What I did on my "winter vacation"

Wow, has it really been a month since I posted here? Funny that the last post should be a report from a winter half marathon and this post is the night before another race (the Around the Bay 30K race in Hamilton). I'm fighting a pretty bad head cold, so I'm not sure if I'll "race" or just "run"...

I've been writing during this intermission but mostly arguing with smug global warming denialists on a "scientific" web site. It's amazing how they can keep bringing up the same discredited arguments and flawed logic and think that they're clever. Every now and then I go through a phase of feeling obligated to point out their incorrect facts and falsehoods but as George Bernard Shaw advised, "never wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it."

So what else is happening? I've seen a few films. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - an interesting film but left me a bit flat. Watchmen - good special effects and an interesting premise of "superheroes" as deeply flawed vigilantes. But poorly executed and I could have done with less time spent with a large glowing blue penis waving in my face...

Last weekend I was on set for three days straight, often pretending to read a prop book. Given the time I was facing I decided to read the damn thing cover to cover. Train by Pete Dexter. It was a quick read, luckily. Train is a "film noir" novel set in 1950's L.A., mainly about a black boy with a gift for golf. A bit racially stereotyped, but it kept me going.

This evening it Melbourne Australia will be the first race of the 2009 Formula One season. Big changes to the rules are in place and team financing is in turmoil because of the economic downturn. The rule changes, aimed at increasing the chances to overtake, are as follows: electrical energy boost allowed for six seconds per lap, slick tires again, restricted aerodynamic parts to reduce turbulence for following cars, two adjustments to the front wing allowed per lap. Other changes are aimed at reducing the cost of racing, they might show up as lower reliability or less chances to improve the car during the season. At the end of qualifying in Melbourne, Brawn GP Racing, a team cobbled together after Honda abruptly pulled out of F1 a few months ago, is going to have both their cars in the front row so this may be an interesting season!

Listening to: Wherefore And Why by Gordon Lightfoot from Gord's Gold.

Signs of the Times

Today was Barack Obama's inauguration as the 44th President of the United States. What a memorable day! Watching the news coverage and seeing the enormous crowd that was physically present for the occasion and also hearing that the broadcast was almost certainly have the single largest viewing audience ever gave me a few tingles. Barack's acceptance speech was moving and inspiring, but I think all politicians should use Lincoln's Gettysburg Address as their target: if you can't say it in under three minutes you need to edit. I suppose that there were a lot of Bush philosophies and policies to repudiate though, so I'll cut him some slack.

For me though the event was undermined by a comment a card-carrying Republican made to me this afternoon: "Now that racism has ended blacks can't use it as an excuse." Um, you just proved the opposite buddy. Aristotle said it best; one swallow does not a summer make.

 Listening to: Live With Me by Massive Attack from Collected.

What, Me Worry?

Alfred E. Neuman's George W. Bush's portrait at the National Portrait Gallery has been unveiled. Squandered goodwill from 9-11, two unjustified wars, lost international moral authority, the Patriot Act, Enron, the betrayal of CIA agent Valerie Plame, corruption of the Justice Department, the abandonment of New Orleans, the Constitution brushed aside, the deepest recession in almost a century... That's just off the top of my head! The legacy goes on and on. But he just sits there, looking quite pleased with himself.

I thought these portraits were commissioned and displayed after a President's term of office. Maybe America is trying to put George W. behind them as fast as possible? Even George is doing his best to stay out of Obama's way...

Listening to: The Passenger by Iggy Pop from Lust for Life.

News "Flash"

In my morning internet peregrinations I came across a review of a free Flash game called Auditorium. Take Flash, particle physics and music samples and stir intelligently... The result is a very appealing online puzzle/game. I think their web connection has been "slashdotted" since I visited this morning though. They need to host the game somewhere upstream of their office's internet connection! It would be really cool on the iPhone's touchscreen, but the iPhone is a Flash no-go zone...

Last night I went out with some friends to see the new Baz Luhrmann epic Australia. I'm a bit ambivalent about this one; it was nearly three hours long, ended at least three times and is the first film I've been to that required two "bio breaks". (Note to self: a 10 liter cola is not helpful when watching epic films.) The plot verged on nonsensical and the acting was generally way over the top. The special effects were painfully obvious. BUT... the star was really the Australian landscape, which was beautifully captured and little Brandon Walter's performance as a "creamy" half white-half aboriginal boy was fabulous. Writing this crystallises my thoughts: I have to vote Australia off the island. If you want to see the subject of historical Australian prejudice against half-white children dramatically presented rent the film Rabbit-Proof Fence.

Politics: Stephen Harper is so freaked out due suddenly realising that a minority government has to get support from other parties, who have a constitutional right to propose an alternative government that doesn't include him, that he is going to address the nation tonight. This should be interesting.

