You know what I miss? Being underage. Seeing people try drinking for the first time, and not knowing their limit. The high-school party where one kid would break down in tears and another would pass out... Everyone keeping a keen eye on the passed out girl, because there's a creepy guy in the corner with his eye on her.
If only those days came a little later, at an age where a higher percentage of people were comfortable with the idea of sex, and nearly everyone had their full license and cars. Imagine a world where the drinking age in Ontario were 21. Alright, youths probably wouldn't be in car accidents as often, but the number of accidents probably wouldn't change too much; they'd just happen to slightly older people. And I imagine the rape-rates would skyrocket.
Sarcasm aside, I do miss those days of holding back someone's hair or talking someone down from the edge of the roof. It made me feel needed, when I knew my limit and others didn't.
But my time for enjoying such experiences has passed, and the torch is now to a younger group. A group with a lesser access to vehicles, and a group that is less comfortable risking sexual offense.
I hope that's well articulated. I might be a bit tipsy.
--
D. Phillips
Monday, March 31, 2008
Batter up! - more literally this time
Today marks the beginning of the Toronto Blue Jays' 2008 season. In what I hope isn't some sort of metaphor for the rest of the season, the game is currently in a rain delay. As I was a huge Jays fan as a kid - and can still usually name all their active players - I feel I should do some sort of season preview. Feel free to skip the rest of this (maybe not the post-script) if you're not a baseball fan.
I'm more excited about this year's Jays team than I have been for any other year since I was too young to know any better. Last year, we had a solid starting lineup - good enough to make the playoffs - but absolutely nobody good enough to step in and do a good job should somebody get hurt. Then a few somebodies got hurt.
This year, we've added a few depth guys (Marco Scutaro, Shannon Stewart, Armando Benitez and others), and have competent fill-ins should the injury bug bite again.
Then there is the addition of David Eckstein. Internet baseball fans love to use statistics to analyze the game - and those statistics don't show Eckstein to be anything special. However, you can't overlook the fact that he's been on two recent World Series-winning teams - and his teammates have all called him a core component of those teams.
The other big move the Jays made was to trade Troy Glaus for Scott Rolen. They're both third basemen who have some injury problems, and it's too early to tell if this will turn out to be a really good deal, or a really bad one.
If McGowan, Litsch, Accardo, and the other young pitchers can be as successful as they were last year, pitching won't be a problem for us. Halladay is going to be his usual one-of-the-best-in-baseball self, as long as he doesn't get hurt, and Burnett can hopefully come close to that. Plus BJ Ryan is healthy again.
Bottom line? The Jays are hurt quite a bit by playing in the same division as Boston and New York - any other division and people would be seriously talking about them as a playoff contender. They've still got a shot, thanks to all the depth additions, but they still need quite a few lucky breaks to make it. Should be fun, though.
--Ryan
P.S. 500 sheets of paper for $6.34? Who knew killing trees could be so cheap?!?
I'm more excited about this year's Jays team than I have been for any other year since I was too young to know any better. Last year, we had a solid starting lineup - good enough to make the playoffs - but absolutely nobody good enough to step in and do a good job should somebody get hurt. Then a few somebodies got hurt.
This year, we've added a few depth guys (Marco Scutaro, Shannon Stewart, Armando Benitez and others), and have competent fill-ins should the injury bug bite again.
Then there is the addition of David Eckstein. Internet baseball fans love to use statistics to analyze the game - and those statistics don't show Eckstein to be anything special. However, you can't overlook the fact that he's been on two recent World Series-winning teams - and his teammates have all called him a core component of those teams.
The other big move the Jays made was to trade Troy Glaus for Scott Rolen. They're both third basemen who have some injury problems, and it's too early to tell if this will turn out to be a really good deal, or a really bad one.
If McGowan, Litsch, Accardo, and the other young pitchers can be as successful as they were last year, pitching won't be a problem for us. Halladay is going to be his usual one-of-the-best-in-baseball self, as long as he doesn't get hurt, and Burnett can hopefully come close to that. Plus BJ Ryan is healthy again.
Bottom line? The Jays are hurt quite a bit by playing in the same division as Boston and New York - any other division and people would be seriously talking about them as a playoff contender. They've still got a shot, thanks to all the depth additions, but they still need quite a few lucky breaks to make it. Should be fun, though.
--Ryan
P.S. 500 sheets of paper for $6.34? Who knew killing trees could be so cheap?!?
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Get Smart TV Spot
Here below a TV spot for Get Smart, upcoming comedy starring Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway:
What a crazy clip! The classical music in background gives a really funny touch to the whole thing.
Two more clips have been aired since:
That's definitely not the same kind of secret agent as in Quantum of Solace!
:)
What a crazy clip! The classical music in background gives a really funny touch to the whole thing.
Two more clips have been aired since:
That's definitely not the same kind of secret agent as in Quantum of Solace!
:)
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Earth Hour
Earth Hour has passed
and I have failed
I spent most of that time in a minivan, after consuming a needlessly large meal from a Mexican chain restaurant featuring mixed meats and cheeses and other such deliciousnesses that take ridiculous amounts of energy to develop. We drove around lost for a good half hour, doubling back every so often trying to figure out where we were and bothering with the map spread open on my aunt's lap. Once we found our sense of direction, we arrived back at my house to find my roommate had turned off nearly everything in the house. I can't say I forgot; my uncle already acknowledged Earth Hour by dimming his headlights some time earlier. Peaking into my room, I see my two computers running at full capacity as they run unnecessary diagnostics.
I'm sorry.
