16 June 2002 : 16.34 A discussion at work. Ngaire claims that the vacuum of space is just a myth. I concur because this fits with my theory that space must be full of air, otherwise you couldn't see and hear explosions in space like they show in Star Trek and Star Wars. And if there's no air in space, how does the sun keep burning? Hm? Greg agrees that if there were no air, the sun would go out. Since the sun is only the size of your thumb, it doesn't burn that much air, so this theory works. This is what started the discussion because of the mention of an outdoor playground. Meanwhile, at User Friendly.org... 16 June 2002 : 15.49 So I want a command line interface for my operating system that uses the Z Machine text parser, like the old Infocom games (Zork, HHGTTG). Someone make one for me, huh? command/system> look You are in the system directory. It is a large directory with several files scattered around. Above you is a command directory. There is a config file here. There is a shell program here. command/system> copy autoexec.bat to a: I don't see the autoexec.bat here. command/system> format c: You can't do that with the c: command/system> I think that would be the best OS in the world! Mad? So I'm mad am I? That's what they all said! Those bungling fools with their narrow minds! What do they know of science!? Now, go here. Looks like I'm not the only one who finds CAP amusing. Hee hee! 15 June 2002 : 17.53 Simon is auditioning for Urban Rush today. I hope he gets it! It's perfect for him, and it's the best career move he could possibly make. He's going to call me later and let me know how it went. So I was listening to a recording of the Barenaked Ladies appearance at Boston Mixfest one year. The DJ person said "We celebrated music and the success of our boys becoming rock stars! Barenaked Ladies spent the last year stealing our hearts..." etc etc blah blah blah. What I want to know is, how did the Ladies become "our boys" to Boston? They're from Ontario. That means that they're Canadian. Can you say that with me? You can tell because the video of Humour of The Situation that they played during the Maroon tour involved a moose in a Mountie dress uniform beating up an american eagle in the uncle sam outfit. God that was a good concert. :) Got the pictures from Scooter Day. I'll post them when I get home today. Anyone else notice that world cup football looks like Irish step dancing? I should watch a match and put on the Lord Of The Dance soundtrack. 15 June 2002 : 13.10 Odd. The pain went away just as quickly as it started. Weird. Like twenty minutes of excruciating pain and then nothing. Hm. 15 June 2002 : 12.50 Another glorious day at work. Well, I say glorious. It's glorious in that it's a weekend so everything is nice and casual. I'm sitting next to Ngaire, the cutest girl in the building today. Yes, you too can be the envy of your friends and co-workers! I say I'm sitting next to her.. technically she's sitting next to me since I'm always in the same place. I'm really liking the idea of going with a classic scooter. For one thing, they're more stylish. For another, they're standard transmission rather than automatic. I'm definitely a standard person. But I've been thinking: I've only got limited experience with scooters. I might get tired of scooting a week after I get one. That means that spending $3000-$4000 on a scooter would be silly. So I think I'll buy a cheap, modern scooter like Super Dio or a Zuma or something, and see how I like it. I'd really like a Honda Joker. Even more than the Vino. Now that's a scooter with style. :) ow. OW! jesus... suddenly my left shoulder all the way up my neck is killing me. Like I pulled all of those muscles at once, really badly. Instant vicious headache. I didn't do anything that could have caused this, though. Not now, anyway. I wonder whether it's related to my fall a little while ago. 14 June 2002 : 19.17 I might need one of these decals on my car. :) On the sunroof would be a good place, I think. And on my scooter, when I get it. Yeah... black vino with a Decepticon insignia. Speaking of which, I've been reading about scooter culture. And there is definitely a scooter culture. Like motorcycle culture but with more style and individuality and weirdness. Well, case in point. I like motorcycles, but scooterpeople are a totally different sort. They're Different, you know? People who value unique style over speed, that sort of thing. Bike-types all tend to be very similar. You've got your Harley-types and your superbike-types, and within those categories, they're all very similar. But there are so many different flavours of scooter, and even more varieties of rider. And while bikes are lovely, there are some sexy scooting machines out there, let me tell you. Of course, my Vino will need some performance enhancing modifications. And that's not even so much about me wanting to go fast because on a scooter, you feel like you're flying at 50 kph. It's more about just having the power to get onto the freeway, or to get out of the way if something's going to smack me. Ideally, I'd like a classic scooter. You know, one of the old Vespas or Lambrettas. The thing is, I don't know whether I'll get tired of it, so I don't want to spend a bunch of money on something that becomes a doorstop. That's not even considering how hard they are to find. Ok, back to work. This page is taking a long time to load again. Probably time to start a new one. 13 June 2002 : 19.13 Stole a nifty devil chickie graphic to add to my main page. Fun fun. Still working on the new sections to the site. They're coming, they're coming. Oy... Went out for Scooter Day the other day, where I rented a scooter, as did a couple of friends, and we and my brother went out and scooted all over Vancouver. It was so much fun! For those who were supposed to come, don't worry. There will be other days. Oh yes. I got so sunburnt, though. I was just finally recovering from my last sunburn, though, so I'm a pretty bright red at the moment. Mostly on my arms. Heh, we went to a coffee shop and parked our scooters in the motorcycle gang fashion, all parallel. :) I've got pictures on the way, so I'll post them when I get them. Now I'm more sold than ever on the scooter. So much fun! Sleepy. It's this crazy heat. It's too hot for me. Thank Hyundai for air conditioning. This actually looks appealing at the moment. It's my car, frozen a lot. Just thinking about it, I get chills. Which is a good thing, given the temperature. Who needs air conditioning? I've got psychosomatic cooling! Woo! And it doesn't use gas! As opposed to psychosemitic, which is when you've got yourself convinced that you're Jewish. what? Speaking of which, why does "Semitic" mean "Of, relating to, or constituting a subgroup of the Afro-Asiatic language group that includes Arabic, Hebrew, Amharic, and Aramaic" but "anti-semitic" means "One who discriminates against or who is hostile toward or prejudiced against Jews " ? So I went out with Amy last night. This guy Terry showed up to join us for dinner. Fair enough, that's allowed, even though I don't know him. The problem is that I'm awfully shy, so there was a lot of awkward silence. That is, until Amy decided that she was going to try to make things easier. She got us started talking about computers, and from there the conversation went to programming, networking, old network hacks in highschool, BBSing, etc etc. It was fun to talk to someone who remember that stuff.. board hopping at 3 am looking for a good chat. I used to hang around on a chat board called Shoreline here in Vancouver. I still use the colours (black background, green text, yellow bold) in IRC. So much fun, too. Not like IRC because the group was much smaller so you could really get to know people, go to meets and things.. it was good. That was before I adopted "Wildsong" as my name. I was "Spirit" back then, but I also went by Numberone (sometimes) Cat, Obsession, and several others including... Teddybear. That was the result of an unfortunate turn of phrase resulting from when a girl called Clue asked a guy called Carnivore what I looked like. Yeesh. Terry mentioned that he'd saved his paper route money (he was wee at the time) to go and buy a modem. He spent $500.00 for a 110 baud modem with an acoustic coupler. Niiiiice.... :) He had an Atari 800 XL. Ah, that was a computer, let me tell you, but the real power lay with my first computer, and the force was strong with my Commodore Vic 20. Heh, poor Amy had created a monster, and got left behind as the conversation flew rapidly out of control. That's got to be odd for someone who's always the centre of attention. It's funny, though, to think back to the days when I was a god among my computer geek friends because I had a 386 with a 2400 baud modem. Oh yeah, back off because the 2400 baud is in town. Telix term program (after I switched from Procomm Plus, mind you) running on Dos 5.x. Who's a sexy bitch? 