So let's see what we have for this evening..
1. Well, it's been awhile since we had any fuckery with the car. I guess I started to get cocky with the security cameras around the building. But there are still ways of being an asshole with only a little bit of work. Last night someone pulled the plug out of the outlet. That meant there was nothing keeping the car battery warm last night.
Ordinarily that would just be a bit of a nuisance. If you're lucky, then the battery is fine anyway. Except it was below -40 last night with windchill, so there wasn't much of a chance the battery was going to survive that. And sadly, since the battery is about seven years old and has run down once already, it's now officially toast. Even a boost couldn't get it going again.
We'll see about replacing it before we go. I have visions of getting a new battery and the same asshole yanking the plug out of the bar again, killing another battery. So we might just tough it out until we get back from vacation and replace it then. And yes, there are security cameras. But really, is it worth it going through the footage and involving the police just to find someone who killed my battery? Probably not.
I wonder if vandalism is going to be a larger problem, what with The Snack just about ready to reopen. There's going to be a lot more traffic in the area again.
2. While the cold killed my battery last night, it didn't managed to kill a little bird that ended up at work today. I don't know how, but someone's pet bird escaped. It's a tropical bird, a parakeet of some kind. It was found on someone's porch this morning, presumably having spent most of the night there. It was dropped of at work and we put a PSA on the local station asking if anyone lost a pet bird. No one's claimed it so far. I have no earthly idea how a tropical bird survived the cold last night. Other than sleeping a lot and having it's feet look a bit swollen, it seems fine. Weirdness. That's one tough bird. One of my co-workers took it home for the weekend and might adopt it if no one steps forward.
3. I guess this blog was pretty much inevitable, especially since I can't find Rantin' and Raven anymore. Which means there's a bit of a void for Nunavummiut to vent anonymously online. This ought to be interesting.
4. I now have a copy of The Chieftains The Bells of Dublin. Thanks Elling.
Last Five
The Bells of Dublin - The Chieftains
Friday, December 14, 2007
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Four links
So let us see some of the links that have caught my eye today.
1. I've never been the biggest Terry Prachett fan in the world. I respect the quality of the work he does, but his books, for the most part, never captured my imagination. With one notable exception - Good Omens. That book, co-written with Neil Gaiman, remains one of my all-time favourites. So the news that he has early onset Alzheimer's is disheartening.
Then again, as Cathy pointed out to me, this is the disease that I'm most afraid of. I'm not saying there are ones I look forward to or prefer. But there's something in particular about Alzheimer's that scares me. Still, reading Prachett's comments, I could only hope that if I am ever diagnosed with that disease that I meet it with half the grace and wit that Prachett is apparently doing.
2. The annual list of stupid warning labels has been released. Really, hard to beat "Warning: Avoid Death". I mean, if I had never read that label, I don't know what I would do in my day to day life.
3. Bill Maher lists his dickheads of the year. Kind of hard to find fault with any of his selections. I especially like the completely insane 25% that will never abandon President Bush, no matter what he does. Although I confess confusion about one omission. If you're going to list dickheads, aren't you missing the obvious by not including Dick Cheney?
4. Rolling Stone lists the 100 best singles of 2007. Once again, I might know about a quarter of them. Of the ones listed there, "Icky Thump" by the White Stripes is probably my favourite, but with a special mention for "Silver Lining" by Rilo Kiley. That's a good little band. They're heavily influenced by Fleetwood Mac, but really, there are a lot worse influences to have. As a pop band, there aren't many better than them when they were on.
1. I've never been the biggest Terry Prachett fan in the world. I respect the quality of the work he does, but his books, for the most part, never captured my imagination. With one notable exception - Good Omens. That book, co-written with Neil Gaiman, remains one of my all-time favourites. So the news that he has early onset Alzheimer's is disheartening.
Then again, as Cathy pointed out to me, this is the disease that I'm most afraid of. I'm not saying there are ones I look forward to or prefer. But there's something in particular about Alzheimer's that scares me. Still, reading Prachett's comments, I could only hope that if I am ever diagnosed with that disease that I meet it with half the grace and wit that Prachett is apparently doing.
2. The annual list of stupid warning labels has been released. Really, hard to beat "Warning: Avoid Death". I mean, if I had never read that label, I don't know what I would do in my day to day life.
3. Bill Maher lists his dickheads of the year. Kind of hard to find fault with any of his selections. I especially like the completely insane 25% that will never abandon President Bush, no matter what he does. Although I confess confusion about one omission. If you're going to list dickheads, aren't you missing the obvious by not including Dick Cheney?
4. Rolling Stone lists the 100 best singles of 2007. Once again, I might know about a quarter of them. Of the ones listed there, "Icky Thump" by the White Stripes is probably my favourite, but with a special mention for "Silver Lining" by Rilo Kiley. That's a good little band. They're heavily influenced by Fleetwood Mac, but really, there are a lot worse influences to have. As a pop band, there aren't many better than them when they were on.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Missing the Bells
We're updating our iPods a bit for the upcoming trip. Trimming out some stuff that we no longer want. Cathy, for example, begged me to remove the Grease OST and the Best of Abba. I'm still going through mine. I could probably stand to curb some of the Tori Amos I have on there. And there are a couple of other albums that I tend to hit skip when they come on that should probably go. But I always give records a lot of time to grab me. It can take weeks or months before something grabs me. For example, I think it took about three months for Neko Case's Furnace Room Lullaby to grab me. I very nearly sold it at Fred's. And if I had, I would have lost one of my favourite records.
I'm also adding some Christmas music for Cathy. It'll go as soon as we come back next month, but she likes having some Christmas music to listen to during the holidays, which makes sense. Her main one is Roger Whittaker's Christmas with Roger Whittaker. And yes, I can see a few of you going "What the hell?", but it was the record her family listened to every year at Christmas, so I understand the memories that go along with listening to 'Darcy the dragon."
Alas, I wasn't smart enough to pack my favourite Christmas CD - The Bells of Dublin by The Chieftains. I have so many Chieftains CD and I had to make some choices when we moved up here. I didn't want to add it to my iPod, but didn't want to bring up the CD because we were desperate for space (we brought up no CDs at all). So it stayed behind.
And yet I find myself craving that CD. I even went to iTunes, figuring if it was there I would drop the $10. It is there, but for unfathomable reasons, only two of the 24 songs are for sale, which is kind of moronic. I've even tried poking around on torrent sites to see if it's there. Ethically I would have no problem downloading it, since I already own it. It's just in storage in St. John's. Alas, as I expected, the Chieftains don't have a whole lot of torrents available online. Good news for the band, I guess. Bad news for me in this case.
Who knows, maybe I'll get lucky in Florida and find a copy. I kind of doubt it, though.
My other bit of musical news is this pretty handy list from The Scope. It's some of the best releases in Newfoundland in 2007. We've been out of the loop musically for so long and I do like supporting Newfoundland artists whenever I can. With no Sean Panting, Colleen Power or Mark Bragg releases this year, I'm kind of at a loss what to get.
Having looked at the list, theFeast of Cohen: Live is the one I want the most. That would be followed by The Coast Guard, Chris Picco, Sherry Ryan and, of course, The Wonderful Grand Band re-release. The Fables and Patrick Canning are maybes. And hey, if anyone else has a recommendation, I'm all ears.
Granted, this is all far too late for Christmas. But I do have a birthday next month....
Last Five
1. Presentation cheque - Sean Panting
2. The littlest birds - The Be Good Tanyas*
3. Cloud on my tongue - Tori Amos
4. Rene and Margritee - Paul Simon
5. Sea lion woman - Feist
I'm also adding some Christmas music for Cathy. It'll go as soon as we come back next month, but she likes having some Christmas music to listen to during the holidays, which makes sense. Her main one is Roger Whittaker's Christmas with Roger Whittaker. And yes, I can see a few of you going "What the hell?", but it was the record her family listened to every year at Christmas, so I understand the memories that go along with listening to 'Darcy the dragon."
Alas, I wasn't smart enough to pack my favourite Christmas CD - The Bells of Dublin by The Chieftains. I have so many Chieftains CD and I had to make some choices when we moved up here. I didn't want to add it to my iPod, but didn't want to bring up the CD because we were desperate for space (we brought up no CDs at all). So it stayed behind.
And yet I find myself craving that CD. I even went to iTunes, figuring if it was there I would drop the $10. It is there, but for unfathomable reasons, only two of the 24 songs are for sale, which is kind of moronic. I've even tried poking around on torrent sites to see if it's there. Ethically I would have no problem downloading it, since I already own it. It's just in storage in St. John's. Alas, as I expected, the Chieftains don't have a whole lot of torrents available online. Good news for the band, I guess. Bad news for me in this case.
Who knows, maybe I'll get lucky in Florida and find a copy. I kind of doubt it, though.
My other bit of musical news is this pretty handy list from The Scope. It's some of the best releases in Newfoundland in 2007. We've been out of the loop musically for so long and I do like supporting Newfoundland artists whenever I can. With no Sean Panting, Colleen Power or Mark Bragg releases this year, I'm kind of at a loss what to get.
Having looked at the list, theFeast of Cohen: Live is the one I want the most. That would be followed by The Coast Guard, Chris Picco, Sherry Ryan and, of course, The Wonderful Grand Band re-release. The Fables and Patrick Canning are maybes. And hey, if anyone else has a recommendation, I'm all ears.