--
D. Phillips
and I have failed
I spent most of that time in a minivan, after consuming a needlessly large meal from a Mexican chain restaurant featuring mixed meats and cheeses and other such deliciousnesses that take ridiculous amounts of energy to develop. We drove around lost for a good half hour, doubling back every so often trying to figure out where we were and bothering with the map spread open on my aunt's lap. Once we found our sense of direction, we arrived back at my house to find my roommate had turned off nearly everything in the house. I can't say I forgot; my uncle already acknowledged Earth Hour by dimming his headlights some time earlier. Peaking into my room, I see my two computers running at full capacity as they run unnecessary diagnostics.
I'm sorry.
--
D. Phillips
Friday, March 28, 2008
Addendum
So it turns out that the administration and CAS have scheduled a meeting for Thursday to hopefully try and resolve this strike.
I now have no complaints. Hopefully Thursday goes well.
--Ryan
I now have no complaints. Hopefully Thursday goes well.
--Ryan
Here, there, and everywhere
A few quick things before I run out of ways to procrastinate on schoolwork...
CAS are still on strike. I'm not handing in any assignments for those courses, but don't mistake that for me taking a stand. All I really care about is that the strike ends soon, regardless of what terms end up in the final contract.
The sags of "what will be moving into those new buildings on Icomm?" is nearing a completion. The LCBO moved next to Price Chopper. Throw in a Williams, and there's probably only room for one other entity in the mall proper. Then there's the old LCBO building, which they've said they're looking at selling.
It snowed this morning. That wasn't nice.
Leafs are officially out of the playoffs. I seem to remember predicting that to happen back at the start of the season. Luckily, I've forgotten all my other predictions.
The Internet is running out of space. Obviously we need to start evaporating more old Geocities and Fortunecity pages into the cloud.
And, uh, I guess that's it.
--Ryan
CAS are still on strike. I'm not handing in any assignments for those courses, but don't mistake that for me taking a stand. All I really care about is that the strike ends soon, regardless of what terms end up in the final contract.
The sags of "what will be moving into those new buildings on Icomm?" is nearing a completion. The LCBO moved next to Price Chopper. Throw in a Williams, and there's probably only room for one other entity in the mall proper. Then there's the old LCBO building, which they've said they're looking at selling.
It snowed this morning. That wasn't nice.
Leafs are officially out of the playoffs. I seem to remember predicting that to happen back at the start of the season. Luckily, I've forgotten all my other predictions.
The Internet is running out of space. Obviously we need to start evaporating more old Geocities and Fortunecity pages into the cloud.
And, uh, I guess that's it.
--Ryan
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Musique pour Montreal
Just a quick note, and something I forgot to mention yesterday.
Music is a fairly big part of my life - especially on vacations, it's not uncommon for me to be wearing headphones for hours at a time.
As I've probably mentioned here before, my tastes (save the New Pornographers and a few other exceptions) generally skew towards classic rock. That stuff doesn't fly in Montreal.
Montreal is a city where things are happening - the languages are varied, the girls are cute, and EVERYBODY is ahead of the trendiness curve. Any music that 'fits' with the city has to be of the same variety - their weird fascination for U2 notwithstanding.
Queen didn't work, David Bowie didn't either.. The New Pornographers did. So did The Smiths, although I can't say I liked them. Also Freezepop and Dave Matthews Band. And, surprisingly, The Beatles.
I have nothing else to say here.
--Ryan
Music is a fairly big part of my life - especially on vacations, it's not uncommon for me to be wearing headphones for hours at a time.
As I've probably mentioned here before, my tastes (save the New Pornographers and a few other exceptions) generally skew towards classic rock. That stuff doesn't fly in Montreal.
Montreal is a city where things are happening - the languages are varied, the girls are cute, and EVERYBODY is ahead of the trendiness curve. Any music that 'fits' with the city has to be of the same variety - their weird fascination for U2 notwithstanding.
Queen didn't work, David Bowie didn't either.. The New Pornographers did. So did The Smiths, although I can't say I liked them. Also Freezepop and Dave Matthews Band. And, surprisingly, The Beatles.
I have nothing else to say here.
--Ryan
Monday, March 24, 2008
Montreal post-mortem
I'm used to being in class at this time on a Monday. But the CAS are still on strike, which means Christopher Smith is out picketing. When he was asked "would you mind teaching a news photography course?", I'll be this is one potential situation he didn't expect to be in.
So I'm starting to wonder what I should do with this abnormal three hours of free time. Had an early flight out of Montreal this morning, so I've been up since 5:45 AM. That site where people think Pokemon really exist isn't holding my attention any more. What to do, what to do? Maybe I'll take a nap. But then I might as well just go to bed and wake up at like 5 AM.
Wait. Hold up.
Montreal.
I can blog about Montreal.
It was fun. Good food, good culture, not a lot of sleep (two 5:45 wakeup calls will do that).
I suppose one of the things I was most looking forward to - erroneously, as it turned out - was the language. What I failed to take into account was that I would seldom be in public and not with my parents, and if a worker sees two parents and two children, they will naturally start talking to the parents. This would inevitably lead to one of two reactions - a blank stare of incomprehension from my mom, or an "anglais s'il vous plait" from my dad (spoken in an Anglophone accent so strong I can't replicate it).
So the only times I was really able to use my quickly-denigrating French skills were when I was alone, which basically limited me to concession stands at the Bell Centre. Thought I did pretty well there, though.