09 June 2002 : 19.32 Sleepy. But I'm off soon, so that's ok. Dear brother might be selling his scooter. That would be a good thing because I can certainly use it myself. It would certainly save me buying a new one. [hope] I'm thinking again that I need to get a Mac. I used the one at work today, and it is a lovely machine. I'm not too fond of the cutesy graphics, but it's got some seriously cool features. I was using OS X on the Mac at work, and I had to launch Outlook Express, which runs under OS 9.x, so OS X created one window of OS 9.x in which Outlook Express could run. Sort of a 9.x biosphere. Nifty. I mostly need it so that I can run OS X, though. (Yes, eks. It's a play on the BSD base of the OS and the X {eks} window environment that runs thereon. It's a pun because X is also the Roman numeral for 10. Honestly, why is this so difficult to comprehend?) On the other hand, there's this. 08 June 2002 : 16.11 I think I need one of these for my dashboard. :) They're those bobbing head things, and one of them would look most spiffy in my car. I'll probably get El Diablo. Wow I'm hungry. So, tonight I'm off to eat sushi. It's a standard weekly event. And thank god for that. (Figuratively speaking, of course.) Work on the new atheist section progresses, as does work on the ADD section. They'll be up when they're up. No, seriously, I'm hungry. My dog, the Mooch, is losing weight at last. He went through a phase where he just ate and slept regardless of how much attention I paid him, and it was quite a concern for me. When his legs started to give him trouble, and he couldn't get up the stairs any more, I decided that it was time for a serious diet. I mean, he's old so I just let him do what he wanted, but I'm not about to let him sacrifice his health. Now, he can get up the stairs again, and the other night he actually played with a ball, which he hasn't done for ages. Yay Moochie! They're making a big deal about The Fight at work, with people actually paying so that they can order it on Pay Per View. I can't believe that people would pay to see two grown men stand on a platform and hit each other. How puerile. It's funny, though, that people look at the games of ancient Rome, when gladiators fought each other for the entertainment of the crowd, and talk about how barbaric they were back then... I'm so hungry I'm becoming a threat to my co-workers. Heh, Vancouver paper The Georgia Straight describes July 4th as "america's most anxiously patriotic holiday" :) (If you're in Vancouver, read the paper. It's free and it's good. Much more content than on the site.) Public opinion demands the return of the goatee. I don't know, though. I'm torn. I suppose I'm used to me without it. I think I like me without it, personally. Such decisions. The newest yankee flagwaving movie "Windtalkers" is coming out soon. It's got to be more historically accurate than U-571. 07 June 2002 : 19.41 Evolution argument at work. [sigh] I don't know where it came from, but misunderstanding of the whole evolutionary theory abounded. Natural selection favours the genetic traits of one member of a species over another. The individuals in possession of this trait survive to breed and pass on their genes. The ones not in possession of this trait don't get to breed (they die off, most likely). This change is called evolution. It's not that hard to comprehend. A hereditary change in the frequency of alleles in the gene pool. Ah, it started out as a pro-life/pro-choice argument. Guess where I stand. I found this site, which is really informative: http://www.talkorigins.org and this site, which provides a different look at the origin of the human species: http://www.serpentfd.org Got "Making of Cyborg" in my head. (requires RealPlayer) 05 June 2002 : 21.58 So I decided, on my way home, to stop off and buy some groceries. It's fairly late for grocery shopping, so there was a space right in front of the window just a couple of meters from the cashiers. I parked my car and wandered inside in search of the essentials of life. You know, milk and Kraft Dinner. I spent some time making the hard choices.. did I need Sharp Cheddar, White Cheddar, or Extra Creamy? I managed to settle the question, in the fashion of indecisive people everywhere, by buying them all. By the time I got to the cashiers, only one was at her till, and the others were all clustered around the front window. I briefly wondered what could be the cause of the commotion until I heard a girl say "It's a Tib oron?" and a guy "Tiburon. I want one!" I've said before that I'm not a car person, and that I'm not on any sort of quest for approval, but you know what? That's really a good feeling, when you've got something nice. Pardon me while I take some time out from my quest for non-approval to glow for a minute. :) 05 June 2002 : 17.55 OOO! Even more pretty! 05 June 2002 : 17.52 Ooo! pretty! 03 June 2002 : 09.00 Big, ugly headache. A couple of days ago I had an accident that involved me falling upside down onto a concrete floor and landing on my head. Kind of buggered my spine a bit. Not surprisingly, since then I've had an almost constant headache, but this morning it's worse than it has been since that day. 02 June 2002 : 16.57 Bastards. Our economy is in bad shape. I've ranted about that for ages. We've got two major forms of income in this province that the americans have not been able to take away: softwood exports and the film industry. Outside this province we have the vegetable market, too. Everything else is being consumed by parasitic american companies that are burrowing into our markets. But all is not lost. We have hope! There are those three industries, right? Nope. america slapped a softwood lumber tarif on our imports, so that we could not compete with their own softwood companies. They've subsidised their vegetable farmers so that they can take away any advantage that we might have in that market. California is now offering tax credits to movie companies so that they will film there rather than coming to BC. So once again, where we had a good chance, we've been hurt by the bloody americans. They're coming to our country and killing off our businesses, but if we get the slightest chance to outsell them in even one area, they combat us with blatantly unfair business practices. It's no wonder we hate them so much. On a happier note: oh christ I'm full of fish! Ok, well not so much any more. I ate such a ridiculous amount of sushi last night, though... I've no idea why I do that to myself. Ok, yes I have. The thing about going out for sushi is that it's not even so much the food. It's more about the social side of the experience. Though the food is in-smegging-credible. I really enjoy it. :) I don't understand those people who simply will not try sushi. I mean, it's got this huge following.. don't you think it's worth more effort than "ew! Raw fish!" ? The local live morning show is looking for hosts. I'm trying to convince my wee