aggression and death ? Are they attempting to start a 3rd world war, this one a holy war? Because they're starting to succeed.

If there is a God and I'm pretty sure there is, he/she/it created all of us. ALL of us. Do you that this God would want us to be killing each other over boundaries and theology? Do you think that this God would want us to torture, abuse, maim and disfigure our fellow humans? If your world is so small that you can't see past the end of your gun/holy book maybe you should go back in your hole and wait out the eventual end of times, or at least your end of times, the rest of us all want to live.

Wheeee

Quick post... our new Honda Fit is ready at 7 pm today, and the sales guy is picking me up from home tonight to go pick up the car. Here is another view of the car.

I'm excited, scared, freaking out... all the usual. It's a cool little car, and It will be great to drive.

I realize I need a new car, but the thought of another loan... doesn't especially thrill me.

I Walk the Blog Talk

Sweet! I was quoted on Blog Report - Newsweek Blog Talk - MSNBC.com from a review I did of one of their recent articles about American patriotism running amok.

Almost famous? No. Cool? Yes.

Feliz cumpleaños a mí

On this day, 37 years ago, after waiting 2 weeks past the due date my mother gave birth to a screaming redheaded boy named Dave.

And I've been late ever since.

Thanks Mom! Thanks Dad!

Happy Birthday to me! Happy Birthday to me!

"My Nation" vs "My Foundations"

I was over at Random Fate reading a well thought-out bit of a rant by Jack about the nationalism, patriotism and the immature reaction to 9/11. He also pointed towards an amazing article by Christopher Dicky on MSNBC titled "U.S. Nationalism Run Amok", or "American Dream, American Nightmare". Albeit a bit overdramatic title, the content of the piece is tremendous and well thought-out.

Dickey refers to George Orwell's work “Notes on Nationalism.” to paint a disturbing picture of how Americans general way of thinking has little to do with patriotism and more to do with nationalism, which comes part in parcel with the ability to continually deny or ignore facts, truths and immoral actions performed by your country, because you believe it's beyond reproach. Here's a little quote:

“In nationalist thought there are facts which are both true and untrue, known and unknown,” Orwell wrote, in a spooky foreshadowing of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s nationalist musings. “A known fact may be so unbearable that it is habitually pushed aside and not allowed to enter into logical processes, or on the other hand it may enter into every calculation and yet never be admitted as a fact, even in one’s own mind.”

I like the fact there is very little partisan speech in this essay, making it enjoyable to read even by an outsider such as my self, located up here in Canada.

I don't want to spoil the articles with my feeble attempts at a review, so I would suggest just reading both Jacks and Dickeys. Absolutely worth it.

Postus Sporadicus

Apparently I only post when bad things are happening or I'm pissed off.

I haven't been p o'd much in the last while.

Perhaps I don't like to post about good things, because I fear a jinx on the goodness. My old "for every good thing that happens, more bad things will happen" concept that has spawned not from merely my own psychosis, but from life experience up to this point.

I will hazard the jinx this time because this friday appears to be so friggin' cool and the last time I posted about something cool it worked out to be even more awesome than I thought. (I will have to do a post about it soon).

Ok, so my birthday is friday (yay me) and for that reason I get the day off from my employer, making it a long weekend. It being the middle of the month it's also payday! WOot! I have a gig friday night at a mansion downtown which includes free drinks, food, and is always a good time (oh, and I get paid for it). Yeehaw! Plus my wife can come along and leave the kids at the grandparents!

So yeah, it looks like it will be a great time, I'm really excited.
touchwoodthrowsaltovermyshouldercrossmyfingersetcetcetc.

This silent screaming

Silence. People are silent these days.

Even though things are bad all over the world, so many terrible things happen every day, rights are being trampled on, tortured, killed and the general populous is only beginning to understand the mess we've made of the planet, people are silent. I keep reading stories wondering where the revolution is: Where are the mass protests? Why is Bush still in power? Why am I being arrested for drinking coffee in a cafeteria because I'm wearing a peace t-shirt? Why are there still personal transportation vehicles that make 10 mpg?

Perhaps they are silent for the exact reasons above. So many things in so many places and so many facets of their life are or will soon be affected by world events that they are overwhelmed. They shove their heads far into their work, their family, reality tv (make sure you don't watch the news though), video games and booze as an escape from the monsters outside their door.

It's not that they don't care but they can't put that much thought into the future, the present is too occupying, their job is too stressful, their kids are in too much trouble and the price of gas is too high. Nevermind that if the little grasshoppers would have thought about storing away or conserving, the coming winter would not be so dastardly. The Hummer owners and coal burners are busy fiddling and dancing while the ants are scrambling around trying to figure out what the fuck to do to get us out of the situation.

I've been silent about these issues lately as well, pretty much for the same reasons. You feel sort of powerless, unable to change things, I mean hey I'm a tech who moonlights as a musician, I'm no scientist and I can't afford to switch my house over to solar. I've been quietly trying to lessen my impact environmentally: soon to be buying a new fuel efficient, lower emission vehicle... not much else I can afford past that. New furnace? Power efficient water heater? Yeah, get real. I can't even find a frickin' evaporation air cooler system, something other than the power sucking AC unit that's currently installed.

Alongside all the issues, it seems that there are so many voices and so many contradicting facts people manage to find/makeup to support their view, that really who can you trust? Also, the facts change as things proceed, we've only been studying carbon effects on the environment for awhile so what we know is always evolving. Some folks I've talked to have latched on to old facts that have now been shown as incorrect and using them as a shield to block differing view or results. Perhaps they should also be chanting loudly: "I KNOW THIS, IT IS TRUE, LA LA LA, CAN'T HEAR YOU"

You know you have nothing much to say when...

All you post are quizzes.

You Are 40% Weird

Normal enough to know that you're weird... But too damn weird to do anything about it!

Found at Your Moosey Fate