And that would be the perfect segue into talking about the hockey game. I've been to NHL games in Toronto and Washington, and assorted minor league and junior games all over the place, but I've never seen a crowd anything like the one in Montreal. There was loud cheering and "Go Habs Go" chants WITHOUT the scoreboard telling the fans to start doing that sort of thing. There was one of the "Olé" songs (the one where a few people know it better with the words "Red Team") - at one point, one end of the rink was singing "Olé" while the other end chanted "Thomas...Thomas..." (Boston's goalie was Tim Thomas). And the game was great too, it went to a shootout and then Saku Koivu scored to make everybody happy. Definitely the most amazing atmosphere I've ever seen at a sporting event.
Good food, too. I regret not having the chance to get any poutine - the opportunity was there, I just always figured "I'll get it somewhere better later". However, we did make it to Schwartz's Deli for smoked meat sandwiches. You can see a picture of the sandwich via that link - it's a lot of smoked meat (basically corned beef) in a little bit of bread, with mustard. It's also very, very good. Seriously. Don't go to Montreal without stopping at Schwartz's. But budget a fair bit of time - it's fairly small, and there's always a lineup outside the door.
The other food I had - including everything from rack of lamb to seafood risotto to eggs and sausage - was also great. Don't think I had a bad meal the whole trip, except for maybe some airport food. Kinda pricey, though, hence why I'm not focusing on it more. Good thing I wasn't paying.
We did a lot of the other tourist stuff too - the Undergroud City, the Biodome, the Olympic Tower, le Musée du chateau Ramezay - but I'll save those stories for another time.
--Ryan
So I'm starting to wonder what I should do with this abnormal three hours of free time. Had an early flight out of Montreal this morning, so I've been up since 5:45 AM. That site where people think Pokemon really exist isn't holding my attention any more. What to do, what to do? Maybe I'll take a nap. But then I might as well just go to bed and wake up at like 5 AM.
Wait. Hold up.
Montreal.
I can blog about Montreal.
It was fun. Good food, good culture, not a lot of sleep (two 5:45 wakeup calls will do that).
I suppose one of the things I was most looking forward to - erroneously, as it turned out - was the language. What I failed to take into account was that I would seldom be in public and not with my parents, and if a worker sees two parents and two children, they will naturally start talking to the parents. This would inevitably lead to one of two reactions - a blank stare of incomprehension from my mom, or an "anglais s'il vous plait" from my dad (spoken in an Anglophone accent so strong I can't replicate it).
So the only times I was really able to use my quickly-denigrating French skills were when I was alone, which basically limited me to concession stands at the Bell Centre. Thought I did pretty well there, though.
And that would be the perfect segue into talking about the hockey game. I've been to NHL games in Toronto and Washington, and assorted minor league and junior games all over the place, but I've never seen a crowd anything like the one in Montreal. There was loud cheering and "Go Habs Go" chants WITHOUT the scoreboard telling the fans to start doing that sort of thing. There was one of the "Olé" songs (the one where a few people know it better with the words "Red Team") - at one point, one end of the rink was singing "Olé" while the other end chanted "Thomas...Thomas..." (Boston's goalie was Tim Thomas). And the game was great too, it went to a shootout and then Saku Koivu scored to make everybody happy. Definitely the most amazing atmosphere I've ever seen at a sporting event.
Good food, too. I regret not having the chance to get any poutine - the opportunity was there, I just always figured "I'll get it somewhere better later". However, we did make it to Schwartz's Deli for smoked meat sandwiches. You can see a picture of the sandwich via that link - it's a lot of smoked meat (basically corned beef) in a little bit of bread, with mustard. It's also very, very good. Seriously. Don't go to Montreal without stopping at Schwartz's. But budget a fair bit of time - it's fairly small, and there's always a lineup outside the door.
The other food I had - including everything from rack of lamb to seafood risotto to eggs and sausage - was also great. Don't think I had a bad meal the whole trip, except for maybe some airport food. Kinda pricey, though, hence why I'm not focusing on it more. Good thing I wasn't paying.
We did a lot of the other tourist stuff too - the Undergroud City, the Biodome, the Olympic Tower, le Musée du chateau Ramezay - but I'll save those stories for another time.
--Ryan
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Batter up!
...let me make sure I'm explaining myself here.
Batter. Baseball. Strike.
There we go. That's the ticket.
As of 6 AM yesterday, all Laurier contract academic staff (part-time professors) - both in Brantford and Waterloo - went on strike. They've been without a contract since last August, and decided that enough was enough.
This doesn't really affect me all that much - I only have one course taught by a CAS. However, CAS teach roughly a third of classes at Laurier - slightly less in Brantford, presumably slightly more in Waterloo - and I know some people who are suddenly losing out on two or even three classes.
But that's not what I find most interesting about this. It should be relatively simply for either group to get students on their side - the CAS are being paid less at Laurier than at just about any comparable school in the province, which should be enough to get students supporting the strike. However, other students should realize that if CAS wages go up, so does their tuition - and support the school out of financial consideration.
But neither of these are really happening. I've seen a few students - mostly in Waterloo - willing to speak out in favour of the strike, but they seem to me to be the sort of student who simply support any cause that gets dropped in their lap. Most reaction has been either apathy or equal amounts of anger directed at both sides - students realizing that they're the ones suffering most.
Why is this? If I had to guess - and I've had two professors give a similar opinion - there was next to no communication until the strike began. The first I heard about the potential strike was two weeks ago, and even that was from a professor. Since the strike began, the university has put up a dedicated page on its website, while the union has handed out a piece of paper that really didn't convince me of anything - I actually felt less sympathy for the CAS after having read their literature.