brother to audition for it. He'd be brilliant.. he's so good live that it would be perfect for him, and since it's morning, he could still do comedy at night. Everyone who sees his act says that he's brilliant. If he had a show, the following would be ridiculous, I'm certain. Working on the religion section of the site. It'll be up when it's up. Ok, required reading: This sounds like me, only I'd do it with the English professor attitude rather than the the "Gary Coleman-style street talk " 01 June 2002 : 18.26 People who've read the about me section of this site know that I study Seven Star Praying Mantis Kung Fu (tanglang quan). I also study a bit of Yang Tai Chi (or, more correctly, Taiji Quan), and just enough Eight Drunken Immortals. I'm adding Baji quan (also called pachi quan) to the list, too, which is Chinese for "I am someone with whom you do not wish to fuck." I've already learned the beginning of the first form. And more will follow. Yay me! In other news: jesus h. god but this girl is good. I actually saw her at a tournament... the video doesn't do her justice. You should see her do a complete form. It's poetry. Tonight, there will be fish. To the sushi! Away! 28 May 2002 : 12.53 So the last Super 7 lottery was estimated at 34 million dollars. 34 million dollars! That money must be worth a fortune! I can see why so many people are willing to risk the ridiculous odds, though personally, I'd rather not. Went to see my brother's act at Malarkey last night. It was, of course, brilliant. I took my aunt, who's over from England to visit. I've been thinking that I should wander back to England for a bit, just to visit. Mostly to remind myself why I live in Canada. Of course, trying to get the time off is the tricky bit, so I'll likely not manage it for ages. heh, a friend has taken to referring to my car as The Batmobile. A fitting name, I think. :) 25 May 2002 : 09.30 ugh. Morning. Consciousness? At this time of day? On a weekend? Ghastly idea. It's raining outside. Sometimes the whole living in a rainforest thing kinda sucks. Personally, I don't mind the rain, but my aunt is over from England (ah, the old country) and it would have been nice to have some serious sunshine for her. That's how considerate I am. [grin] I actually don't like sunlight myself, since it has such negative effects on me. I'm still not over my sunburn from the last time I ventured out into the sun. So I've heard that a friend of mine has become a rabid christian. Not, like, "Oh isn't god special?" but more along the lines of "Onward, christian soldiers, and slaughter the unbelievers!" and in doing so she has alienated all of her friends. Heh, another of my friends accuses me of not saving her from being saved. He says I could have prevented all of this by dating her. And when we were at school together, I did so want to go out with her, but I was with the psycho at the time, so I couldn't do anything about it. Mind you, that's assuming that she would have been interested in me, which I highly doubt. [shrug] What's happened has happened. I wish that I could change it and still have the life that I have now, but I can't. It's one of those things.. I can't help but wonder "what if..." It's a shame because she's wasting her life now in servitude to a fictional deity. I think that she was one of those who needed to find meaning, and unfortunately, those are the people who fall victim to religion most easily. Ok, I'm in the mood for coffee and a muffin, so that's what I'm going to have. So there. I just have to find a muffin. 22 May 2002 : 20.03 In other news: oooooh dear.. Yes, look children. The chimpanzee has screwed up again. The big question at this point is whether it's a conspiracy or simply incompetence. Either way, I'm just glad he's not in charge of my country. "The aftermath of 11 September put not just the terrorist network al-Qaeda and its infrastructure on trial but also the values of the West. It has long been obvious that defeating al-Qaeda required not only military success. It also required an awareness of the fundamental human and democratic rights which distinguish open societies from their terrorist enemies. Sadly, the Bush administration has never fully grasped the second element of this equation. It has relied too often on an upsurge of patriotism to protect it from scrutiny or criticism. Last week the dam broke with news that on 10 September a report had been written for review by national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, outlining options to fight al-Qaeda - and that in July and August security officers had warned of threats to attack the US using hijacked planes. How much, America is now asking, did George Bush know? The US government is fighting back aggressively, trying to restore an atmosphere of non-criticism, non-debate and compliant acceptance. Yet this outbreak of democracy, with Senate Democratic majority leader Tom Daschle insisting that Bush turn over vital classified security briefing materials to the Senate, is long overdue." Also, I found this.. just another example of how the Bush government is overturning the good decisions made by the Clinton government. In this case, the site is EarthJustice's, and details the very negative approach to environmental concerns taken by the present american government. The only green that Bush cares about is money, apparently. 21 May 2002 : 22.05 Work on my basement renovations is coming along nicely. Should be finished some time this week, I think. I'm probably going to go with the hardwood floor rather than the carpet, since it's nicer and easier to keep clean. Work on the ADD page is also proceding, though somewhat more slowly than it should. Time is too short for me to do as much as I would like. I'm getting there, though slowly. Spent part of the day scooting on my brother's Vino. So much fun! Today was a good day for fun, actually.. scooting in Stanley Park, and then lurking about at various places. Went to Soma, which is a nice, if trendy, coffee place. Went to a small pizza place on Commercial for the best 99c pizza in Vancouver. Serious yum. Fish and chips on Granville Island.. that was good. Lots of driving around in my car with everything open- sunroof, windows.. it was just a really good day. :) There are pictures, but they were taken with a friend's camera, and it's not digital, so I'll have to post them after they're developed. 19 May 2002 : 18.50 "If you can't go on reputation alone, there's nothing like the wear of a tasteful-yet-understated eyepatch to say, "I may really like cherries, but I'm still a manly piece of ass."" Now, off to sushi. 18 May 2002 : 18.54 Ooo.. now this is a sexy bike. Japanese import. Not built for export is what I'm saying. The lovely Jez likes this one, and I have to agree that the style does have its appeal. I think I'm leaning more toward the sportbike style, though. Decisions, decisions! And then, of course, there's the scooter. 