Granted, this is all far too late for Christmas. But I do have a birthday next month....
Last Five
1. Presentation cheque - Sean Panting
2. The littlest birds - The Be Good Tanyas*
3. Cloud on my tongue - Tori Amos
4. Rene and Margritee - Paul Simon
5. Sea lion woman - Feist
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Downwind
Not only am I a townie bastard, but I'm also an east end snot. Which means short of being born and raised in downtown St. John's, you'll likely be hard pressed to find a more hardcore townie than myself. That means if you're not from town, you're subject to mocking.
In recent years I've had to tone this down. Alas, my wife is from Mount Pearl. And while she tolerated a certain amount of ribbing early in our relationship I soon became wise to the fact that continually mocking the general uselessness of the place where she was raised was not going to be good for my long term health, let alone the long term health of our relationship.
So while I did the sensible thing and stayed away from Mount Pearl most of my life, obviously that's changed in recent years. I remember for the first six months or so we were going out Cathy would constantly have to give me directions because I had no clue on how to get around the place.
But once I started spending more time out there, especially during the summer, I began to notice other things. Such as, well, let's be honest here, the smell. St. John's is hardly exempt for the pungent smell of manure that comes from farms at that end of the town, but Mount Pearl certainly does seem to get the full force of it. I guess if you live out there long enough, you get used to it. I never did, though. Even last summer, when the wind was blowing towards Cathy's parents' house, you could certainly get a full blast of it that could ruin a nice day outside.
So this story caught my eye. The City of St. John's is looking at developing land at the old Sprung Greenhouse site. And a local farmer is warning that when you build a major new subdivision that near farms that you're going to have problems with odours. He's suggesting a buffer might be a good idea.
Here's my thing. I have no problem with the new subdivision being built there. But let's be honest. Screw the buffer zone. It's a subdivision next to farm land. It won't make a damn bit of difference. I think every single person who buys a house in that subdivision, whether it's new or off an owner years from now, has to sign a waiver acknowledging they're buying a house near a farm and that there are going to be times it reeks. I don't want to read any stories five years from now from some whinny home owner about how they didn't think the smell was going to be this bad or they're worried about the health of their kids with that smell.
You buy a house there, you don't get to make trouble for the farmers They were there first. I'm sure they're under enough pressure to sell their land to developers. You buy a house there, you buy the smell as well. Deal with it.
The first one who complains about the smell gets a smack to the head. Seriously. Smacks in the in the head for all who complain about the obvious. I'll give credit to people in the Pearl for that much. At least most of them never complain about the smell.
I did. But then again, I was smart enough to not live downwind from a farm....
Last Five
1. That's entertainment - The Jam
2. Soloman's Row - Sean Panting*
3. Tickets to what you need - Badly Drawn Boy
4. Night - Bruce Springsteen
5. Real long distance - Josh Ritter
In recent years I've had to tone this down. Alas, my wife is from Mount Pearl. And while she tolerated a certain amount of ribbing early in our relationship I soon became wise to the fact that continually mocking the general uselessness of the place where she was raised was not going to be good for my long term health, let alone the long term health of our relationship.
So while I did the sensible thing and stayed away from Mount Pearl most of my life, obviously that's changed in recent years. I remember for the first six months or so we were going out Cathy would constantly have to give me directions because I had no clue on how to get around the place.
But once I started spending more time out there, especially during the summer, I began to notice other things. Such as, well, let's be honest here, the smell. St. John's is hardly exempt for the pungent smell of manure that comes from farms at that end of the town, but Mount Pearl certainly does seem to get the full force of it. I guess if you live out there long enough, you get used to it. I never did, though. Even last summer, when the wind was blowing towards Cathy's parents' house, you could certainly get a full blast of it that could ruin a nice day outside.
So this story caught my eye. The City of St. John's is looking at developing land at the old Sprung Greenhouse site. And a local farmer is warning that when you build a major new subdivision that near farms that you're going to have problems with odours. He's suggesting a buffer might be a good idea.
Here's my thing. I have no problem with the new subdivision being built there. But let's be honest. Screw the buffer zone. It's a subdivision next to farm land. It won't make a damn bit of difference. I think every single person who buys a house in that subdivision, whether it's new or off an owner years from now, has to sign a waiver acknowledging they're buying a house near a farm and that there are going to be times it reeks. I don't want to read any stories five years from now from some whinny home owner about how they didn't think the smell was going to be this bad or they're worried about the health of their kids with that smell.
You buy a house there, you don't get to make trouble for the farmers They were there first. I'm sure they're under enough pressure to sell their land to developers. You buy a house there, you buy the smell as well. Deal with it.
The first one who complains about the smell gets a smack to the head. Seriously. Smacks in the in the head for all who complain about the obvious. I'll give credit to people in the Pearl for that much. At least most of them never complain about the smell.
I did. But then again, I was smart enough to not live downwind from a farm....
Last Five
1. That's entertainment - The Jam
2. Soloman's Row - Sean Panting*
3. Tickets to what you need - Badly Drawn Boy
4. Night - Bruce Springsteen
5. Real long distance - Josh Ritter
Monday, December 10, 2007
Small freak outs
I got a jolt to the system this weekend when I found out a friend of mine is separating from her husband. Ordinarily I probably wouldn't talk about such deeply personal things on this blog, but considering she announced it on Facebook (I understand the reasoning for it, but that's still a bit weird) and put it up on her blog, I think the cat's out of the bag.
Besides, they're both handling the split about as well as you can for such a thing. There are no kids involved and they're working very hard to make sure they remain friends at the end of it. Some might roll their eyes, but knowing her (and to a lesser degree her husband) I think its imminently doable.
So why mention it at all? Well, this is the second marriage I've seen break-up this fall. I'm not mentioning much about the other one because I don't know how common knowledge it is. But that's two in a couple of months. So now I'm in slightly freaked-out territory. Because they're my friends and I worry about them and want to make sure their all right, but since I live in Nunavut, that's a little hard. And hey, I'm as superstitious as the next person and these things apparently come in threes. So I've been emailing some friends making sure everything is all right with their marriages.
Plus, these kinds of things always make you think. It's one thing to read the statistics about divorce rates, it's something else when it starts happening to friends. It's not like I haven't gone through divorce before. My parents split when I was 19. I have an aunt and an uncle who each got divorced. And yet, I'm still feeling a touch freaked.
I think there are a couple of factors/theories. First, this is apparently the next life phase in adulthood. The first was watching my circle of friends get married. Most of them now are. Some aren't, like Dups, but he's "special." Take that whatever way you want. Besides, he's back in Sri Lanka visiting family. It's even money whether or not his parents have a wife waiting for him.
So with the majority of them married, a bunch of them have also started having kids. And as most of my friends are now in their 30s, we're starting to get the first few divorces. I hope there won't be any more, but I suspect that's probably wishful thinking. When I start getting into the second marriages, then I'm going to feel old. Well, older.
I think the other shock is that I'm a married man now. When my parents split, I was 19 years old. Their split wasn't a shock to the system. They had been fighting for a few years at that point. Plus they married quite young (mom was 19, dad was 21). So to a certain degree I was almost waiting for it to happen.
But I'm married now. And every time I see these smart people I know and care about, people I consider to be very capable and caring, and their marriage didn't work out, it makes me freak a bit. The thought runs through my mind, "if they couldn't last, well, what about us?"
And before this rumour gets any traction, myself and Cathy are fine. We're happy and still very much in love. We have the odd racket, but hey, welcome to marriage. I have no reason to believe that we won't be toasting champagne at our 50th wedding anniversary. And I don't know the circumstances that lead to my friends' marriages ending. All I can know is that things are fine with us.
Still, it gives me some pause. And is a reminder. Marriages are work. Hopefully you don't have to work too hard and everything runs smoothly and well. I thought I learned that lesson already, but it never hurts to have a reminder.
Anyway, I hope my friends are all right and that everything works out in the end.
Last Five
1. Bright sunny south - Allison Krauss and Union Station
2. Lawyers, guns and money - Warren Zevon*
3. Dumbo sun - Tracy Bonham
4. Take it back - Barenaked Ladies
5. Invincible - OK Go
Besides, they're both handling the split about as well as you can for such a thing. There are no kids involved and they're working very hard to make sure they remain friends at the end of it. Some might roll their eyes, but knowing her (and to a lesser degree her husband) I think its imminently doable.
So why mention it at all? Well, this is the second marriage I've seen break-up this fall. I'm not mentioning much about the other one because I don't know how common knowledge it is. But that's two in a couple of months. So now I'm in slightly freaked-out territory. Because they're my friends and I worry about them and want to make sure their all right, but since I live in Nunavut, that's a little hard. And hey, I'm as superstitious as the next person and these things apparently come in threes. So I've been emailing some friends making sure everything is all right with their marriages.
Plus, these kinds of things always make you think. It's one thing to read the statistics about divorce rates, it's something else when it starts happening to friends. It's not like I haven't gone through divorce before. My parents split when I was 19. I have an aunt and an uncle who each got divorced. And yet, I'm still feeling a touch freaked.
I think there are a couple of factors/theories. First, this is apparently the next life phase in adulthood. The first was watching my circle of friends get married. Most of them now are. Some aren't, like Dups, but he's "special." Take that whatever way you want. Besides, he's back in Sri Lanka visiting family. It's even money whether or not his parents have a wife waiting for him.