With only two weeks left in the term, it'll be interesting to see how this plays out.
--Ryan
P.S. Don't expect anything from me over the next few days, I'll be in Montreal for no apparent reason. However, this does include a hockey game - and a recent Sports Illustrated poll asked NHL players which arena had the best fans (they couldn't vote for their own). Montreal came out on top with 35% of the vote. Should be an experience.
Batter. Baseball. Strike.
There we go. That's the ticket.
As of 6 AM yesterday, all Laurier contract academic staff (part-time professors) - both in Brantford and Waterloo - went on strike. They've been without a contract since last August, and decided that enough was enough.
This doesn't really affect me all that much - I only have one course taught by a CAS. However, CAS teach roughly a third of classes at Laurier - slightly less in Brantford, presumably slightly more in Waterloo - and I know some people who are suddenly losing out on two or even three classes.
But that's not what I find most interesting about this. It should be relatively simply for either group to get students on their side - the CAS are being paid less at Laurier than at just about any comparable school in the province, which should be enough to get students supporting the strike. However, other students should realize that if CAS wages go up, so does their tuition - and support the school out of financial consideration.
But neither of these are really happening. I've seen a few students - mostly in Waterloo - willing to speak out in favour of the strike, but they seem to me to be the sort of student who simply support any cause that gets dropped in their lap. Most reaction has been either apathy or equal amounts of anger directed at both sides - students realizing that they're the ones suffering most.
Why is this? If I had to guess - and I've had two professors give a similar opinion - there was next to no communication until the strike began. The first I heard about the potential strike was two weeks ago, and even that was from a professor. Since the strike began, the university has put up a dedicated page on its website, while the union has handed out a piece of paper that really didn't convince me of anything - I actually felt less sympathy for the CAS after having read their literature.
With only two weeks left in the term, it'll be interesting to see how this plays out.
--Ryan
P.S. Don't expect anything from me over the next few days, I'll be in Montreal for no apparent reason. However, this does include a hockey game - and a recent Sports Illustrated poll asked NHL players which arena had the best fans (they couldn't vote for their own). Montreal came out on top with 35% of the vote. Should be an experience.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Things I Have Learned About Myself
Today, I have learned the following things about myself:
-I have a 25% chance of surviving a zombie invasion.
-I can name 98 countries in five minutes
-I can name 40 colours in five minutes
-I could successfully fend off 15 five-year-olds in a fight
-I am 37% geek (of course, this test failed to take into account parameters such as "subject can name 98 countries in five minutes").
-If I were to die right now, my body would be worth $4915.
If you're interested in your own results, click here for the zombie survival quiz, which links to all the others.
--Ryan
-I have a 25% chance of surviving a zombie invasion.
-I can name 98 countries in five minutes
-I can name 40 colours in five minutes
-I could successfully fend off 15 five-year-olds in a fight
-I am 37% geek (of course, this test failed to take into account parameters such as "subject can name 98 countries in five minutes").
-If I were to die right now, my body would be worth $4915.
If you're interested in your own results, click here for the zombie survival quiz, which links to all the others.
--Ryan
Saturday, March 15, 2008
I can't think of good titles anymore
Wow, this week's gone by fast. Already five days since my last post. And now I'm busy writing a paper on "is Canada prepared for the next flu pandemic?". In case you were wondering, we're not. Not even close. Although we do lead the world by quite a bit when it comes to percentage of citizens to take flu vaccinations.
Also, Jeff Healey died. It's been almost two weeks now, but I haven't mentioned it yet. Reading various tributes online, it's almost unbelievable how many people have said something along the lines of "I'd been loving his music for years before I realized he was blind." Myself, I'd seen the video below and STILL wasn't 100% sure that he was blind. Definitely didn't know he had cancer. Also, he was both Canadian and a huge jazz fan - both big plusses in my book.
Since I didn't know the man personally, there's not a lot I can do for his memory. However, I am blown away by what he was able to accomplish, I do like his music, and I have heard countless stories about what a nice, humble person he was. So here's the best I can come up with - "Stuck In The Middle With You", as performed by the Jeff Healey Band in 1999. Enjoy!
Also, Jeff Healey died. It's been almost two weeks now, but I haven't mentioned it yet. Reading various tributes online, it's almost unbelievable how many people have said something along the lines of "I'd been loving his music for years before I realized he was blind." Myself, I'd seen the video below and STILL wasn't 100% sure that he was blind. Definitely didn't know he had cancer. Also, he was both Canadian and a huge jazz fan - both big plusses in my book.
Since I didn't know the man personally, there's not a lot I can do for his memory. However, I am blown away by what he was able to accomplish, I do like his music, and I have heard countless stories about what a nice, humble person he was. So here's the best I can come up with - "Stuck In The Middle With You", as performed by the Jeff Healey Band in 1999. Enjoy!
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
All apologies
So I said I'd have something cool up on the weekend. I lied.
Turned out I spent most of the weekend either shovelling snow or taking pictures. Not at the same time, fortunately, that could have been disastrous.
And since I lack motivation at the moment, I'll do what any good lazy journalist would do - look out for BIG ROUND NUMBERS! You see, this is the hundredth post here at honeygarlic! Go us!
The ever-reliable Wikipedia notes that 100 is the sum of the first nine prime numbers. On a slightly less geeky note, it's also the number of tiles in a standard Scrabble set.
Moreover, if you divide it by four, you get twenty-five. Which is, coincidentally, the number of answers needed to finish From A to craZy, a word puzzle from the folks who brought you Funny Farm.