18 May 2002 : 15.19 Apparently, in america they don't have turn signals. I passed four cars with american plates today (three from washington and one california), all turning, and not one signaling. One of them wanted to be in my lane, pretty much where I was, but didn't think to let me know. Repeat the mantra with me now: "Bloody americans." Much less sleepy today. Yay! Worked out last night for the first time in a while.. sore muscular bits today. Ouch. Training for the last couple of days was an absolute nightmare. I spent most of the time either falling asleep because I was incredibly tired, or zoning out because I'm out of ADD medication. The Batman factor of my belt is way too high at the moment. I've got the iPaq, my Leatherman, cel. phone, security card, pocket watch, various other things. Too many gadgets. :) A friend of mine can't survive without Coke. He thinks that it's the caffeine. I think that it's the CO2 that recharges him. If you ask me, he's a carbonation-based life form. what? 17 May 2002 : 9.49 So, Star Wars. Wow! It was so cool! It really made up for Phantom Menace.. mind you, talk about damning with faint praise. Anything would be better than Phantom Menace. Oh, Attack wasn't perfect, but it was freaking good. Lots of lovely action, lots of nifty effects (duh.. it's Star Wars) Yoda is way cool, Christopher Lee is excellent, as always, and Ewan McGregor is fabulous, dahlink. I most thoroughly enjoyed it. Of course, as far as story goes, it fits into the grand scheme of things in such a way as to make it apparent just how much of a hack Lucas is when it comes to writing. I'll go on about that at greater length in the future, when I have time. Oh my god I'm tired. Second day of 8 am training after three hours of sleep. That's six hours of sleep in the last forty-eight. I can barely keep my eyes open. Gah.. another six hours of work, and then I get to drive home. 16 May 2002 : 12.44 The latest round of job cuts has nailed another set of victims, including my own brother. We'd probably not be having them if our economy weren't so weak, but lucky us, we have the various american companies taking our business. Yes, I've ranted about the americans and their effect on our economy and our local businesses, but now it's cost my brother his job. Not impressed. Get the hell out of my country, 'wouldya?' 16 May 2002 : 08.01 Gah. Tired. Miserable buggers scheduled me for training at 8 this morning, but only told me yesterday, so it was too late to change my plans. As a result, it's 7.44 and I'm here at work, having woken at 5.30. More or less three hours after I went to bed. Ick. And tonight I get to do it again because I'm going to be up late watching Star Wars. Woo. I'm too tired to be enthusiastic. So last night I went to BoJangles, the coffee shop. There was a disturbance in the force. So I'm standing waiting for my food to be warmed up, and a guy comes in. Examines everything on the menu and on the counter suspiciously, and then goes up to the girl at the desk. He doesn't wait to be greeted. He says "I want a ham sandwich. And I don't want pickles or onions on it." (He didn't ask what was on it first.) "Ok, sure." says the ever patient cashier person, "And would you like something to dri-" as the rude bugger cuts her off. "An' I want a beer. What's that middle one over there?" "It's the John Labatt classic. It's-" "Good enough I guess. Gimme one o' those. And I want this to go." At this point I'm thinking wait for it... "Alright then" wait for it... "And gimme back U.S. money too, wouldya?" bingo. "Well, I don't have american money to give you-" "Figgers" "... since this is Canada,"She was speaking slowly at this point so that he could understand. Finally losing her patience. He didn't seem to notice. "but you get a good exchange rate." "Whutever." Have I mentioned that I hate them? How is it that you can spot an american, you ask? How can you miss them? Forget the softwood lumber situation.. they should try importing our manners, instead. Oh, but he did say 'wouldya' didn't he? I suppose that's what passes for 'please' in america. 15 May 2002 : 19.48 My friend Femakita posted this on her journal: "David Hasselhoff has done a rendition of "Hooked on a Feeling". There's a music video. It involves a motorcycle. And a safari. And a very large salmon." My god.. the pain... I can't begin to describe. You'll just have to see it for yourself. Star Wars tomorrow! Woo! Training tomorrow morning at eight AM. woo. 15 May 2002 : 17.10 Random: Added a nifty new quote to the list, stolen from uberpaki: "There are a number of mechanical devices which increase sexual arousal, particularly in women. Chief among these is the Mercedes-Benz 500SL convertible." Off to see my brother's act tonight at the El Cocal. And it will be good. It always is. :) Found this. It, too, is good. Pizza for lunch. Mmm... Going to see Star Wars tomorrow. Yay! It should be vastly superior to Episode One, from what I hear. I need to acquire Spider-Man on DVD when it comes out. I was telling someone about it the other day.. there's one quote that stands out: "With great power comes great responsibility." That's definitely true. In fact, that's one of the all-time most true quotes I've heard. I think that the only other one that reaches that kind of depth, of sheer profound significance is "It ain't the bling, it's the nigga." I was talking to a guy a little while ago who said "I think I must have some of that ADD because I get bored really easily." Must.. control... fist of death... Speaking of ADD, I was terribly late for work today.. I zoned out while I was driving, and came back to realise that the section of highway on which I was driving was completely unfamiliar. I'd completely missed my exit. Took forever to get back on track and find my way to work. 12 May 2002 : 13.16 So I saw Spider-Man last night, largely to take my mind off Morrisey, but also because I wanted to see it. And it was good. I was pretty sure I was going to enjoy it because the cap guy didn't like it much, and his taste is questionable at best. :) Given that it was a comic/cartoon turned into a movie, the very questionable science isn't a problem. I mean, the whole premise is silly, but who really cares? It doesn't have to be real to be enjoyable. Given the cap guy's fondness for complete unreality (see the bible) I'd have thought he would enjoy it more. But then, Spider-man is more believable than the bible. Overall, it was a most excellent movie. Lots of fun. :) In other news, apparently Amazon.com is now moving into Canada, too. yay... more Canadian companies go out of business. I wish we could just close our borders and keep the yankee bastards out. How is our economy supposed to recover when our shops are closing because american companies are coming in and taking all of our business? As I mentioned the other day, I was out with a friend and his american girlfriend, and we were wandering through the mall, and she kept pointing out companies like Old Navy, and saying that it was good that they were there because it felt like home. How do you tell someone like that that for each of those big american companies that has come in, at least two Canadian companies have seen business drop off? american companies generally have more money, a stronger dollar, can buy products in greater quantities, and therefore sell them at a lower price than Canadian companies can. And with our economy being in bad shape, people can't afford to not shop at the shops with the lowest prices. The result? More money lost to our economy. How can we ever recover? Apparently, though, we are, and business in BC, at least, is starting to boom. I hope it isn't too late, that's all. 11 May 2002 : 11.09 I'm taking Morrisey in today to be euthanised. 10 May 2002 : 19.13 I don't swear much. It's just not something I do. English is such a colourful language that there are several words for just about everything, so why narrow your vocabulary so much? Having said that, sometimes it's funny. I just came across this expression, and it's hilarious. At least to me. "Why don't you go outside and play hide-and-go-fuck-yourself?" I don't know why, but that makes me laugh. :) Apparently, the Rolling Stones are continuing their "Grumpy Old Men" tour, or whatever they're calling it. They arrived in a blimp in Vancouver recently, looking like the undead with skin like wrinkly, worn leather. C'mon guys, you've milked it for all it's worth. Mind you, if they stop, they'll probably fall apart. recommended reading. meanwhile, somewhere on a mountain... To me, the objective is to bounce the little guy as many times as possible. Comics that amuse me. 09 May 2002 : 16.32 So I'm standing in the Metropolis food court, waiting for my unhealthy heart-attack-on-a-bun, and my supervisor Philip (white guy) comes up and says something in Mandarin. I've forgotten most of the Mandarin I knew (used to be fluent) but the Chinese girl behind me giggles and blushes a