So with the majority of them married, a bunch of them have also started having kids. And as most of my friends are now in their 30s, we're starting to get the first few divorces. I hope there won't be any more, but I suspect that's probably wishful thinking. When I start getting into the second marriages, then I'm going to feel old. Well, older.
I think the other shock is that I'm a married man now. When my parents split, I was 19 years old. Their split wasn't a shock to the system. They had been fighting for a few years at that point. Plus they married quite young (mom was 19, dad was 21). So to a certain degree I was almost waiting for it to happen.
But I'm married now. And every time I see these smart people I know and care about, people I consider to be very capable and caring, and their marriage didn't work out, it makes me freak a bit. The thought runs through my mind, "if they couldn't last, well, what about us?"
And before this rumour gets any traction, myself and Cathy are fine. We're happy and still very much in love. We have the odd racket, but hey, welcome to marriage. I have no reason to believe that we won't be toasting champagne at our 50th wedding anniversary. And I don't know the circumstances that lead to my friends' marriages ending. All I can know is that things are fine with us.
Still, it gives me some pause. And is a reminder. Marriages are work. Hopefully you don't have to work too hard and everything runs smoothly and well. I thought I learned that lesson already, but it never hurts to have a reminder.
Anyway, I hope my friends are all right and that everything works out in the end.
Last Five
1. Bright sunny south - Allison Krauss and Union Station
2. Lawyers, guns and money - Warren Zevon*
3. Dumbo sun - Tracy Bonham
4. Take it back - Barenaked Ladies
5. Invincible - OK Go
Sunday, December 09, 2007
Trekking
You know, sometimes all it takes to make me happy is a Peter David Star Trek novel. I don't read many Trek novels because they're far to hit and miss for me. But I always give David's books a chance, because he's a damn clever writer, always finds a way to inject a bit of humour into things and manages to break out some good ideas. I get one of his Trek books and I'm lucky if I can make it last 24 hours.
The latest one, "Before Dishonor" had, among other thing, The Enterprise, Picard and Crusher sleeping together, Seven of Nine, Janeway, a Q, Spock and a scary update of the Borg. Also toss in for good measure The Doomsday Machine from the original Trek series and from a book David wrote probably about 15 years ago called "Vendetta", which remains probably his best Trek novel.
I don't pretend this is a great work of literature. It's not. But it's still a hell of a lot of fun and pretty much exactly what I was in the mood for. And hey, a major Trek character was killed. I'm not saying which one, and there's certainly a loophole to bring that character back, but it was still interesting to see that character bite the dust.
I'm not saying rush out and pick up the book. Unless you're a bit of a diehard Trek fan, you're probably going to be hard pressed to figure out what's going on at various stages. But since I have a fondness for Trek, even when the series was stinking up the joint, it was a nice read for me.
Anyway, Cathy will be happy that I will now come back up for air. All I've been doing since I got the book in the mail yesterday has been reading it. Now I can get back to vacation planning and last minute details.
The latest one, "Before Dishonor" had, among other thing, The Enterprise, Picard and Crusher sleeping together, Seven of Nine, Janeway, a Q, Spock and a scary update of the Borg. Also toss in for good measure The Doomsday Machine from the original Trek series and from a book David wrote probably about 15 years ago called "Vendetta", which remains probably his best Trek novel.
I don't pretend this is a great work of literature. It's not. But it's still a hell of a lot of fun and pretty much exactly what I was in the mood for. And hey, a major Trek character was killed. I'm not saying which one, and there's certainly a loophole to bring that character back, but it was still interesting to see that character bite the dust.
I'm not saying rush out and pick up the book. Unless you're a bit of a diehard Trek fan, you're probably going to be hard pressed to figure out what's going on at various stages. But since I have a fondness for Trek, even when the series was stinking up the joint, it was a nice read for me.
Anyway, Cathy will be happy that I will now come back up for air. All I've been doing since I got the book in the mail yesterday has been reading it. Now I can get back to vacation planning and last minute details.
Friday, December 07, 2007
Friday night things
1. I've never been sure if anyone at work reads my blog. No one has ever mentioned it to me, and I haven't told anyone I do it. Still, it's a small town, so I kind of figured it was inevitable, but I enjoy living in that state of denial.
And yet, two things kind of killed that idea today. One was when one of my co-workers forwarded the "What Kind of Geek Are you?" So that was weird. The other happened at the staff Christmas party this evening, when one of them referred to me as a "real townie bastard." Which is a bit too much of a distinctive phrase to be a fluke. I might have said it around the office once or twice, but I kind of doubt it.
So yeah, I'd say the cat's out of the bag. But no one is complaining to me, so hopefully all is good.
2. And yeah, this is also work related and I said I don't do that sort of thing, but at the Christmas party they gave out staff awards. And I won one. Not particularly sure I'm proud of it, though. I won "Most Sarcastic" staffer.
Now, my friends are laughing their asses off and will state that this is pretty damn obvious. And hell, a few years ago, I certainly would have agreed. I have a notion in my Grade 5 report card from a teacher worried that I was too sarcastic and tended to say mean things to my classmates. This continued into university, where I swear to God, friends would provoke me just to get one of my full-blown bitter sarcastic rantings. Because hey, I might be sarcastic, but I was usually entertaining.
I was like this right up until the moment I met Cathy. And not to get all mushy, but friends say that after we started seeing each other, I mellowed out a lot. That I wasn't nearly as sarcastic. And all agreed that while it killed some of my entertainment value, that was probably a good thing.
And yet, here I am winning staff awards for sarcasm. I'd be depressed by this, but I know it's an award meant it jest. It's also a nice reminder that no matter how much you think you're improving, there's always more work to be done.
3. However, having said all that, allow me to once again express my delight that the Eastern School District plans to close Booth Memorial, my old high school. If I might make a suggestion, if you just skip along the consulting process and agree to close it at the end of the '08 school year, that would be swell. It also happens to be my 20th anniversary of leaving the hell hole and while I plan on being in Italy as to ably avoid any potential reunion that might be percolating, I would make a side trip to St. John's on the way back to Iqaluit if I could be the one who gets to flip the switch when it comes to blowing the place up.
So if someone in the Williams government could make that happen, I'd appreciate it. I'll even say nice things about you and call VOCM open line shows and sing your praises. Thanks.
(Yeah, that sarcasm thing is going to be hard to kick).
4. Speaking of demolishing things, I see the Janeway is about to go ka-boom. Fortunately that I was only in the hospital once, and that was when I was a week old so it's not like I have any real memories of the place. But I lived near it for a good chunk of my life and it occupies a space in my brain. It's a landmark to me and I'll kind of miss it, even though it serves no purpose just standing there empty and useless.
I imagine Cathy might have a different reaction. She spent a lot of days in that hospital as a kid. I don't know if she'll be happy or sad to see it go.
5. I say this every year when the government of the day announces these bloody rebates. Take the $11 million and funnel it towards energy efficiency tax breaks. Put in better insulation, get a break on your income tax. Put in new windows, get a tax break. That sort of thing. Makes more sense than giving someone a check for a couple of hundred dollars. I understand politically it makes sense, because nothing helps the popularity like handing out checks. But hey, if you have a popularity at a staggering 82 per cent and have just won a massive, crushing majority, maybe you can entertain the radical notion of doing something wiser and more long term with that $11 million than handing out checks that are only marginally useful.
Last Five
1. You are what you love - Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins
2. Bloody well right - Supertramp
3. Better be home soon (live) - Crowded House
4. Get behind the mule (live) - Tom Waits*
5. I am a rock - Me First and the Gimmie Gimmies
And yet, two things kind of killed that idea today. One was when one of my co-workers forwarded the "What Kind of Geek Are you?" So that was weird. The other happened at the staff Christmas party this evening, when one of them referred to me as a "real townie bastard." Which is a bit too much of a distinctive phrase to be a fluke. I might have said it around the office once or twice, but I kind of doubt it.
So yeah, I'd say the cat's out of the bag. But no one is complaining to me, so hopefully all is good.
2. And yeah, this is also work related and I said I don't do that sort of thing, but at the Christmas party they gave out staff awards. And I won one. Not particularly sure I'm proud of it, though. I won "Most Sarcastic" staffer.
Now, my friends are laughing their asses off and will state that this is pretty damn obvious. And hell, a few years ago, I certainly would have agreed. I have a notion in my Grade 5 report card from a teacher worried that I was too sarcastic and tended to say mean things to my classmates. This continued into university, where I swear to God, friends would provoke me just to get one of my full-blown bitter sarcastic rantings. Because hey, I might be sarcastic, but I was usually entertaining.
I was like this right up until the moment I met Cathy. And not to get all mushy, but friends say that after we started seeing each other, I mellowed out a lot. That I wasn't nearly as sarcastic. And all agreed that while it killed some of my entertainment value, that was probably a good thing.
And yet, here I am winning staff awards for sarcasm. I'd be depressed by this, but I know it's an award meant it jest. It's also a nice reminder that no matter how much you think you're improving, there's always more work to be done.
3. However, having said all that, allow me to once again express my delight that the Eastern School District plans to close Booth Memorial, my old high school. If I might make a suggestion, if you just skip along the consulting process and agree to close it at the end of the '08 school year, that would be swell. It also happens to be my 20th anniversary of leaving the hell hole and while I plan on being in Italy as to ably avoid any potential reunion that might be percolating, I would make a side trip to St. John's on the way back to Iqaluit if I could be the one who gets to flip the switch when it comes to blowing the place up.