--Ryan
Turned out I spent most of the weekend either shovelling snow or taking pictures. Not at the same time, fortunately, that could have been disastrous.
And since I lack motivation at the moment, I'll do what any good lazy journalist would do - look out for BIG ROUND NUMBERS! You see, this is the hundredth post here at honeygarlic! Go us!
The ever-reliable Wikipedia notes that 100 is the sum of the first nine prime numbers. On a slightly less geeky note, it's also the number of tiles in a standard Scrabble set.
Moreover, if you divide it by four, you get twenty-five. Which is, coincidentally, the number of answers needed to finish From A to craZy, a word puzzle from the folks who brought you Funny Farm.
--Ryan
Thursday, March 6, 2008
The Poling Parents: Autism and Vaccinations
I guess I've neglected this blog for a while. Let's face it, I'm generally not as skilled a writer as my colleague; it's probably for the best.
I might offend a few parents of autistic children in this entry. Before I continue, I should point out that this is only directed at those who believe in certain specific causes of their children's conditions. I understand that they have their work cut out for them, but the finger-pointing performed by the Poling parents is - I believe - completely unreasonable.
That's kind of like saying middle school causes puberty. (Except, I suppose the hormones of classmates nearby may affect the punctuality of the pubescent experience... Perhaps this is a bad example.)
It's the parents of children with autism who make these ridiculous claims. I might dare to say that stupid parents cause autistic children.
(I hope no one misquotes me on that.)
--
D. Phillips
I might offend a few parents of autistic children in this entry. Before I continue, I should point out that this is only directed at those who believe in certain specific causes of their children's conditions. I understand that they have their work cut out for them, but the finger-pointing performed by the Poling parents is - I believe - completely unreasonable.
What it boils down to is that parenting a child with autism is a difficult job; writing about it is far easier.So, Ryan and I are watching the news right now... Apparently some radical individuals have decided to protest against certain vaccines which they believe to promote autism. I can understand a fear about the preservatives made with mercury, but most vaccinations occur at the point in a child's development where they would show signs of autism (if they have it) .
--Elizabeth Moon
That's kind of like saying middle school causes puberty. (Except, I suppose the hormones of classmates nearby may affect the punctuality of the pubescent experience... Perhaps this is a bad example.)
It's the parents of children with autism who make these ridiculous claims. I might dare to say that stupid parents cause autistic children.
(I hope no one misquotes me on that.)
--
D. Phillips
Politics are stupid, throw rocks at them
So politics have gotten rather weird on both sides of the border.
I'll start in the US, where the fight between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama continues. To me, the choice is simple - I could never let myself vote for a Republican, so McCain is already out. Between the two Democrat possibilities, I would go with Obama in a heartbeat.
Why? Well, it's not so much "yay, Obama" as "boo, Hilary". The fact is, Hilary should have dropped out of the race after losing eleven straight states. Had it been the other way around, she would have been able to bully Obama into doing just that - but because Obama's actually a nice guy and doesn't invoke the normal cynical feelings about all politicians, he's willing to let Hilary make up her own mind about what she wants to do.
Then, on Tuesday, Hilary won big enough that they're basically back in a tie - but I've actually heard one of her advisors say, in exactly the context I present it here, that Hilary can not possibly win on any important issues, so they basically have to make something up and run a smear campaign.
Some people complain that Obama isn't making that many promises...well, let's ask the Canadian federal Conservatives, or Ontarian Liberals, or any other government in North America how well they've done at keeping the dozens of promises they made befor coming into office. Obama is smart enough to realize that he shouldn't promise something he can't deliver - for example, he's not going to promise that he'll find new jobs for all the former automotive workers being laid off unless he knows where those jobs will come from. His detractors will then point out that if Obama doesn't know exactly how he'll solve these problems, he should figure it out right now - but the fact is that he's in the middle of a campaign, and he doesn't have any time to spend on anything else until he's at least got the Democratic nomination. So why didn't he figure this stuff out before he decided to run for President? Maybe because, as a senator, he was too busy actually getting stuff done?
One final point on Obama - I can guarantee that out of the three remaining major candidates, he would do the most, by far, to enhance America's reputation on the international stage just by being elected.
Meanwhile, Canada is dealing with its latest "he said, she said" affair, only with a nice twist in the form of a libel lawsuit.
Chuck Cadman was a former Conservative MP who was kicked out of their caucus. In May 2005, a crucial vote was coming up in the House of Commons - if Cadman voted with the Liberals, they would stay in power, otherwise they wouldn't. Obviously both parties were extremely interested in knowing how Cadman would vote, but were hamstrung by bribery laws into not being able to really influence him in any way.
Cadman had terminal cancer at the time, and it was fairly obvious that he didn't have long left to live. Allegedly, two Conservative strategists met with Cadman and offered him a million-dollar life insurance policy if he voted with them. Cadman denied that he was ever offered anything, but his wife - herself a Conservative - recently said that this was not true, and he was offered the life insurance.
Liberal leader Stephane Dion has spoken about this as if he is 100% certain it happened (which is definitely what I'm leaning towards seeing as it was his Conservative wife who first mentioned it), which has resulted in Stephen Harper suing Dion for libel.
What Harper doesn't seem to understand is that nobody ever suggested he was personally responsible for the alleged offer; nobody thought Harper called Cadman as said "Yo, Chuckster, Stevie here. You vote with us and we give you family a million bucks, dig?". But the unstated point was that, whether Harper was personally responsible or not, he is the public leader of the Conservatives, and needs to take accountability - which, if I remember right was one of their main talking points in the last election - for the actions of any Conservatives. Had he said "we'll get to the bottom of this, one way or the other, but I really don't think we'll find anything", there wouldn't have been a problem. But he chose to defend himself and himself only, and it could really come back to haunt him if it turns out such an offer was made.