bit. No idea what he said. She says "You speak Mandarin" and he replies in Mandarin, pointing at me. And then, for some reason, she says "He's a good teacher." Buh? He's going to get me into serious trouble one day. He keeps trying to convince me to get a Chinese girlfriend. He did point out that that's a good way to get back into Mandarin, though. I'm trying to get back into it.. it's a really cool language, and so incredibly useful in BC, particularly Richmond and Burnaby, which is where I spend most of my time. Going to see Star Wars on Thursday with the crowd from work. Should be much fun. you look so fine.... I want to break your heart, and give you mine.. you're taking me over.. it's so insane... you've got me tethered and chained... I hear your name, and I'm falling over 08 May 2002 : 17.33 Morrisey is still with me. He still doesn't seem to be aware of the tumour on his jaw, but I'm watching it carefully. Posted the entire CAP exchange. It was fun, though short lived. I was out with a friend, his american girlfriend, and another friend the other day. I thought I'd share this bit of the conversation: girl: So er awl Canadians anti-amurrican, er jest the wuns en this car? me: No, there are Canadians who aren't anti-american. We call them 'rednecks.' Jeff: Hey, now. That's not fair. There are plenty of rednecks who are anti-american. hee hee! 06 May 2002 : 19.05 So it's snowing. Well, half snow, half hail. [sigh] You can tell that I'm upset over Morrisey. Even baiting obnoxious christians doesn't cheer me up. Morrisey will likely have to go in tomorrow. I'll keep a close eye on his behaviour to see whether he's suffering at all. 04 May 2002 : 19.37 Just for fun (cuz I'm in the mood for fun just at the moment) I wrote this to the capalert.com guy. We'll see whether he figures out that he's being mocked, or whether he just doesn't get it. I'm betting on the latter. I love your site. It's brilliantly satirical. You capture perfectly the stupidity and closed-mindedness of the christian fanatics you're mocking, and I'm most impressed. I hope that your site gets the appreciation that it deserves, and that people understand the sarcasm and humour therein, since you've obviously put a lot of work into it. You're doing a lot for the atheist cause with this site. Keep up the good work! I'll post any response I might get. 04 May 2002 : 16.42 Just got the call. It's a very malignant kind of cancer that spreads to everything it can reach. Tissue, bone, whatever. It's inoperable.. the surgeon would have to remove most of his jaw, and that still would likely not get the whole tumour. While there may be a way to treat him, the doctor says that "the prognosis is very poor." Treatment can't be oral. It would have to be intravenous. That's not something I'm willing to put him through, so I shall have to watch him carefully, and when he starts to show that he's distressed or in pain, I shall have him euthanised. 04 May 2002 : 14.06 I took the Paragon Powers Test and tested positive for Cyberware There's a big surprise. :) My god. The coffee today isn't disgusting. I still haven't heard about Morrisey yet. Hopefully the doctor will call today or tomorrow. The sooner we know, the sooner something can be done. Dear Jez is working on a page about ADD, but from the point of view of someone who has a loved one with ADD, rather than from the point of view of someone with ADD. I think that people tend to focus too much on the person with the ADD.. it's a problem that affects far more than just the person who has it, as is anything that requires special consideration. I'll post a link to her page when she's finished building it. I went to see my mother's show with Amy last night.. Agatha Christie's Spider's Web. Bloody awful script, but that goes without saying. It's Christie. But as usual, the show was wonderful. My little student was in it.. the one I tutored in an English accent. She held up marvelously. Better than I expected. Everything else was wonderful: the cast, the set, the wardrobe.. most excellent. It's amazing how good a show can be in spite of a Christie script. :) To be expected, though. My mother even managed to make The Mousetrap watchable. Ghastly script, wonderful show. Been listening to a lot of Garbage lately. I'd forgotten how much I like them. I remember now, though. :) I can't say I care for Shirley's new blonde look, though. I loved the red hair/eyeliner look. 02 May 2002 : 17.30 I called back and spoke to an administrative person, and it sounds like he's ok. I'll know when I pick him up tonight. I'll post more as I find out what's happening with him. Grouchy little bugger was hissing at the doctor when I left him. He was wrapped in a towel in a plastic bucket. On a totally different note, my wingtip docs are a huge success. Everywhere I go I get massive compliments about them. Yay! And I can't help but think that they'll look cool on my Vino, when I get it. 02 May 2002 : 15.37 Morrisey is currently in recovery. I have to call back in a couple of hours. I hope that's a good sign. 02 May 2002 : 12.30 Morrisey is in the hospital. The doctor thinks that he has a tumour, and is taking a tissue sample for biopsy today. I'll know around 3.00 pm today. Apparently, if it is, it will be very difficult to remove, given its location. (it's by his mouth) 01 May 2002 : 19.00 So apparently a co-worker has bred, and today he came around and handed out cigars to celebrate his newly spawned son. Of course, they were from Purdy's. Daaamn they were good. My friend Ngaire has a plan. She wants to move to Cuba. This is because americans aren't allowed there. See? It's not just me who hates 'em. :) She thinks we should stick collars on all of the americans, and like livestock, zap them if they get too close to our border. We're being overrun, after all. So I went to my supervisor today, and said "Ow, look.. I got sunburnt. And he said "So you did" and slapped my arm right on the burn. Bastard. Yes, my supervisor is a filthy swine. Probably won't even come for sushi on Saturday. I'm working on an ADD section for the site, but it's coming slowly. Too little time for such things, unfortunately. Hmm.. what else? Oh, I finally found Website #9 again... I forgot what it was called, so I couldn't find it. It's a fabulous archive of MiSTings of fanfics. It's wonderful. Read. 30 April 2002 : 22.47 Oh my god! This is incredible! I went to KFC for dinner, and they gave me my food in a bag, as usual, but this time, something different happened. Something special. I've scanned the bag, and posted it here. If you look carefully at the image, you can almost make out the face a man, smiling benignly.. the personification of all that is good. It's as if the Sanders himself had burnt his image magically into the bag. I think it was his mystical aura as The Colonel. I think he's telling us that he will return, some day. Until then, this paper sack, this Bag Of Sanders will remain our only physical evidence that The Colonel lived. Let us eat. Sorry? The Turin what? 30 April 2002 : 21.53 Just returned from a trip to Victoria.. did I ever get burnt! Let me tell you! I'm a lovely pink colour. Standing on the ferry was the worst bit. I had to stand outside, since I don't get a chance to make the trip often, and I wanted to enjoy it. But having said that, the daystar is not kind to the pale. And now I have a splitting headache. Ouchie. Still, "needs must when the devil vomits into your kettle," as they say. 28 April 2002 : 13.10 Belle killed a mole last night. Poor little guy. His species is the Coast Mole, as near as I can tell. I keep trying to explain to Belle that I'm perfectly capable of finding my own food, and that she doesn't need to kill little furry and feathery people and bring them to my door, but she won't listen. Typical cat. The problem is that she's a very good hunter. I've tried to put a bell on her, but the way she stalks her prey keeps her very low to the grass, so the bell doesn't make any sound until she springs, and then it's too late to do any good. My lovely old silver tabby Spot used to hunt. When she was younger, she was better than Belle. As she got older, she moved on to easier prey. Once she did that, I stopped trying to stop her. I'd stand at the window and watch her; crouched low, moving slowly and sinuously, creeping closer and closer, ever careful not to startle her victim. Even through her long silver coat you could see the muscles ripple as she leapt, striking her hapless prey with her claws and teeth, killing it completely before bringing it home, a prize to be shown proudly to her humans. A symbol of her hunting mastery. Of course, it was always a pine cone. Why do you think I didn't try to stop her? :) When Spot died, I cleaned out her room.. it was a closet full of old towels and sheets that she used to sleep in. It was also full of pine cones. Spoils of her hunting victories, I think. 