Listening to: Hate to Say I Told You So by The Hives from Veni Vidi Vicious.

Black Friday

No posts in a while... Maybe, like my triathlon training, I'm taking a bit of breather? But now it's time to ramp up again because in 2009 I'm determined to hit the starting line of Ironman USA this coming July in excellent condition and in a competitive state of mind.

So today is "Black Friday", the day after American Thanksgiving when all the retailers turn their focus exclusively toward Christmas. Big one-to-three day discounts on electronic goods are the order of the day to stimulate consumer enthusiasm. There's always some desirable item at a crazy low price but only for a very limited quantity. Crowds form waiting for those retailers to open and the pour through the door in a frenzy creating excellent news coverage and "mind space" of who has the best Christmas pricing. Well this year a Wal-Mart employee was trampled to death by the stampede. But someone got a fantastic deal on a 42" flat panel TV, so its all good.

Politics: In the U.S. Barack Obama is acting as de facto President while George W. Bush wanders aimlessly toward the end of his term, effectively fiddling while Rome burns as the monumental economic crisis largely produced by his policies devastates the U.S. economy. Luckily "President Elect" Obama seems to be hitting all the right notes as he selects his cabinet. George seems to be focussed on all the brush that needs clearing back at his ranch in Crawford, TX. The right-wing bloggers are however reading everything that happens as proof that Obama's Presidency is already a failure. Good luck with that one!

Here in Canada the newly re-elected Conservative government is trying to slip a bunch of ideological and partisan measures into an economic stimulus package promoted as helping the Canadian economy cope with the expanding world-wide financial crisis. Effectively Harper is daring the Opposition to bring the brand new government down over it. However the stimulus package looks weakly designed and ill-conceived and this maneuver may backfire, perhaps resulting in an embarrassing retreat or as an abrupt end to Harper's government. It should be an interesting few days.

Culture: The Art Gallery of Ontario has just re-opened after years of reconstruction. I'm aching to get a look inside, it's architectural makeover is getting great reviews. I've seen a few films lately, Clint Eastwood's new film Changeling, starring Angelina Jolie, was pretty good. Jolie's performance was great but the last third of the story, an amazing true story about the disappearance of a boy in the 1920's and the LAPD's cynical response, seemed a bit disjointed. Before that I saw Rachel Getting Married. Also a good performance by the female lead, Anne Hathaway as a recovering junkie/bridesmaid, but I found the whole wedding scenario irritatingly chaotic. So no thumbs up. Too bad, I usually enjoy Jonathan Demme films.

On the home front, I've survived a one year-old's birthday party (dim sum buffet with Sheryl's friends, family and "out-laws") and an eight year-old's birthday (boys running amok in a party room). Yesterday Chris' mom and I had a round of parent-teacher interviews to discuss his interim report card, which was predictably lousy. His highest mark was a 77 (still below that classes average), his lowest mark was 10. 10! Ten!! X!!! Consensus is "smart kid who won't do his work or pay attention in class". Welcome to each of the last ten years of Chris' school career... So once again the hammer will come down on distractions: Xbox 360, TV time, mindless web surfing. Those are my areas of expertise, not his. :-) He actually seems to be OK with this, perhaps he was waiting for some external feedback to let him know he'd gone overboard.

Two other bits news: I've been elected Vice President of the Toronto Triathlon Club, and have passed at least part of the web master duties over to a new volunteer. Also, the music video shoot I was recently in seems to be getting ready for release. There's an official "behind the scenes" clip out on YouTube, although sadly there is no footage of the supporting cast...

Listening to: Being Here by The Stills from Oceans Will Rise.

Highs and Lows

Last night's election victory by Barack Obama and the Democrats was a high of epic proportions.

Today the news is that the body of a local fifteen year-old, same age as my son, who ran away from home a few weeks ago after an argument over video-gaming has been found. No further details yet. So very, very sad...

Listening to: The Heart of Life by John Mayer from Continuum.

The Light of Day in the Dark of Night

So it's the middle of the night here and Barack Obama is now the new black "President-elect" of the USA... I have to keep saying it out loud for it to sink in... Wow! The dancing has already started in front of the White House.

It's been a bit grueling reading and responding to the hard right diatribes, which I will not link to, and at times it felt like maybe their hatred truly was the "real America." But the result, a massive Electoral College majority, states carried in all parts of the country, a modest majority of the popular vote, and Democrat majorities in both the Senate and House of Representatives gives Obama true "political capital" (unlike Bushes boast in 2004).

John McCain's concession speech was a bit scary; you could see that he was trying to "un-whip" the right-wing fanaticism that he'd spent the last few months feeding. This is going to be important: will they drop the "muslim commie" delusions, or will they start taking potshots (literally...) at him? McCain was once a legitimate centrist politician, but he made an ill-advised bargain with the hard right for a chance at the Presidency. America has moved well left of where he found himself, but there are still plenty of people who want to turn the clock back a couple of notches.