Something more intersting coming this weekend, promise.
--Ryan
I'll start in the US, where the fight between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama continues. To me, the choice is simple - I could never let myself vote for a Republican, so McCain is already out. Between the two Democrat possibilities, I would go with Obama in a heartbeat.
Why? Well, it's not so much "yay, Obama" as "boo, Hilary". The fact is, Hilary should have dropped out of the race after losing eleven straight states. Had it been the other way around, she would have been able to bully Obama into doing just that - but because Obama's actually a nice guy and doesn't invoke the normal cynical feelings about all politicians, he's willing to let Hilary make up her own mind about what she wants to do.
Then, on Tuesday, Hilary won big enough that they're basically back in a tie - but I've actually heard one of her advisors say, in exactly the context I present it here, that Hilary can not possibly win on any important issues, so they basically have to make something up and run a smear campaign.
Some people complain that Obama isn't making that many promises...well, let's ask the Canadian federal Conservatives, or Ontarian Liberals, or any other government in North America how well they've done at keeping the dozens of promises they made befor coming into office. Obama is smart enough to realize that he shouldn't promise something he can't deliver - for example, he's not going to promise that he'll find new jobs for all the former automotive workers being laid off unless he knows where those jobs will come from. His detractors will then point out that if Obama doesn't know exactly how he'll solve these problems, he should figure it out right now - but the fact is that he's in the middle of a campaign, and he doesn't have any time to spend on anything else until he's at least got the Democratic nomination. So why didn't he figure this stuff out before he decided to run for President? Maybe because, as a senator, he was too busy actually getting stuff done?
One final point on Obama - I can guarantee that out of the three remaining major candidates, he would do the most, by far, to enhance America's reputation on the international stage just by being elected.
Meanwhile, Canada is dealing with its latest "he said, she said" affair, only with a nice twist in the form of a libel lawsuit.
Chuck Cadman was a former Conservative MP who was kicked out of their caucus. In May 2005, a crucial vote was coming up in the House of Commons - if Cadman voted with the Liberals, they would stay in power, otherwise they wouldn't. Obviously both parties were extremely interested in knowing how Cadman would vote, but were hamstrung by bribery laws into not being able to really influence him in any way.
Cadman had terminal cancer at the time, and it was fairly obvious that he didn't have long left to live. Allegedly, two Conservative strategists met with Cadman and offered him a million-dollar life insurance policy if he voted with them. Cadman denied that he was ever offered anything, but his wife - herself a Conservative - recently said that this was not true, and he was offered the life insurance.
Liberal leader Stephane Dion has spoken about this as if he is 100% certain it happened (which is definitely what I'm leaning towards seeing as it was his Conservative wife who first mentioned it), which has resulted in Stephen Harper suing Dion for libel.
What Harper doesn't seem to understand is that nobody ever suggested he was personally responsible for the alleged offer; nobody thought Harper called Cadman as said "Yo, Chuckster, Stevie here. You vote with us and we give you family a million bucks, dig?". But the unstated point was that, whether Harper was personally responsible or not, he is the public leader of the Conservatives, and needs to take accountability - which, if I remember right was one of their main talking points in the last election - for the actions of any Conservatives. Had he said "we'll get to the bottom of this, one way or the other, but I really don't think we'll find anything", there wouldn't have been a problem. But he chose to defend himself and himself only, and it could really come back to haunt him if it turns out such an offer was made.
Something more intersting coming this weekend, promise.
--Ryan
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Review: Challengers
Here's something I haven't done here yet: reviews.
I don't see many movies, and the one book review I did do was mainly just a warning - a warning which I'll repeat again, DO NOT READ THE FUTURIST.
But I do listen to a fair bit of music, and while most of it is fairly mainstream stuff, I'm going to take this opportunity to share something that isn't.
The New Pornographers are an indie rock - 'indie' being what most North Americans called 'alternative' until recently - band from Vancouver, who have now put out four great CDs. I don't really know how to classify their music, other than to say that it's usually very energetic, uplifting, and occasionally experimental. Their newest album is called Challengers, and that's the one I'll be guiding you through here.
If you're reading this, you've hopefully never heard the New Pornographers before, because Challengers is probably their weakest album yet - although it's still very good. The super-energetic power-pop stuff like "Twin Cinema" and "Use It" is missing, as are the really eccentric tracks like "Execution Day" and "Three or Four" - Challengers is filled mostly with slower tempos and stuff that would only sound about 75% out of place on mainstream radio. Since I can't think of a better way to do this, I'll give my thoughts song by song...
My Rights Versus Yours: If you've never heard the New Pornographers before, the opening song might give you the wrong impression - although their are the trademark vocal harmonies, it's one of the slowest, most minimalistic tracks on the album. One of very few songs I could easily live without.
All The Old Showstoppers: From there, we go to one of the better songs on the disc (I'll probably be saying that a lot), and the only one that I associate with something other than the vocals. In the past, the New Pornographers (who really need to find a good nickname) have had songs with catchy, memorable instrumental parts (the guitar in "Mass Romantic", for example)...it only happens once on Challengers; this song has a guitar riff which sounds like something you'd expect to find on an American car commercial of some sort. And it's not that the vocals/lyrics are bad...while there's nothing special about the verses, the chorus is catchy enough by itself.