So if someone in the Williams government could make that happen, I'd appreciate it. I'll even say nice things about you and call VOCM open line shows and sing your praises. Thanks.
(Yeah, that sarcasm thing is going to be hard to kick).
4. Speaking of demolishing things, I see the Janeway is about to go ka-boom. Fortunately that I was only in the hospital once, and that was when I was a week old so it's not like I have any real memories of the place. But I lived near it for a good chunk of my life and it occupies a space in my brain. It's a landmark to me and I'll kind of miss it, even though it serves no purpose just standing there empty and useless.
I imagine Cathy might have a different reaction. She spent a lot of days in that hospital as a kid. I don't know if she'll be happy or sad to see it go.
5. I say this every year when the government of the day announces these bloody rebates. Take the $11 million and funnel it towards energy efficiency tax breaks. Put in better insulation, get a break on your income tax. Put in new windows, get a tax break. That sort of thing. Makes more sense than giving someone a check for a couple of hundred dollars. I understand politically it makes sense, because nothing helps the popularity like handing out checks. But hey, if you have a popularity at a staggering 82 per cent and have just won a massive, crushing majority, maybe you can entertain the radical notion of doing something wiser and more long term with that $11 million than handing out checks that are only marginally useful.
Last Five
1. You are what you love - Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins
2. Bloody well right - Supertramp
3. Better be home soon (live) - Crowded House
4. Get behind the mule (live) - Tom Waits*
5. I am a rock - Me First and the Gimmie Gimmies
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Which geek are you?
Scott Johnson created this poster, which I think is pretty funny. You can actually order it for the geek in your life if you want. I'm still trying to decide which geek I am. I'm sure Cathy will let me know once she sees the poster. I think I'm a combination Apple/comics/photo/TV geek.
Last Five
1. 15 Step - Radiohead
2. Mutiny, I promise you - The New Pornographers
3. Neighbourhood #2 - The Arcade Fire
4. Beyond the horizon - Bob Dylan
5. Grace, too - The Tragically Hip*
Last Five
1. 15 Step - Radiohead
2. Mutiny, I promise you - The New Pornographers
3. Neighbourhood #2 - The Arcade Fire
4. Beyond the horizon - Bob Dylan
5. Grace, too - The Tragically Hip*
Law & Order & Batman
I already have too many t-shirts. Or so I have been told. And I definitely have way too many geeky/weird t-shirts. And really, there does come a point where perhaps, just perhaps, 37-year-old men shouldn't be wearing comic book related t-shirts. Sad, but true.
Still, this t-shirt found on Threadless amused me a lot. Although I do agree with one commentator on another site who said it should have "Batman: Year One" underneath the image. But I suspect DC's copyright cops would be all over that one.
Still, my favourite one is the one below. I can't even find the site that sells the t-shirt. Just this blog (and Valerie's blog is worth reading if you like comic books at all) that put up the image.
It's pretty funny stuff. Even Cathy laughed at it, and she's not exactly the world's biggest comic book fan.
Still, this t-shirt found on Threadless amused me a lot. Although I do agree with one commentator on another site who said it should have "Batman: Year One" underneath the image. But I suspect DC's copyright cops would be all over that one.
Still, my favourite one is the one below. I can't even find the site that sells the t-shirt. Just this blog (and Valerie's blog is worth reading if you like comic books at all) that put up the image.
It's pretty funny stuff. Even Cathy laughed at it, and she's not exactly the world's biggest comic book fan.
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
The difference a couple of years make
Ah, the difference a couple of years makes. Two years ago today I started my current job. It was just as a casual and I was told not to get my hopes up about it leading into anything permanent. In fact, several months later I was mere hours away from unemployment. If it wasn't for a slightly surreal situation developing (in Nunavut? Nooooo) I would have been out from a job I kind of like. It's certainly less stressful than the old one.
It's interesting that I've been reading a couple of local journalists who are getting stressed out about their jobs. I can empathize. I truly can. Towards the end of my last job, it was getting to the point that I wanted to smash the phone every time it rang. I didn't want to interview people, which kind of makes it hard to do your job when you're a journalist. I was at that level of burnout. It was kind of terrifying, really.
I still liked the writing, you understand. I was just done with the whole talking to humans and trying to pry information from them thing.
So two years ago I go through a career change. Probably one of the best things that ever happened to me in terms of peace of mind. Let's put it this way, I got a freelance check in mail today. A former editor of mine asked me to do a couple of travel stories for her paper and I did stories about San Francisco and the Pacific Coast Highway. The money wasn't a lot, a couple of hundred bucks. But three years ago, that would have been a big deal. That would have been a lot of money and would have helped myself and Cathy with the bills when we were trying to make ends meet on Bond Street on an associate editor's salary and her substitute teaching and tutoring work.
Today's reaction was more of a "Cool. That's nice. A bit of extra money when we go to Florida."
It kind of boggles my mind when I think about how much our fortunes have changed the past couple of years. Nunavut has been very good to us.
And yet, every now and then we think about when we might leave and head down south. This is not unusual, by the way. Plenty of people come to Nunavut. On the extremes are the people who literally last only a few months. This isn't the place for them. Nothing wrong with that. I'm sure there are plenty of places in the world that aren't for me. But once they realize they're mistake, they leave on the first available jet plane.
On the other end of the spectrum are the people who move here and deeply fall for the place. The lifers. The ones who buy a house and have no intention of leaving until they retire, and even then, maybe not. Claire is a prime example of that.
But the vast majority of people are up here for a few years. And then for any number of reasons they head back south. I always figured that's where myself and Cathy fall. I don't talk about it much. You have to be careful how you talk in public about your reasons for coming here and leaving. There are certainly people who don't like hearing you're only up here to pay off your mortgage and then you're getting out of here as quickly as you can. That's not a great way to make friends. It will at the very least earn you dirty looks.
So yeah, the question for myself and Cathy has always been when we would go. We still have no idea. I suspect we're here until 2009 at least. I'm inclined to stay longer if we can swing it, but we shall see.
But the thing is, we're both secure up here right now. And yeah, there are things down south we wish we had up here. But life, on the whole, is pretty good. And when you see how hard the Globe and Mail has been beating the drums the past few days that something wicked this way comes in terms of the economy, it makes both of us wonder why we would even think about going anywhere else.
This is a bit of a ramble, but it's always useful to remind yourself how good you have it, rather than pining for something else that likely isn't nearly as good as you think.
Last Five
1. Ghost dance - Robbie Robertson
2. Rockin' the suburbs - Ben Folds
3. I'm so tired - The Beatles
4. Streams of whiskey - The Pogues*
5. What do you do with a BA in English? - Avenue Q OST
It's interesting that I've been reading a couple of local journalists who are getting stressed out about their jobs. I can empathize. I truly can. Towards the end of my last job, it was getting to the point that I wanted to smash the phone every time it rang. I didn't want to interview people, which kind of makes it hard to do your job when you're a journalist. I was at that level of burnout. It was kind of terrifying, really.
I still liked the writing, you understand. I was just done with the whole talking to humans and trying to pry information from them thing.
So two years ago I go through a career change. Probably one of the best things that ever happened to me in terms of peace of mind. Let's put it this way, I got a freelance check in mail today. A former editor of mine asked me to do a couple of travel stories for her paper and I did stories about San Francisco and the Pacific Coast Highway. The money wasn't a lot, a couple of hundred bucks. But three years ago, that would have been a big deal. That would have been a lot of money and would have helped myself and Cathy with the bills when we were trying to make ends meet on Bond Street on an associate editor's salary and her substitute teaching and tutoring work.
Today's reaction was more of a "Cool. That's nice. A bit of extra money when we go to Florida."
It kind of boggles my mind when I think about how much our fortunes have changed the past couple of years. Nunavut has been very good to us.
And yet, every now and then we think about when we might leave and head down south. This is not unusual, by the way. Plenty of people come to Nunavut. On the extremes are the people who literally last only a few months. This isn't the place for them. Nothing wrong with that. I'm sure there are plenty of places in the world that aren't for me. But once they realize they're mistake, they leave on the first available jet plane.
On the other end of the spectrum are the people who move here and deeply fall for the place. The lifers. The ones who buy a house and have no intention of leaving until they retire, and even then, maybe not. Claire is a prime example of that.
But the vast majority of people are up here for a few years. And then for any number of reasons they head back south. I always figured that's where myself and Cathy fall. I don't talk about it much. You have to be careful how you talk in public about your reasons for coming here and leaving. There are certainly people who don't like hearing you're only up here to pay off your mortgage and then you're getting out of here as quickly as you can. That's not a great way to make friends. It will at the very least earn you dirty looks.
So yeah, the question for myself and Cathy has always been when we would go. We still have no idea. I suspect we're here until 2009 at least. I'm inclined to stay longer if we can swing it, but we shall see.
But the thing is, we're both secure up here right now. And yeah, there are things down south we wish we had up here. But life, on the whole, is pretty good. And when you see how hard the Globe and Mail has been beating the drums the past few days that something wicked this way comes in terms of the economy, it makes both of us wonder why we would even think about going anywhere else.
This is a bit of a ramble, but it's always useful to remind yourself how good you have it, rather than pining for something else that likely isn't nearly as good as you think.