Obama's "victory" speech was low-key and eloquent. Boy, does he have his work cut out for him! Can he win the respect of his opponents? Given the election result he doesn't need to, but to it would be so much better for everyone if the fanaticism can be ended. Well if nothing else there'll be someone in the office who knows how to speak in public.

Listening to: Waiting On the World to Change by John Mayer from Continuum.

Boo! Halloween 2008

A warm and dry Halloween evening, but only 35 kids came to the door. So much chocolate to throw away now... Not! Chris carved this year's pumpkin while I was roasting the seeds (they were delicious). I like his design and the extra carving he did on the back. Click on here to see the back side. You can't see it in this photo, but the nose is "3D".

I've been following the American elections pretty closely. Looks like Barack Obama is going to lead a Democratic tidal wave on Tuesday. Its been interesting, and satisfying, to watch the Republican campaigns collapse. I guess eight years of George W. Bush will do that. The down side is that I've been following some election web sites a bit obsessively, particularly FiveThirtyEight.com. FiveThirtyEight (the number of electoral votes) is an excellent poll analysis site run by a Democrat nerd. Tonnes of detail and quite objective about the polls. Some good "on the ground" reporting too.

I've been drawn into some extended debates with rabid neo-conservative bloggers too, which has been a real time sink. I just can't let the idiotic lies go unchallenged when I stumble across them. Obama is not a baby-eating foreign-born socialist Muslim planning on instituting a communist dictatorship as soon as he's in office! The absurd length of the Presidential elections gives people plenty of time to get wound up. Funny how Canadians can take the American election more seriously than their own.

Listening to: Everybody Wants to Rule the World by Tears for Fears from Songs From the Big Chair.

Signs and Portents

What does a dying pigeon on your doorstep "mean"? I know a bird in the house is supposed to be bad luck, so maybe I dodged some? The poor thing must have flown into a window and dropped down onto my porch. I thought it just might be stunned when I saw it last night, but it was dead this morning. Sad.

So: a bit of politics. Tuesday was a federal election in Canada, called by Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper. This was in conflict with his own new fixed election date law, intended to eliminate "tactical" election calls. It seems that Harper thought he spotted a chance at getting a majority and discarded his electoral reform principles to make a grab. In the end the Conservatives did increase their seats, but not enough for a majority. Their popular vote didn't actually budge, the increase came from an erosion of the Liberal party's support as voters moved to other left-of-centre parties. The result is exactly the same minority government as we had six weeks ago. This was also the lowest voter turnout ever for a federal election.

The Liberals never earned the electorate's confidence this time. Their leader Stephane Dion, who I respect as an honest and intelligent politician, was unable to overcome either his lack of eloquence in English or a long-running Conservative initiative to belittle him. Stephane has been, and would be, a great Minister but I always thought he lacked political presence. The Liberals seem to have put past scandals behind them, but they need fresh leadership to regain voter support.

The New Democratic Party had a decent gain in seats, primarily due to Liberal voters moving further left, the Green Party also gained votes but didn't manage to turn any of those votes into seats. Ten years ago voters on the right complained that the Liberals were unfairly dominant due to right wing votes being spread between the Progressive Conservative and the Reform parties, now the shoe seems to be on the other foot.

Turning to myself, I'm tapering for this weekend's Toronto Marathon even though I'm also battling a pretty nasty head cold. On Tuesday I went out for an "easy run" with some friends and ended up covering 12K in a 4:28/K pace! Easy, boy. Last night I joined my triathlon club's new swimming workout and ended up pushing myself pretty hard there too. It's so much more fun to swim with athletes rather than recreational swimmers like I've been doing up to now! I'll have to take it easy though as my swimmer's shoulder is acting up again...

This photo is a funny out-take from my recent photo-shoot at Langdon Hall.

Listening to: She Comes In the Fall by Inspiral Carpets from Life.

The Surreal Life

So who is this nut job Governor Sarah Palin? John McCain trotted her out a few weeks ago as his vice presidential choice, but her ignorance is only out-matched by her confidence. Look at her enthusiastic conviction that merely being able to see Russia from Alaska gives her suitable foreign policy experience. It seems that her value to McCain is as a certified proponent of American fundamentalist beliefs to ensure that the religious far-right comes out for him on election day. McCain's campaign has done everything in its power to keep her away from scrutiny since; her contribution has been completed. Lets hope tomorrow's Vice Presidential debate shines a bit of light.