Challengers: The title track would have probably been a lot better if it had been on any of the NPs' previous albums...it's a good song, but it suffers from the fact that every other song on this CD is really similar to it.
Myriad Harbour: Now this is more like it. My favourite song on the CD - by FAR - and guess what? It's the closest to the more offbeat (in a non-musical sense) stuff of the earlier albums. The music nerd that I was in high school particularly likes the call-and-answer in most of the verses. I read somewhere that this album is unofficially about the experience NP songwriter Carl Newman had moving to New York - if that's true, this song would be Carl showing a friend around his new neighbourhood. (Or at least that's what I think - I've never been good at interpreting song lyrics, subtext in all forms baffles me.)
All The Things That Go To Make Heaven And Earth: Long title. Catchy syncopated chorus ("All of/the things/that go/to make/Heaven/and Earth are here"). Verses sound kind of generic, otherwise this would be giving "Myriad Harbour" a run for my favourite song on the CD. Just from the lyrics I gave above, I think even I can figure out how this fits into the New York idea.
Failsafe: ...again, one or two of these songs on an album would be good. Three or four would be tolerable. Five or six is way too much. There's nothing to make this one stand out from the rest.
Unguided: At six and a half minutes, this is the longest song on the album by a good bit. The first few times I heard it, I wasn't a fan - too similar to the songs I've been complaining about. But it grew on me, and I now consider it one of the better songs on the CD. Definitely seems to go by a lot faster than six minutes. The lyrics are...well, I'm sure not going to try to analyze them, I wouldn't be able to come up with anything, but they work. The vocals and vocal arrangment are probably what makes it as good as it is.
Entering White Cecilia: Erm...something about New York City nightlife? I'm not quite sure on the lyrics, but the rest of the song seems like a disappointment to me. It's as if there's some unseen force holding it back from being really amazing. Maybe it's just that it's too similar to some of the other stuff.
Go Places: I don't know why, but something tells me that if any song from this album were to stand a chance at making it big, it would be this one. It's not anything particularly great - probably the litmus test for whether I classify any other song as 'liked' or 'disliked' - but something about it just sounds...normal. Sort of.
Mutiny, I Promise You: We've truly entered a new age, song titles now contain COMMAS! I have to admit, the album really ends on a high..."Entering White Cecilia" isn't that great, "Go Places" is somewhat of an improvement...and then I can't order these last three songs, but they're even better. Maybe I like this one because the lyrics actually make sense - although I can't fit them into New York, maybe just because it's catchy.
Adventures In Solitude: To get this out of the way, this is a good song. Assuming the previous song is essentially the climax of the album, this is a perfect start to the cool-down...the passive language and disjointed sentences make it clear that something has happened. The rhythms are good, and the instrumentation is about right. But then there's the chorus. "We thought we lost you/we thought we lost you/we thought we lost you/welcome back". Now while I have no problem with lyrics that aren't the least bit deep or thought-provoking...there's just nothing to those at all. And beyond that, it doesn't even sound right musically. Aside from that, good song.
The Spirit Of Giving: This song might be my second-favourite on the album, it's grown on me every time I've heard it - probably because I now realize it's not three different songs. Yes, it is one of those songs that gets divided up into parts that sound nothing alike, but my guess is that were they to be fleshed out, we'd be stuck with three more of the "Failsafe"-type songs I've been compaining about. Oh, and the song (and thus the album) ends with a spoken-word utterance of the following passage:
See, non-sensical isn't always horrible. In this case, it works well.
So yeah. Unlike The Futurist, I actually recommend what I've reviewing for once. If you've heard the New Pornographers before, you've probably already heard this and managed to contain your disappointment; if this is your first introduction to the band, you can use it as a springboard to some really good stuff.
--Ryan
I don't see many movies, and the one book review I did do was mainly just a warning - a warning which I'll repeat again, DO NOT READ THE FUTURIST.
But I do listen to a fair bit of music, and while most of it is fairly mainstream stuff, I'm going to take this opportunity to share something that isn't.
The New Pornographers are an indie rock - 'indie' being what most North Americans called 'alternative' until recently - band from Vancouver, who have now put out four great CDs. I don't really know how to classify their music, other than to say that it's usually very energetic, uplifting, and occasionally experimental. Their newest album is called Challengers, and that's the one I'll be guiding you through here.
If you're reading this, you've hopefully never heard the New Pornographers before, because Challengers is probably their weakest album yet - although it's still very good. The super-energetic power-pop stuff like "Twin Cinema" and "Use It" is missing, as are the really eccentric tracks like "Execution Day" and "Three or Four" - Challengers is filled mostly with slower tempos and stuff that would only sound about 75% out of place on mainstream radio. Since I can't think of a better way to do this, I'll give my thoughts song by song...
My Rights Versus Yours: If you've never heard the New Pornographers before, the opening song might give you the wrong impression - although their are the trademark vocal harmonies, it's one of the slowest, most minimalistic tracks on the album. One of very few songs I could easily live without.
All The Old Showstoppers: From there, we go to one of the better songs on the disc (I'll probably be saying that a lot), and the only one that I associate with something other than the vocals. In the past, the New Pornographers (who really need to find a good nickname) have had songs with catchy, memorable instrumental parts (the guitar in "Mass Romantic", for example)...it only happens once on Challengers; this song has a guitar riff which sounds like something you'd expect to find on an American car commercial of some sort. And it's not that the vocals/lyrics are bad...while there's nothing special about the verses, the chorus is catchy enough by itself.