27 April 2002 : 17.22 Hee hee.. just found a lovely game review of Empire Earth, of which I have never heard. However, the Screaming Midget reviewer had this to say: "... you can mix epochs and send your futuristic mechanized infantry and nuclear bombers to destroy a simple stone age village, like some Star Trek captain violating the fuck out of the prime directive." Having said that, I like the way they think at Screaming Midget: "Here's a question. Why is it that we don't like aliens, bats, demons, vampires, or spiders, but we like Superman, Batman, Spawn, Blade, and Spider-Man? And at the same time, comic books make villains of friendly creatures like cats, penguins, and clowns. And if simple role reversal is the formula for successful entertainment, then the most popular comic book should be about a crime fighting cannibalistic pyromaniac (The Charbroiler) who defends the city from a daycare full of babies" Going to a housewarming party tonight at my friend Tracey's place. Should be fun. :) 27 April 2002 : 15.33 Never did hear back from this guy. Maybe he took the bible quiz as I suggested, and it shook his faith a bit. Who knows? Christians particularly, but religious people in general tend to avoid things that will shake their faith. As I see it, it's better to have your ideas and beliefs undergo scrutiny. If they can't stand up to a simple challenge, are those ideas worthy of such belief? That's scientific method speaking, of course, but it makes sense. You develop a theory, you try like hell to disprove it, and if you can't, then it's pretty much accepted, for the moment. Until more information comes along that does disprove it. The truth is the truth, right? It doesn't need your faith to make it the truth... it will go on being true whether you believe it or not. Therefore, if you subject your religion or theory to every test, every intense examination you can, it will hold up because it's true. Or it will collapse because it isn't. Either way, you'll find the truth. Assuming, of course, that that's what you want. A lot of people don't want the truth. They want quite the opposite. They want something that will make them feel safe and warm and fuzzy. They want shelter. The trouble is that faith and evidence are mutually exclusive. Faith is defined as "Belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence" while evidence is "A thing or things helpful in forming a conclusion or judgment" The trouble is, religion requires that you form your conclusion first, and then use evidence to support it, rather than drawing a conclusion from the evidence presented. You find that often religious people faced with evidence will take only the bits that don't conflict with their beliefs, and proudly proclaim them as evidence that their faith is justified. Those same people will then denounce as lies evidence that conflicts with their beliefs. So rather than modifying their beliefs to fit the facts, they deny the facts to justify their beliefs. That's probably the biggest problem I have with religion as a whole. Facts are facts, and if you deny the ones that don't fit with your beliefs, you're hiding from the truth. If you have to hide from the truth to justify your beliefs, your beliefs cannot be accurate, can they? Wandering around on the web, I found Why Women Need Freedom From Religion on the Freedom From Religion Foundation website. Wow.. the bible contains rape manuals, virgin tests, rules about women being stoned for being raped, claims that menstrual periods are unclean, lots of stuff about women being inherently sinful and completely inferior to men.. it's horrific. You can look up the passages from the FFRF page here. What kind of god would treat his followers like that? The women that he himself created? Hmm? The whole book, the whole system of belief is so... twisted. I'd say "god help the women" but since these are supposed to be his rules taken from his book, that seems unlikely, doesn't it? To think that there are people who adhere to this stuff. Not just churches and fanatics, but political parties who think that the world would be a better place if everyone led their life according to the bible rules. To think that Georgie Bush jr. is one of them... And now for your link of the day. Go here. Poking fun at god. Woo! 27 April 2002 : 12.08 Wow.. the Jedi Outcast craze passed instantly Dungeon Siege came out. Now everyone at work has a new passion. No more Jedi. Ah well.. it was fun while it lasted. Dungeon Siege is a really good game, though. I like the whole lack of a character class thing. I always disliked having to start a new character if I decided that I wanted to, for example, start using magic in addition to my long bow. Dual-classing is all fine and well, but then you stop levelling in your first class. At least in the games I've played. Blah. I've run out of dexedrine, and I need to find another specialist before I can get more. I take dexedrine for ADD, and since it's an amphetamine, it really increases my metabolism and causes serious weight loss. That means that I have to eat more because otherwise I'd lose too much weight. Since I've run out, the weight loss side effect of the amphetamine has stopped occurring, and I'm gaining weight rapidly, even in spite of all me working out, practicing kung fu, etc. I like this. 26 April 2002 : 10.45 So this morning, my mother answers a phone call: Hello? Hi, I'm calling from the Canadian Diabetes Society... No, thank you. I've already got one. Um, sorry? I already have a diabetic, thank you. Oh, ok, so you don't need another one, then. Sorry to bother you. [click] (My father is diabetic.) Ok, off to another exciting day of work. 25 April 2002 : 18.17 On the down side, the funerals of the four Canadian soldiers who were killed by americans happened yesterday. It's such a shame.. they didn't die for any purpose. Death is part of life, and that's ok. Death doesn't bother me. It's pointless death that I hate. These guys were there for a purpose, and then they were killed, and not even by the enemy. I hate to say it, but everyone is playing up the fact that they died a hero's death, when in fact they didn't. They were the victims of an accident brought about by yankee stupidity. Their deaths served no purpose at all, and that's the sad part. I mean, our military presence was there to show our support for america, because with their mentality you're either with them or against them, and they're a war-mongering bunch, particularly at the moment. This has nothing to do with terrorism. The americans were looking for an excuse to have a war, both to boost their economy and their president's approval rating, and we needed to make certain that we were on the right side of their nasty little perceptions. I mean, if they drop bombs on their allies, what do they do to their enemies? If they were so opposed to terrorism, they would probably not have been supporting the IRA for so long. The americans, for whatever reasons, have been supporting the "Irish Nationalist Cause" for years, giving the IRA money and weapons so that they could go and blow up English buildings and English people. Children have been killed in these horrific attacks that have been going on so long and causing so much damage and death that they make the WTC attack look insignificant. But hey, it's only terrorism if it's directed against america, right? Never mind how many people died in IRA attacks funded by america. The important thing is that those people weren't americans. One good thing has come out of this, though. Since the americans now know what it's like to be the target of terrorist attacks, they seem to have lost a great deal of their interest in supporting the IRA. At least, publicly. The IRA has announced plans to disarm, though whether they do so remains to be seen. The americans are claiming credit, of course. That's just to be expected. Morons. I have a huge freaking headache. U.S. 