Last Five
1. Ghost dance - Robbie Robertson
2. Rockin' the suburbs - Ben Folds
3. I'm so tired - The Beatles
4. Streams of whiskey - The Pogues*
5. What do you do with a BA in English? - Avenue Q OST
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Just say no
I had another post in mind this evening. One on how long people last up north, job security and the impact that a wobbily economy might have on these decisions. And I'll likely write it tomorrow or Thursday.
But instead I read this story. Quite by accident since obviously I wouldn't care about Hannah Montana. And that's fine. I'm not the demographic that should care about that type of performer. And I rarely listen to the radio anymore. I'm perfectly content to listen to my iPod.
But then I read the story and felt the urge to smack someone. The problem is, I don't know who I want to smack more. Do I want to smack whinny kids demanding tickets to a sub-standard pop star that odds are no one will remember in five years? Cathy is telling me that I shouldn't, pointing out that she didn't really understand why she couldn't have the Cabbage Patch doll she wanted when she was a kid. She wasn't really grasping the concept of money and scarcity. Many of these kids probably don't either.
Fair point, I guess.
So my initial reaction of wanting to smack the crap out of the parents was pretty much right on the mark. If you're an average parent, not a rich one, but just an average one, and you're thinking about $1,200 a ticket on this show because your kids are whining and demanding tickets then you're an idiot. I understanding not wanting to disappoint your kids, but you know what, at some point you're going to. So why not start now by depriving them of $1,200 tickets.
Cathy, who is obviously far wiser in the way of dealing with children than I am, and is used to disappointing kids unrealistic desires on a regular basis, says this is when you have The Talk with them. About how you can't always have what you want. That you have to be realistic in what you ask for. And if they kick up a racket, then you discipline them
But you do not cave in and buy them $1,200 tickets. That's insane. You're insane. And I take some comfort that in the comments section of the story most people are agreeing with me.
I don't know much about kids, but I know that much.
Last Five
1. The ascent of Stan - Ben Folds
2. Spring will spawn - Sean Panting
3. So cruel - U2*
4. Wayfaring stranger - Neko Case
5. Kiss that frog (Live) - Peter Gabriel
But instead I read this story. Quite by accident since obviously I wouldn't care about Hannah Montana. And that's fine. I'm not the demographic that should care about that type of performer. And I rarely listen to the radio anymore. I'm perfectly content to listen to my iPod.
But then I read the story and felt the urge to smack someone. The problem is, I don't know who I want to smack more. Do I want to smack whinny kids demanding tickets to a sub-standard pop star that odds are no one will remember in five years? Cathy is telling me that I shouldn't, pointing out that she didn't really understand why she couldn't have the Cabbage Patch doll she wanted when she was a kid. She wasn't really grasping the concept of money and scarcity. Many of these kids probably don't either.
Fair point, I guess.
So my initial reaction of wanting to smack the crap out of the parents was pretty much right on the mark. If you're an average parent, not a rich one, but just an average one, and you're thinking about $1,200 a ticket on this show because your kids are whining and demanding tickets then you're an idiot. I understanding not wanting to disappoint your kids, but you know what, at some point you're going to. So why not start now by depriving them of $1,200 tickets.
Cathy, who is obviously far wiser in the way of dealing with children than I am, and is used to disappointing kids unrealistic desires on a regular basis, says this is when you have The Talk with them. About how you can't always have what you want. That you have to be realistic in what you ask for. And if they kick up a racket, then you discipline them
But you do not cave in and buy them $1,200 tickets. That's insane. You're insane. And I take some comfort that in the comments section of the story most people are agreeing with me.
I don't know much about kids, but I know that much.
Last Five
1. The ascent of Stan - Ben Folds
2. Spring will spawn - Sean Panting
3. So cruel - U2*
4. Wayfaring stranger - Neko Case
5. Kiss that frog (Live) - Peter Gabriel
Monday, December 03, 2007
Slow days
So, I'm not dead. I'm just not feeling particularly wordy. It happens from time to time. For awhile I was procrastinating on writing the blog because I was writing the book. Then I used the blog to procrastinate on writing the book. Now I think I'm using work to procrastinate on writing either one. Or something. I just haven't had a lot to say the last few days on the blog.
As for the book, well, I suspect I received suitable motivation from Cathy the other day when she asked when was the last time I wrote something. When I mentioned it had been a while, she made a suitable disappointed noise. I need to get this finished before I go on vacation. Which is now only 16 or so days away. So the clock is ticking.
As for the vacation, this evening was spent taking care of a few more details - getting the cancellation insurance for the cruise in case of weather, printing off info on plane tickets, maps, car reservations and hotel reservations. We not only need copies for ourselves, but we'll also send copies to Cathy's folks, just in case something goes wrong.
I think we'll also be preparing ritual sacrifices to make sure we have good weather all the way to Florida. We're not so concerned about the return trip. It won't be the end of the world if we get stuck in Ottawa an extra couple of days. But we desperately want to make sure we get out on time.
Anyway, that's all I have for this evening. There hasn't even been any news that caught my eye in the last couple of days, except for this lovely piece of terror. Here's hoping I never do anything to piss of the US government, because apparently living in Canada won't protect me if they really want me.
Something more entertaining tomorrow.
Last Five
1. The Complex - Blue Man Group
2. One more night - Stars
3. Uptown girl - Billy Joel
4. M&Ms - Blink 182
5. In California - Neko Case*
As for the book, well, I suspect I received suitable motivation from Cathy the other day when she asked when was the last time I wrote something. When I mentioned it had been a while, she made a suitable disappointed noise. I need to get this finished before I go on vacation. Which is now only 16 or so days away. So the clock is ticking.
As for the vacation, this evening was spent taking care of a few more details - getting the cancellation insurance for the cruise in case of weather, printing off info on plane tickets, maps, car reservations and hotel reservations. We not only need copies for ourselves, but we'll also send copies to Cathy's folks, just in case something goes wrong.
I think we'll also be preparing ritual sacrifices to make sure we have good weather all the way to Florida. We're not so concerned about the return trip. It won't be the end of the world if we get stuck in Ottawa an extra couple of days. But we desperately want to make sure we get out on time.
Anyway, that's all I have for this evening. There hasn't even been any news that caught my eye in the last couple of days, except for this lovely piece of terror. Here's hoping I never do anything to piss of the US government, because apparently living in Canada won't protect me if they really want me.
Something more entertaining tomorrow.
Last Five
1. The Complex - Blue Man Group
2. One more night - Stars
3. Uptown girl - Billy Joel
4. M&Ms - Blink 182
5. In California - Neko Case*
Friday, November 30, 2007
Get them while you can
I was reading Jen today as she was talking about buying a new iPod. And since I had iPod's on the brain today, this story caught my eye. It's still little vague on some details, such as when or if this new iPod levy will come into place. I know the Conservative government is looking at introducing some fairly drastic new copyright law, which is touched upon in Michael Geist's blog in far more eloquent ways than I can manage.
But the thing that caught my eye is the thoroughly ridiculous notion that a levy of up to $75 could be added to the cost of iPods of 30 gigs or more. I was tagged with an iPod levy several years ago when I bought my first iPod. Technically I was supposed to have been refunded that money, but since I didn't have a receipt, I was out the $25 they illegally gouged from me.
But a $75 levy? That's a whole new level of stupidity.
First of all, I'm surprised any retailer in Canada that sells MP3 players aren't howling blue murder. Because it will cost them millions in sales. When you consider how much of the Canadian population lives near the Canada-U.S. border and the near parity with the US dollar, how many people do you think are going to head south to buy an iPod if this levy comes into place?
Granted, I live nowhere near the border, so I'm out of luck if I want to upgrade, right? Of course not. How hard is it for me to buy one on eBay? I have friends in the US. How hard is it for me to send them some money via Paypal and get them to buy and mail a new iPod for me? And that's what I can think of off the top of my head. I'm sure there are plenty of other ways of getting around the levy.
Idiotic.
But here's the other thing. I was talking about this story with Cathy, and she was a bit perplexed about why there is a need for a levy. "It's assuming you're going to do something illegal with the device?"
"Yes," I said.
"But it's a legal device to buy and you might never do anything other than copy your music from CD onto it or buy stuff from iTunes."
"Yes."
"So you're being fined for an illegal activity that you may never do?"
"Pretty much."
"Well, that's stupid."
It absolutely is stupid. But then again, the music and movie industries have always managed to find the most stupid, counter-productive and alienating way to react to a situation with online media and new technologies.
Anyway, the long and short of it is, maybe this Christmas would be a good time to get that new MP3 player, just in case this particular piece of idiocy manages to get passed.
Last Five
1. Don't give up (live) - Peter Gabriel
2. Roy Orbison came on - Ron Hynes
3. The guitar - They Might Be Giants
4. Mohammed - The Dandy Warhols*
5. I will be there - Nellie McKay
But the thing that caught my eye is the thoroughly ridiculous notion that a levy of up to $75 could be added to the cost of iPods of 30 gigs or more. I was tagged with an iPod levy several years ago when I bought my first iPod. Technically I was supposed to have been refunded that money, but since I didn't have a receipt, I was out the $25 they illegally gouged from me.
But a $75 levy? That's a whole new level of stupidity.
First of all, I'm surprised any retailer in Canada that sells MP3 players aren't howling blue murder. Because it will cost them millions in sales. When you consider how much of the Canadian population lives near the Canada-U.S. border and the near parity with the US dollar, how many people do you think are going to head south to buy an iPod if this levy comes into place?