Challengers: The title track would have probably been a lot better if it had been on any of the NPs' previous albums...it's a good song, but it suffers from the fact that every other song on this CD is really similar to it.
Myriad Harbour: Now this is more like it. My favourite song on the CD - by FAR - and guess what? It's the closest to the more offbeat (in a non-musical sense) stuff of the earlier albums. The music nerd that I was in high school particularly likes the call-and-answer in most of the verses. I read somewhere that this album is unofficially about the experience NP songwriter Carl Newman had moving to New York - if that's true, this song would be Carl showing a friend around his new neighbourhood. (Or at least that's what I think - I've never been good at interpreting song lyrics, subtext in all forms baffles me.)
All The Things That Go To Make Heaven And Earth: Long title. Catchy syncopated chorus ("All of/the things/that go/to make/Heaven/and Earth are here"). Verses sound kind of generic, otherwise this would be giving "Myriad Harbour" a run for my favourite song on the CD. Just from the lyrics I gave above, I think even I can figure out how this fits into the New York idea.
Failsafe: ...again, one or two of these songs on an album would be good. Three or four would be tolerable. Five or six is way too much. There's nothing to make this one stand out from the rest.
Unguided: At six and a half minutes, this is the longest song on the album by a good bit. The first few times I heard it, I wasn't a fan - too similar to the songs I've been complaining about. But it grew on me, and I now consider it one of the better songs on the CD. Definitely seems to go by a lot faster than six minutes. The lyrics are...well, I'm sure not going to try to analyze them, I wouldn't be able to come up with anything, but they work. The vocals and vocal arrangment are probably what makes it as good as it is.
Entering White Cecilia: Erm...something about New York City nightlife? I'm not quite sure on the lyrics, but the rest of the song seems like a disappointment to me. It's as if there's some unseen force holding it back from being really amazing. Maybe it's just that it's too similar to some of the other stuff.
Go Places: I don't know why, but something tells me that if any song from this album were to stand a chance at making it big, it would be this one. It's not anything particularly great - probably the litmus test for whether I classify any other song as 'liked' or 'disliked' - but something about it just sounds...normal. Sort of.
Mutiny, I Promise You: We've truly entered a new age, song titles now contain COMMAS! I have to admit, the album really ends on a high..."Entering White Cecilia" isn't that great, "Go Places" is somewhat of an improvement...and then I can't order these last three songs, but they're even better. Maybe I like this one because the lyrics actually make sense - although I can't fit them into New York, maybe just because it's catchy.
Adventures In Solitude: To get this out of the way, this is a good song. Assuming the previous song is essentially the climax of the album, this is a perfect start to the cool-down...the passive language and disjointed sentences make it clear that something has happened. The rhythms are good, and the instrumentation is about right. But then there's the chorus. "We thought we lost you/we thought we lost you/we thought we lost you/welcome back". Now while I have no problem with lyrics that aren't the least bit deep or thought-provoking...there's just nothing to those at all. And beyond that, it doesn't even sound right musically. Aside from that, good song.
The Spirit Of Giving: This song might be my second-favourite on the album, it's grown on me every time I've heard it - probably because I now realize it's not three different songs. Yes, it is one of those songs that gets divided up into parts that sound nothing alike, but my guess is that were they to be fleshed out, we'd be stuck with three more of the "Failsafe"-type songs I've been compaining about. Oh, and the song (and thus the album) ends with a spoken-word utterance of the following passage:
All I wanted was an answer to the secret
Ground floor Mary come on
Outboard Mary come on
All I wanted was an answer to
Your money or your life? Your money or your life?
I was sick of America and her screaming decay
I was in a band we were singing 'hooray' quite often
But your momma was poor your daddy was poor
Whatcha gonna do?
Your mother was poor your father was poor
Whatcha gonna do
About it?
See, non-sensical isn't always horrible. In this case, it works well.
So yeah. Unlike The Futurist, I actually recommend what I've reviewing for once. If you've heard the New Pornographers before, you've probably already heard this and managed to contain your disappointment; if this is your first introduction to the band, you can use it as a springboard to some really good stuff.
--Ryan
Saturday, March 1, 2008
We'll never be hungry again!
Now this is neat.
When I first heard about the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, I was confused. While a global seed depository sounds like a great idea on the surface, I had no idea what practical purpose it could actually serve.
The next day, I learned of one potential purpose for this Vault - located on the Norwegian island of Svalbard - should some form of bioterrorism eventually completely destroy any of Earth's crops, the SGSV (which has been built to withstand a nuclear attack) will be able to step in and save the farm, so to speak.
Then, after a little bit of web surfing, I found another use for it. Genebanks - the SGSV is one genebank - frequently lose samples of some seeds, either by accident or due to deliberate outside action. So basically, from now on, anytime somebody loses their last sample of a certain seed, they can just head to Norway and get a replacement! At least, I think that's how it works.
--Ryan
When I first heard about the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, I was confused. While a global seed depository sounds like a great idea on the surface, I had no idea what practical purpose it could actually serve.
The next day, I learned of one potential purpose for this Vault - located on the Norwegian island of Svalbard - should some form of bioterrorism eventually completely destroy any of Earth's crops, the SGSV (which has been built to withstand a nuclear attack) will be able to step in and save the farm, so to speak.
Then, after a little bit of web surfing, I found another use for it. Genebanks - the SGSV is one genebank - frequently lose samples of some seeds, either by accident or due to deliberate outside action. So basically, from now on, anytime somebody loses their last sample of a certain seed, they can just head to Norway and get a replacement! At least, I think that's how it works.
--Ryan
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