'FRIENDLY FIRE' Oct. 16 and Oct. 26, 2001: U.S. forces bomb Red Cross buildings in Kabul. Nov. 11, 2001: A UN convoy was damaged by U.S. air strikes. Nov. 26, 2001: An F-18 dropped a bomb during the prison riot at Mazar-e-Sharif, injuring five U.S. soldiers. Nov. 28, 2001: U.S. helicopters attacked a ground force of navy troops. No one was injured. Dec. 5, 2001: A B-52 dropped a bomb on U.S. and Afghan forces near Kandahar, killing three Americans and at least seven Afghans March 2, 2002: An AC-130 taking part in Operation Anaconda may have mistakenly attacked a convoy of U.S. and Afghan forces, killing one U.S. soldier. March 6, 2002: Coalition forces attacked a suspected al-Qaeda leadership target near Shikin, Afghanistan. Fourteen were killed. April 18, 2002: Four Canadians killed when a U.S. jet mistakenly dropped a bomb. Why do these people have weapons? They should be locked up in a nice padded room where they can be completely inept without hurting anyone. 25 April 2002 : 17.46 Well. There were a lot of comics there last night. The MC was really good, some of the others were very good, and then Simon got up and blew the doors off the place. There was just no comparison. He's brilliant. :) Seriously. The guy who runs the room had booked too many acts- ideally you want to have an MC, an opener, a middle, and a headliner. There were at least eight comics on last night, and by the time Simon went on (he was headlining) the crowd's energy was starting to fade. By the time he left, though, the energy level was way up, the laughter and applause were just massive.. it was a very good night. :) The best part is that it was being recorded, and in digital, so I might be able to stick some bits on my site. That would be a good thing. There's another Game on today. Everyone is clustered around the television except me because I don't really care. I'm clustered around my computer. 24 April 2002 : 19.05 Ok, this is hilarious. Rap culture at its finest. I love the way the guys are superimposed on the cars, as if they were actually there. Well, I was fooled. And I love the superimposed glint on all of the jewelery. Hee hee! And the guy who wrote "flame" on his arm because he wanted a tattoo. Do your parents know what you're up to, young men? Obviously, they're hardcore. They go on about how much money they have, etc etc. Is that why they have pop-up advertising on their site, do you think? And no domain of their own? But then, they're only fifteen, right? Check out the tour site, which has pictures of the guys superimposed on other pictures, too. Apparently, having yourself superimposed on a picture makes you cool. Off to the comedy club with Elaine and Amy tonight. Should be fun. :) In other news, a scientist has located the garden of Eden. In a documentary called "Edin" on The Learning Channel, he explained how he had used scientific investigation methods, known translation methods, geographical research, and passages from the bible to triangulate Eden. (Edin is a Sumarian word meaning "plain") It turns out that it was a nice place, so it's not surprising that people would have settled there. Of course, now it has become an industrial town. So much for paradise. Unfortunately, the bible thumpers are using this as evidence that the bible is truth. What they fail to realise is that no one disputes the historical validity of a great deal of the bible. But finding the place doesn't prove that human kind was put there by god, does it? Just that the place exists, and that someone knew enough about it to write about it. 24 April 2002 : 16.44 Spent last night with my friend Amy. I haven't seen her in a while. She's coming to the comedy club tonight to see Simon's act. It should be really good. :) So Gina has been renamed. She's Daisy now. God only knows why.. I liked Gina, but what can you do? She was shipped in a pet carrier box thing. Whe she arrived she was nervous, of course, shaky, and very quiet. On the ride home she brightened up a lot. She had to see everything, experience every smell, every sound.. she was adorable. She went to meet my grandparents and got thoroughly spoilt. (My grandmother always puts treats and bones and things aside for Moochie, so she's happy to have another dog to spoil.) Introducing her to the residents wasn't easy. Belle looked at her with casual disinterest until Daisy tried to snuffle her, at which point the ears went back, and the claws and teeth came out, and Belle showed her who was in charge. Now they're getting along just fine. :) Ariel hasn't shown any signs of noticing her, and neither has Tabitha. Moochie was not impressed. There was barking, growling, lots of defensive attitude because she was trespassing on his territory. He's more tolerant now, though, and they're getting along better. I'll keep an eye on them. It turns out that Daisy is actually border collie/greyhound. She's lovely, anyway. 23 April 2002 : 10.38 Off to pick up Gina from the airport. 21 April 2002 : 17.35 Oh my. I seem to be the only non hockey fan here during The Game. (Why are all of the games called The Game? You could have fifteen in one day, and they'd all be The Game.) For the last few days there have been lots of games, and lots of people watching, and I seem to be the only one who really doesn't care. Mind you, I'm not a native Canadian, so I have an excuse. :) 21 April 2002 : 16.10 Settled on a course of action regarding the scooter/bike arrangement. I'm going to go with the scooter first, and ride it for a while, and if I like it, I'll look into the bike. That way I don't spend a lot of time, effort, and money getting a vehicle that I might not like. After all, I buy a scooter, I ride it home. I buy a bike, and I have to get a class 6 license, before I can go anywhere on it. And that means riding lessons, etc etc. I've also been looking into ways to get more speed out of the Vino... apparently you can almost double the speed by removing the choke pipe and changing some other bits to adjust the gearing. It changes the acceleration from weak to powerful enough to do a wheelie. :) 20 April 2002: 16.11 A new person comes to live in my house on Tuesday. Gina is a ten month old stray border collie/whippet cross. She's adorable. She's in ghastly Prince George at the moment, but they'll fly her down to us here. I hope they sedate her before they do, though. She won't like it very much, so something to help her sleep will be good. We brought a dog exactly like her from England when we came over, and she didn't handle the stress well at all. I don't know how Moochie will handle her, of course, but he'll get used to her eventually. 20 April 2002 : 13.53 There are a lot of american plates on our roads today. I passed something like twelve cars washington plates alone on my 45 minute drive in today. You'd think, given the way the tide of public opinion has turned massively against america, that the americans would have the good sense to stay out of Canada for a while. Mind you, these are americans we're talking about. They go out looking for trouble as a matter of course, and good sense isn't something for which they are known. As expected, the americans aren't going to fully co-operate as promised. Our board of inquiry won't even have access to question the pilot who dropped the bomb. Bloody typical. 