Granted, I live nowhere near the border, so I'm out of luck if I want to upgrade, right? Of course not. How hard is it for me to buy one on eBay? I have friends in the US. How hard is it for me to send them some money via Paypal and get them to buy and mail a new iPod for me? And that's what I can think of off the top of my head. I'm sure there are plenty of other ways of getting around the levy.
Idiotic.
But here's the other thing. I was talking about this story with Cathy, and she was a bit perplexed about why there is a need for a levy. "It's assuming you're going to do something illegal with the device?"
"Yes," I said.
"But it's a legal device to buy and you might never do anything other than copy your music from CD onto it or buy stuff from iTunes."
"Yes."
"So you're being fined for an illegal activity that you may never do?"
"Pretty much."
"Well, that's stupid."
It absolutely is stupid. But then again, the music and movie industries have always managed to find the most stupid, counter-productive and alienating way to react to a situation with online media and new technologies.
Anyway, the long and short of it is, maybe this Christmas would be a good time to get that new MP3 player, just in case this particular piece of idiocy manages to get passed.
Last Five
1. Don't give up (live) - Peter Gabriel
2. Roy Orbison came on - Ron Hynes
3. The guitar - They Might Be Giants
4. Mohammed - The Dandy Warhols*
5. I will be there - Nellie McKay
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Traffic
So let's see what we have today:
1. A stomach bug of some sort which laid myself and Cathy out today. It's either a virus kicking around town or the KFC we ate last night. Pick and choose, but the results have pretty much been the same for us today.
2. Very high levels of traffic coming through the blog today. Most of it has to do with the sealing book racket. When you search for the author's name, my blog is one of the ones that show up. And judging by the fact that Macleans, CP and CBC national have picked up the story, the author is just getting oodles of free publicity today. She must be very happy.
3. First piece of semi-hate mail landed in my gmail account over the blog yesterday. Someone either linked to it or emailed it around to a bunch of people. I really do hope I don't get a bunch of anti-hunt nutjobs landing here over the next couple of days.
4. There was talk of the local blogging community getting together on Sunday. If that's still on, I guess we should pick a time and place. Fantasy Palace around 2 p.m. work for people?
Last Five
1. Welcome to the jungle - Guns 'n Roses
2. Mother - Tori Amos
3. Long and lazy river - Nellie McKay
4. Evening gown - Mick Jagger
5. Until the stars turn blue - The Corrs*
1. A stomach bug of some sort which laid myself and Cathy out today. It's either a virus kicking around town or the KFC we ate last night. Pick and choose, but the results have pretty much been the same for us today.
2. Very high levels of traffic coming through the blog today. Most of it has to do with the sealing book racket. When you search for the author's name, my blog is one of the ones that show up. And judging by the fact that Macleans, CP and CBC national have picked up the story, the author is just getting oodles of free publicity today. She must be very happy.
3. First piece of semi-hate mail landed in my gmail account over the blog yesterday. Someone either linked to it or emailed it around to a bunch of people. I really do hope I don't get a bunch of anti-hunt nutjobs landing here over the next couple of days.
4. There was talk of the local blogging community getting together on Sunday. If that's still on, I guess we should pick a time and place. Fantasy Palace around 2 p.m. work for people?
Last Five
1. Welcome to the jungle - Guns 'n Roses
2. Mother - Tori Amos
3. Long and lazy river - Nellie McKay
4. Evening gown - Mick Jagger
5. Until the stars turn blue - The Corrs*
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Giving it away
This kind of story drives me nuts. The Downhomer is "boycotting" an anti-sealing kids book by a local author. I mean, it's a win-win for the people involved. But for those who want to pull out their hair every spring when sealing madness lands on the province in full force, then you want to go and smack around everyone involved.
I'm curious how the CBC got the story. If I had to guess from what's there on the website, it sounds like Young called the CBC and told them he wouldn't sell the book. I could be wrong about that, of course. But that's the way the story reads to me. Why would he do that? Well, because then he can look that much better to the general public in Newfoundland. "Look at me. I went and banned one of those nasty anti-sealing books." It's the only reason why I can think of doing something this boneheaded.
The author of the book, Morgan Pumphrey, has to be delighted. Had anyone even heard of her book before this? Probably not. Trying to get publicity for your book is a hard racket. It's expensive and trying to get the media to pay attention is difficult. But hey, a bit of controversy is always good for sales. Maybe not in Newfoundland, where it was always going to be a hard sell for this kind of material. But she'll have no problem with it now on the Mainland. I imagine IFAW will be selling her book on their website any day now.
So God bless the Downhomer for giving her all that lovely free publicity. Especially if the story gets picked up nationally. How wonderful.
For this kind of thing, there's no such thing as bad publicity. Do you think the producers of the Golden Compass are worried that this idiot from the Catholic League (By the way, that's not anti-Catholic bias. From what I've read, most American Catholics think he's a bozo) is trying to get people to boycott this movie? Of course not. They're thrilled he's kicking up a racket about it. Tons of free publicity and more people willing to go and watch it to see what the controversy is about.
Donahue, for the record, isn't an idiot either. He likely knows that by kicking up this racket more people will go and see the movie. He doesn't care, as long as his name and his organization gets lots of publicity first. Nor are they too worried about Ontario Catholic Schools pulling the books. More free publicity, although school boards removing books from the shelves because they don't like the content always gets my back up. I dislike books being censored for ideological reasons.
It's all a racket, folks. I just wish in the case of the Downhomer, they weren't in such a hurry to get a few headlines and attention for themselves. Even if the CBC called them and not vice versa, they could have simply said, "no, we're not carrying the book because we don't think it will sell and shelf space is limited." Ta da. Not a story.
"We're boycotting it because we support the seal hunt and Newfoundlanders." Ta da. Story and free publicity.
Idiots.
Last Five
1. Rena - Blue Rodeo
2. In too deep - Genesis
3. Under your charms - Josh Rouse
4. Champagne supernova - Oasis*
5. Mostly waving - Emily Haines and the Soft Skeleton
I'm curious how the CBC got the story. If I had to guess from what's there on the website, it sounds like Young called the CBC and told them he wouldn't sell the book. I could be wrong about that, of course. But that's the way the story reads to me. Why would he do that? Well, because then he can look that much better to the general public in Newfoundland. "Look at me. I went and banned one of those nasty anti-sealing books." It's the only reason why I can think of doing something this boneheaded.
The author of the book, Morgan Pumphrey, has to be delighted. Had anyone even heard of her book before this? Probably not. Trying to get publicity for your book is a hard racket. It's expensive and trying to get the media to pay attention is difficult. But hey, a bit of controversy is always good for sales. Maybe not in Newfoundland, where it was always going to be a hard sell for this kind of material. But she'll have no problem with it now on the Mainland. I imagine IFAW will be selling her book on their website any day now.
So God bless the Downhomer for giving her all that lovely free publicity. Especially if the story gets picked up nationally. How wonderful.
For this kind of thing, there's no such thing as bad publicity. Do you think the producers of the Golden Compass are worried that this idiot from the Catholic League (By the way, that's not anti-Catholic bias. From what I've read, most American Catholics think he's a bozo) is trying to get people to boycott this movie? Of course not. They're thrilled he's kicking up a racket about it. Tons of free publicity and more people willing to go and watch it to see what the controversy is about.
Donahue, for the record, isn't an idiot either. He likely knows that by kicking up this racket more people will go and see the movie. He doesn't care, as long as his name and his organization gets lots of publicity first. Nor are they too worried about Ontario Catholic Schools pulling the books. More free publicity, although school boards removing books from the shelves because they don't like the content always gets my back up. I dislike books being censored for ideological reasons.
It's all a racket, folks. I just wish in the case of the Downhomer, they weren't in such a hurry to get a few headlines and attention for themselves. Even if the CBC called them and not vice versa, they could have simply said, "no, we're not carrying the book because we don't think it will sell and shelf space is limited." Ta da. Not a story.
"We're boycotting it because we support the seal hunt and Newfoundlanders." Ta da. Story and free publicity.
Idiots.
Last Five
1. Rena - Blue Rodeo
2. In too deep - Genesis
3. Under your charms - Josh Rouse
4. Champagne supernova - Oasis*
5. Mostly waving - Emily Haines and the Soft Skeleton
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Top blogs
So every now and then I get this odd blog search from a site called Blogshares. As best I can figure it's a fantasy stock market for blogs. I have no earthly idea why someone would want to play in a fantasy blog stock market, but there you go. Anyway, people have apparently been buying and selling shares on my blog for a bit. I haven't particularly cared much one way or another.
But today I was bored and followed the link back and noticed there was a ranking of the "Top 100 Blogs in Nunavut." I have absolute no idea how they came up with the criteria to decide which blogs were among the top. At least one of the blogs in the top has absolutely nothing to do with Nunavut as best I can figure. But if any of you are curious, here's the link.
Anyway, congrats to Claire, who apparently has the top Nunavut blog. I'm in second and John is third. For whatever that's worth. If someone can figure out how that ranking works, be sure to let me know.
Actually, while I'm congratulating Claire on stuff, I'll tip my hat to a more serious and impressive accomplishment. He's finished his screenplay. Granted, he can't sell it in the US for the foreseeable future, but hey, at least he's finished it. And never let anyone diminish that accomplishment.
I have to get back at the book this week. I haven't written anything in several days and my goal of getting it finished by the end of this month is pretty much toast. But I have to get it done before we go away next month. It's been three months since I started writing it. I at least want to get the first draft finished so I'm still not writing that in the new year. I'm 124,000 words in. I figure I have another 30,000 or so to go to finish this draft.
I will finish this damn thing of it kills me.
Last Five
1. The Jessica Numbers - The New Pornographers
2. Alternative girlfriend - Barenaked Ladies
3. Helmet head - Great Big Sea
4. Before the deluge - Jackson Brown
5. This is your land (Live) - Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band*
But today I was bored and followed the link back and noticed there was a ranking of the "Top 100 Blogs in Nunavut." I have absolute no idea how they came up with the criteria to decide which blogs were among the top. At least one of the blogs in the top has absolutely nothing to do with Nunavut as best I can figure. But if any of you are curious, here's the link.
Anyway, congrats to Claire, who apparently has the top Nunavut blog. I'm in second and John is third. For whatever that's worth. If someone can figure out how that ranking works, be sure to let me know.
Actually, while I'm congratulating Claire on stuff, I'll tip my hat to a more serious and impressive accomplishment. He's finished his screenplay. Granted, he can't sell it in the US for the foreseeable future, but hey, at least he's finished it. And never let anyone diminish that accomplishment.
I have to get back at the book this week. I haven't written anything in several days and my goal of getting it finished by the end of this month is pretty much toast. But I have to get it done before we go away next month. It's been three months since I started writing it. I at least want to get the first draft finished so I'm still not writing that in the new year. I'm 124,000 words in. I figure I have another 30,000 or so to go to finish this draft.
I will finish this damn thing of it kills me.
Last Five
1. The Jessica Numbers - The New Pornographers
2. Alternative girlfriend - Barenaked Ladies
3. Helmet head - Great Big Sea
4. Before the deluge - Jackson Brown
5. This is your land (Live) - Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band*
Monday, November 26, 2007
In it now
So I guess there is no longer any ducking of the Christmas season. I was driving into work today and there was this hideous Christmas song on Raven Rock by Randy Bachman sung to the tune of 'Taking Care of Business" called "Taking Care of Christmas." It was one of those songs so horrific that it makes you repeatedly stab at the radio wildly to make it go away. It's a wonder I didn't run anyone over. I normally don't bother with the iPod while driving because it's a fairly short ride to work. But if there is the risk I'm going to hear that song again, I might have to make an exception.
Also today, the first of our Christmas packages arrived from our parents, which was a good thing and nicely compensated for the horror on the radio. And this evening I was helping Cathy with music for her Christmas show, which is only a couple of weeks away. Cathy's deciding to go with a tropical theme. So I've been hunting for tropical Christmas songs, and we've found one Hawaiian one, and an Australian one. So it ought to be an interesting Christmas concert. Cathy always tries to come up with something a bit different each year. Last year she did a Spanish themed one.
So yeah, we're in it now. My office is decorated, the Christmas party is coming up, music on the radio, packages arriving, Christmas concerts being planned. It's not that I'm a scrooge about Christmas, I just like to wait until December before I get into it. I can't remember the last time I succeeded, but I always try anyway.
Last Five
1. Death of an interior decorator - Death Cab For Cutie
2. American Roulette - Robbie Robertson
3. At midnight I will kill - Patton Oswalt (comedy)
4. Chocolate Jesus (Live) - Tom Waits*
5. Pink chandelier - Nellie McKay
Also today, the first of our Christmas packages arrived from our parents, which was a good thing and nicely compensated for the horror on the radio. And this evening I was helping Cathy with music for her Christmas show, which is only a couple of weeks away. Cathy's deciding to go with a tropical theme. So I've been hunting for tropical Christmas songs, and we've found one Hawaiian one, and an Australian one. So it ought to be an interesting Christmas concert. Cathy always tries to come up with something a bit different each year. Last year she did a Spanish themed one.
So yeah, we're in it now. My office is decorated, the Christmas party is coming up, music on the radio, packages arriving, Christmas concerts being planned. It's not that I'm a scrooge about Christmas, I just like to wait until December before I get into it. I can't remember the last time I succeeded, but I always try anyway.
Last Five
1. Death of an interior decorator - Death Cab For Cutie
2. American Roulette - Robbie Robertson
3. At midnight I will kill - Patton Oswalt (comedy)
4. Chocolate Jesus (Live) - Tom Waits*
5. Pink chandelier - Nellie McKay
Sunday, November 25, 2007
It ain't cheap
Well, here's a news flash, hotels in New York are expensive. I've been doing some poking around today to see where might be a reasonably priced place to stay. Ummmm, I guess I need to redefine reasonably priced. I haven't found too many place in Manhattan for less than $200 a day. Since I was thinking of staying there for about four night, well, that adds up in a fairly big hurry.
So I strongly suspect if I go, I'll end up staying in Brooklyn or New Jersey and make the commute. Yeah, it costs me a bit of time, but I figure it will save me hundreds of dollars. Which could be better spent on Yankees games, tickets to Avenue Q or other fun things. But if anyone can suggest a place in Manhattan, I'm all ears.
Anyway, I have one trip to take care of coming up before I can think about another one later on. One thing at a time.
Besides, I'm feeling like crap today, hence the relatively short post. And it's not all muscle aches from the weekend. There's always a bug of some sort kicking around Iqaluit. Given how mentally fuzzy I've felt all day, I wonder if I'm not coming down with a bug. I hope not, but it's kind of out of my hands at this point.
Right. A more constructive post tomorrow.
So I strongly suspect if I go, I'll end up staying in Brooklyn or New Jersey and make the commute. Yeah, it costs me a bit of time, but I figure it will save me hundreds of dollars. Which could be better spent on Yankees games, tickets to Avenue Q or other fun things. But if anyone can suggest a place in Manhattan, I'm all ears.
Anyway, I have one trip to take care of coming up before I can think about another one later on. One thing at a time.
Besides, I'm feeling like crap today, hence the relatively short post. And it's not all muscle aches from the weekend. There's always a bug of some sort kicking around Iqaluit. Given how mentally fuzzy I've felt all day, I wonder if I'm not coming down with a bug. I hope not, but it's kind of out of my hands at this point.
Right. A more constructive post tomorrow.
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Victory from the jaws of defeat...
Well, that was a pretty damn successful curling bonspiel. How successful was it? Well, I lost.
Trust me, couldn't be happier.
I played four games. Friday night's was a bit of a blowout, but I was on the right side of it. And my opponent just missed a couple of shots. If he makes them, things become a lot more complicated. The second game saw us down by four early, but we managed to rally back to the point where I had an open draw for three to win. Instead, I through it heavy and took only two, forcing an extra end. He had to hit and roll a little bit to get shot rock. He hit and didn't roll quite enough. We won by about an inch.
Third game was the semi-final. Again, buried early but managed to rally back and forced an extra end again. I had to make a perfect draw shot to the four foot to win. It was a touch heavy, but stopped just in time. Again, I won by an inch. The team we beat is one I consider the best in the club, I was pretty damn happy.
So clearly, having won two extra end games by an inch, the curling gods and karma were about to make me pay for it. Just after the semi-final win, one of my player said to me, "You know, we haven't lost as a team yet." This was the same team I played with for the first bonspiel of the year and won. So yeah, we were doomed. We lost 10-3. I could have called it after six ends, but really, despite being blown out, I was having fun out there. So why not stay out and play the full four ends?
Also pleased to report, no psychotic episodes during the bonspiel. Perhaps that's not something to cheer about, but seeing as how I'm trying to behave better when I curl, I'll take the small victories.
All that was left after that were the prizes. I won't get into the structure, but for losing in the final I still got to pick something from the prize table. Which turned out to be a comforter. There were door prizes, which was basically anything left on the prize table. And my name was miraculous drawn again. So this time I grabbed a cold weather extension cord.
Finally there was the draw for two plane tickets. Curtis, playing on the media team, got the first ticket. And then he drew the second ticket.
Let's just say there was an audible groan when my name was called out. This is about the biggest thing I've ever won, so I'm pretty damn excited about it. But I'm really glad now I lost the final. Because if I had won two bonspiels in a row, plus a plane ticket, well, I'm not saying there would be a mob of irate curlers with brooms waiting for me in the parking lot, but I'm glad I don't have to find out.
(Yes, have a chuckle at the notion of roving gangs of irate curlers. You can laugh right up until they come for you, my friend. Then you will learn fear.)
This is only a couple of hours old, so I haven't decided what I'm doing with the ticket yet. It's good until November 1, 2008. I figure I'll either use it to go to New York and attend the New York Comic Con (along with maybe catching The Daily Show if the writer's strike is over, a Yankees game, perhaps Spamalot) or to pay for part of our trip to Italy in July.
I think I've burned most of my good karma for the rest of the year. In retrospect, perhaps I should have bought a lottery ticket as well, but I've been told the machine is down (yes, there is only one lottery terminal is all of Iqaluit) until the end of the month. Ah well...
Trust me, couldn't be happier.
I played four games. Friday night's was a bit of a blowout, but I was on the right side of it. And my opponent just missed a couple of shots. If he makes them, things become a lot more complicated. The second game saw us down by four early, but we managed to rally back to the point where I had an open draw for three to win. Instead, I through it heavy and took only two, forcing an extra end. He had to hit and roll a little bit to get shot rock. He hit and didn't roll quite enough. We won by about an inch.