19 April 2002 : 13.16 The war against terrorism has claimed its first Canadian casualties. The first Canadian casualties of war in half a century. Killed by americans. I've often said that americans have more guns than brain cells. That they shoot first and think later... if at all. Turns out that I'm right, unfortunately. The Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, serving in Afghanistan, went to a designated training area, advised the local americans that they were going to be performing training exercises, and were in turn advised that the americans were aware of their plans. Training began, and an american F-16 fighter appeared and dropped a 225 kilogram bomb on the soldiers. 225 kilograms. That's 496 pounds. The bomb killed four Canadian soldiers, and blasted the others full of shrapnel. Eight injured, two in intensive care. One lost a leg and an eye, another got a leg full of shrapnel. There's supposed to be an inquiry. The americans will block it at every turn. There will be no publicity.. you can already see the damage control at work on the american side. They say they'll co-operate. Sure. Just look at their history. We are in Afghanistan as a show of our commitment to this 'war against terrorism' that the americans are so bent on. We're there to support them because of the violence they've brought against themselves in the form of terrorism through their own acts of irresponsibility and stupid, pointless shows of force designed to make them look big and tough. Even in spite of this, and despite the fact that this was a tragedy that has shocked all of Canada, and despite the fact that a lot of Canadian families have been devastated by this, american president bush made only a vague, passing reference to the tragedy in the last of his four public appearances yesterday, and then only because he was stormed by Canadian reporters. CNN didn't report it at all. There's a big surprise. "Ongoing coverage of the war in Afghanistan... except when we do something really, really stupid." america can't admit that they've screwed up. They can't admit that they've killed their own freaking allies by mistake. They can't even fucking acknowledge the irreparable damage that they've done because they're too busy leading the fight against terrorism(tm), too busy posing and rattling sabres and being the home of the brave or whatever it is they call themselves to give a damn about anyone outside their own nasty little worldview. They've fired on their allies, on UN transports, on their own forces, and even on their own red cross. And these people have nuclear weapons. The story is here. god bless america. god help the rest of us. 18 April 2002 : 18.04 I had a chance to play on my brother's scooter last night. Fun! It's a Yahama Vino, a modern Japanese scooter in the retro-Italian style. Very cool. :) I might just have to get one. But there's only one seat. That might be a problem. So maybe I prefer a motorcycle, instead? But I don't have any experience with a motorcycle, and I'd have to get a whole new class of license. And they're much more expensive to insure, too. So it comes down to this, or this. Advantages and disadvantages to each.. I'll have to think carefully about it, but there's nothing to say that I can't have both in the long run. 17 April 2002 : 19.24 ">I'm just hot. You sure are!" um.. i.. um... [BLUSH] What on earth do you say to something like that? Speaking of hockey (I was, honest!) our new $5 bill has hockey players on it. That's just kinda silly.. we're not all hockey fans in this country, you know. Mind you, it could be worse. The americans have god on their money. At least you can go out and see hockey. 17 April 2002 : 18.19 Too... hot. Becoming... lethargic... getting headache.. curse the flaming yellow eye in the sky. I hate summer. Blech. I spend all of my time burning and overheating. The air conditioner doesn't help because I'm right by the window, which is floor to ceiling and takes up the entire wall, so all of the lovely sunlight comes in and burns me. Argh. [mutter] [mutter] [grouch] [grouch] It's got to be something like fifteen degrees. The weather people say that it's a high of twelve, but whether the weather calls for twelve or fifteen makes no difference to me. I'm just hot. Gah. 17 April 2002 : 16.00 Hahahahaha! I love the gurus. They make me full of happiness. In other news, I have discovered that I can put Linux on my iPaq. Yay! Everyone's getting excited about the hockey game. They're like children.. it's cute. :) 17 April 2002 : 14.14 I'm planning on going to Japan in the future, at some point, and so my dear friend Leanne forwarded me a whole list of places that I have to see, and the address of Japanese Castle Trek. It's a most excellent site. Oh, and that picture? An 80's still of one of the supervisors in my department at work. It's horrifying, but strangely fascinating at the same time. Oh my god.. sitting by the window today, and the sun is streaming in. I'm burning, and there are no other desks to which I can move at the moment. That's the thing.. I don't tan, I burn. I go from white to red immediately the sun hits me. I went to Lilith Fair once, and stupid me forgot to bring sunscreen. Yeah, something like eight hours in direct sunlight. I was pretty burnt. Hell, I was very burnt. 16 April 2002 : 18.49 Listening to the War Of The Worlds radio show with Orson Wells. It's really good. :) This is the one that had america convinced that the Earth was really being invaded. Heh, at the beginning of the show, they announced that Orson Wells and the Mercury Theatre Company would perform The War Of The Worlds, so you'd have to come in after that to get the wrong idea. I suppose it's understandable because it's really well done, and if you missed the first two minutes of the show it would sound real, so I won't make fun of the listeners for misunderstanding. :) This is brilliant. I wish I could have heard it live. Added a section on the Nigerian Letter scam. 15 April 2002 : 16.35 [Sigh] I take it back. I've maligned those who don't deserve it, and I'm sorry. I typed without thinking, and I've made a very unfair comparison between americans and hagfish. Hagfish aren't all that bad. 15 April 2002 : 12.15 Listening to the radio play of War Of The Worlds as I add the new Musings page. Of course, they've relocated the story to america from England, and rewritten.. well, all of it. But it's kinda cool. It's typical cold war paranoia and mindless optimism, and the dialogue has all been rewritten by americans, so you get stirring lines like: "Everything's going to be ok." "... is it?" and "Oo, I could bawl my head off." "Yes, but you're not going to." There's also lots of american propaganda where there would normally be commercial breaks in modern programming. It just wouldn't be america without propaganda. The 70's Jeff Wayne version was better, but I still prefer the original book. Ah well. At least they kept to the important bit of the story, and the americans didn't save the day. I've noticed that I'm spending more time than usual lately slagging the americans. Not without reason, mind you. They're just annoying me a lot more than usual recently. A large amount of it is probably because they're buying so many Canadian companies or moving in on the Canadian economy like the vultures they are. We're having a period of recession and they're right there, and because they're larger, with more buying power, they're offering prices with which Canadian companies can't compete. How are we supposed to recover from our recession if our companies don't survive this economic invasion by this hagfish of a country?

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