Third game was the semi-final. Again, buried early but managed to rally back and forced an extra end again. I had to make a perfect draw shot to the four foot to win. It was a touch heavy, but stopped just in time. Again, I won by an inch. The team we beat is one I consider the best in the club, I was pretty damn happy.
So clearly, having won two extra end games by an inch, the curling gods and karma were about to make me pay for it. Just after the semi-final win, one of my player said to me, "You know, we haven't lost as a team yet." This was the same team I played with for the first bonspiel of the year and won. So yeah, we were doomed. We lost 10-3. I could have called it after six ends, but really, despite being blown out, I was having fun out there. So why not stay out and play the full four ends?
Also pleased to report, no psychotic episodes during the bonspiel. Perhaps that's not something to cheer about, but seeing as how I'm trying to behave better when I curl, I'll take the small victories.
All that was left after that were the prizes. I won't get into the structure, but for losing in the final I still got to pick something from the prize table. Which turned out to be a comforter. There were door prizes, which was basically anything left on the prize table. And my name was miraculous drawn again. So this time I grabbed a cold weather extension cord.
Finally there was the draw for two plane tickets. Curtis, playing on the media team, got the first ticket. And then he drew the second ticket.
Let's just say there was an audible groan when my name was called out. This is about the biggest thing I've ever won, so I'm pretty damn excited about it. But I'm really glad now I lost the final. Because if I had won two bonspiels in a row, plus a plane ticket, well, I'm not saying there would be a mob of irate curlers with brooms waiting for me in the parking lot, but I'm glad I don't have to find out.
(Yes, have a chuckle at the notion of roving gangs of irate curlers. You can laugh right up until they come for you, my friend. Then you will learn fear.)
This is only a couple of hours old, so I haven't decided what I'm doing with the ticket yet. It's good until November 1, 2008. I figure I'll either use it to go to New York and attend the New York Comic Con (along with maybe catching The Daily Show if the writer's strike is over, a Yankees game, perhaps Spamalot) or to pay for part of our trip to Italy in July.
I think I've burned most of my good karma for the rest of the year. In retrospect, perhaps I should have bought a lottery ticket as well, but I've been told the machine is down (yes, there is only one lottery terminal is all of Iqaluit) until the end of the month. Ah well...
Friday, November 23, 2007
Watching what you write
It was interesting to note the “death” of an arctic blog that has happened in the last few days. Larry was always a pretty blunt blogger, which I enjoyed. He had controversial opinions and argued them well. If he had a fault, it’s that he didn’t update the blog enough for my liking, but hell, there was some solid craftsmanship in his writing. I’m prepared to wait awhile if the writing is good enough.
However, one thought always used to go through my mind when reading Larry’s blog. And that was “how much longer is he going to be able to get away with this?” Because he didn’t pull any punches. If there was shit going on in his community that he didn’t like, he said it. He was very blunt about it. And I knew that was going to piss someone off enough eventually that they would complain to his employer. And lo and behold, they did.
This marks at least the fourth incident I know of regarding northern bloggers getting into trouble for their writing with employers. Only one has lost their job and that was before my time up here. Penelope Cholmondeley, aka Polar Penny, was fired after writing some things that upset a couple of people, who complained to her employer, who promptly fired her. That actually created a small international racket, about whether or not her employer was right to do that. For what it’s worth, and from what little I know second hand of the situation, I think they over-reacted.
The other three bloggers have received warnings and took steps, including removing the offending posts or, as in the case of Larry, killing his old blog. Again, for the record, I don’t think what Larry has done to deal with the situation will hold up for long. But we shall see.
I understand the frustration. When you get annoyed about something, it's great therapy to be able to rant about it on your blog. I’d love to write about what I do at work or even issues tangently related to what I do. I think it’s quite interesting. But it would be insane. I could do it with the best of intentions and it wouldn’t matter. I would get in trouble. Especially when you consider the volume of reporters who are bloggers in Nunavut (there are at least four), let alone the ones who don't blog, but still surf them. And you can't say reporters won't give you a call if they see something interesting on your blog, because they will.
By the way, I'm not slagging Nunavut reporters. They're doing their job, looking for stories. If you start writing about, for example, how terrible things are at your school, don't be surprised if one of them calls. I don't blame them for trying to find a good story. I would certainly do it if positions were reversed.
You can argue its suppression of free speech. You can argue what you do in your spare time when you’re not at work is none of your employers business. And hell, I’m not inclined to argue with you too much. But here are a few simple realities about blogging in the north:
1. We live in a small territory population-wise. Maybe in places like Toronto or Vancouver you could blog about work related issues and your employer would never find out. There is little chance of that happening here.
2. This is even more the case if you live in a small community. The fact is, very few Inuit blog. So if you’re a Kablunak blogging in a small community, someone will figure it out eventually. Even posting anonymously will only cover you for so long.
3. If you talk about work in a public forum, either what your job entails or interpersonal relationships at work, your employer will eventually make it their business.
So you have to ask yourself, is it worth it? Most employers do not want you to talk about work. Perhaps some do want you to talk. Perhaps some don’t care. But many, especially if they are governments, care very much about what you say in public about your job. Most of us write blogs as a hobby. There's no money involved. I write because I go mad when I don't. But if I was told to stop tomorrow or lose my job, well, I'll find other creative outlets.
This isn’t to get into a free speech debate. This is your annual reality check if you’re a northern blogger. Be careful what you write about. Always ask yourself “do I really need to post this” before clicking “send”, especially if you're upset. And remember, as shocking as it is, there are people outside your friends and family reading your blog. Install Statcounter if you don't believe me. And they will not always like what you have to say.
If it’s an important issue and you need to speak out, then by all means I think you should do so. Just make sure you pick your fights. Too often bloggers get in trouble over relatively minor events.
Last Five
1. The way you want it - Keane
2. The shadow governments - They Might Be Giants
3. Rhythm and soul - Spoon
4. Falling through your clothes - The New Pornographers*
5. Armor and sword - Rush
However, one thought always used to go through my mind when reading Larry’s blog. And that was “how much longer is he going to be able to get away with this?” Because he didn’t pull any punches. If there was shit going on in his community that he didn’t like, he said it. He was very blunt about it. And I knew that was going to piss someone off enough eventually that they would complain to his employer. And lo and behold, they did.
This marks at least the fourth incident I know of regarding northern bloggers getting into trouble for their writing with employers. Only one has lost their job and that was before my time up here. Penelope Cholmondeley, aka Polar Penny, was fired after writing some things that upset a couple of people, who complained to her employer, who promptly fired her. That actually created a small international racket, about whether or not her employer was right to do that. For what it’s worth, and from what little I know second hand of the situation, I think they over-reacted.
The other three bloggers have received warnings and took steps, including removing the offending posts or, as in the case of Larry, killing his old blog. Again, for the record, I don’t think what Larry has done to deal with the situation will hold up for long. But we shall see.
I understand the frustration. When you get annoyed about something, it's great therapy to be able to rant about it on your blog. I’d love to write about what I do at work or even issues tangently related to what I do. I think it’s quite interesting. But it would be insane. I could do it with the best of intentions and it wouldn’t matter. I would get in trouble. Especially when you consider the volume of reporters who are bloggers in Nunavut (there are at least four), let alone the ones who don't blog, but still surf them. And you can't say reporters won't give you a call if they see something interesting on your blog, because they will.
By the way, I'm not slagging Nunavut reporters. They're doing their job, looking for stories. If you start writing about, for example, how terrible things are at your school, don't be surprised if one of them calls. I don't blame them for trying to find a good story. I would certainly do it if positions were reversed.
You can argue its suppression of free speech. You can argue what you do in your spare time when you’re not at work is none of your employers business. And hell, I’m not inclined to argue with you too much. But here are a few simple realities about blogging in the north:
1. We live in a small territory population-wise. Maybe in places like Toronto or Vancouver you could blog about work related issues and your employer would never find out. There is little chance of that happening here.
2. This is even more the case if you live in a small community. The fact is, very few Inuit blog. So if you’re a Kablunak blogging in a small community, someone will figure it out eventually. Even posting anonymously will only cover you for so long.
3. If you talk about work in a public forum, either what your job entails or interpersonal relationships at work, your employer will eventually make it their business.
So you have to ask yourself, is it worth it? Most employers do not want you to talk about work. Perhaps some do want you to talk. Perhaps some don’t care. But many, especially if they are governments, care very much about what you say in public about your job. Most of us write blogs as a hobby. There's no money involved. I write because I go mad when I don't. But if I was told to stop tomorrow or lose my job, well, I'll find other creative outlets.
This isn’t to get into a free speech debate. This is your annual reality check if you’re a northern blogger. Be careful what you write about. Always ask yourself “do I really need to post this” before clicking “send”, especially if you're upset. And remember, as shocking as it is, there are people outside your friends and family reading your blog. Install Statcounter if you don't believe me. And they will not always like what you have to say.
If it’s an important issue and you need to speak out, then by all means I think you should do so. Just make sure you pick your fights. Too often bloggers get in trouble over relatively minor events.
Last Five
1. The way you want it - Keane
2. The shadow governments - They Might Be Giants
3. Rhythm and soul - Spoon
4. Falling through your clothes - The New Pornographers*
5. Armor and sword - Rush
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