She makes fantastic fodder for comedians, but given McCain's age and past health issues the fact that she could be literally a heartbeat away from the Presidency gives one pause... Her earnest ignorance makes the George W. Bush look pretty damn clever, and that my friends is really saying something. Factor in her apparent religious convictions and the world would be facing a reckless and apocalyptic administration. Why fuss over climate change when the End Times is mere years, heck maybe just days, away? Why foster peace when "prophecy" says Israel must control the Holy Land? Nuclear war is also apparently to be expected, so why worry about them when they're merely a good way to get the Rapture started?

Here's an interesting video on the subject of Sarah Palin's religious views from the American News Project.

Listening to: Life During Wartime by Talking Heads from Stop Making Sense.

How Low Can We Go?

Two discouraging political insights today... The Olympic torch relay is being escorted by a phalanx of aggressive Chinese government thugs. The Olympics, long presented as a celebration of individual achievement, have become a propaganda tool for a repressive regime (that would be China this time, not Nazi Germany). It seems to be backfiring though thank god, and the light that is shining of China is not the one their government wanted... I wonder what they expected? There seems to be a level of prideful ignorance that pervades their world view. Not unlike the next discouraging news item.

George W. Bush has been rated the worst president ever in a survey of historians. By a long shot. On some level I always hope that politicians I feel are destructive are not that bad or don't have that much impact. Maybe it's just me overreacting. The Harper's Magazine article is actually entitled Worst. President. Ever.  Here's one description of Bush;"Glib, contemptuous, ignorant, incurious, a dupe of anyone who humors his deluded belief in his heroic self". Ouch. Of course this personal stuff is largely irrelevant. Its the decisions and actions that have flowed from the Bush administration, and that we all have to live with, that are the problem. Myself, I've always thought that Bush was really a logical consequence of the ideological divide in the US. A smug clown, but just the window dressing on the ill-conceived but bitterly defended "conservative" beliefs that have grasped the levers of power. At this though point even a new Republican president would be a improvement!

On a happier note, I had a great easy run last night with my triathlon club. It was warm enough for shorts and a "tee" (technical of course)! Nice to feel the breeze on my legs. Today I biked over the pool for a 2K swim, and in a few minutes I'll be on my tri bike heading over to Absolute Endurance for a CompuTrainer session.

Listening to: Capital G by Nine Inch Nails from Year Zero.

Flickering Flame

When I was a teenager in the seventies, swimming with one of Canada's top teams, the Olympics had a lot of relevance to me. I knew people who had qualified and there had even been a remote chance that I could make the cut myself. But the Olympics haven't aged very well...

The IOC has long struck me as largely a collection of corrupt self-interested politicians, in some cases "reformed" fascists, with every host city selection seeming to be a back-room deal. The IOC's decisions seem to be made in the interests of the bureaucracy, not the athletes, and are often breathtakingly hypocritical. The expense of hosting the Games is massive, frequently with serious and negative consequences for ordinary citizens.

Part of me thinks the whole mess should go back to naked men wrestling in the sand. Not that there's anything wrong with that!

When Beijing was "awarded" the 2008 Summer Games, my doubts were redoubled. China strikes me as a ruthless and deeply regimented society, the opposite of the alleged Olympic political and environmental ideals. Watching the latest round of political repression in Tibet and reading about China's attempt to momentarily reduce pollution during the coming Games brought home to me how the IOC had betrayed the athletes it professes to exalt. Now every ceremonial event has become a flash-point for protest, and the symbolic Olympic flame has actually been extinguished several times already along its route to Beijing.

The "Olympic ideal" is going to face six months of critical scrutiny and intense political protest. This is probably an excellent thing, but it leaves me thinking of the athletes who have dedicated years of their lives to compete at these Games. Personally, I'm torn over my own response. I want to boycott the entire business, but want to recognise and see the legitimate athletic competition, particularly the swimming and triathlon events. I may weaken and only refuse to watch the opening and closing ceremonies. I would also support the athletic events if the Canadian contingent refused to attend the ceremonies.

Moving on to other controversial international sports, I watched the Bahrain Grand Prix last night. A good result for Ferrari, starting second and fourth but finishing first and second. BMW did well, with Robert Kubica on his first ever pole position and a third place finish. McLaren struggled, with Hamilton nearly stalling at the start, dropping back from third to tenth. A collision with his past team mate Alonso dropped Hamilton even further back. An interesting race on an excellent track.

All that is a bit overshadowed by some off-track developments. Max Mosley, President of the FIA has been at the center of a sex scandal involving a "nazi-style orgy in a torture dungeon"! Max's position seems to be "none of your business" but I don't that's likely to stick...

Listening to: Blue Sky Mine by Midnight Oil from Blue Sky Mining.

I've Been to a Land Down-Under

I'm back from Australia and I lived to tell the tale... 21 days, 700 photographs, four cities (well two cities and two towns), one Ironman triathlon, one family memorial, eight flights, four hotels and two apartments.

More to follow!

Addendum: Canada's Conservative Prime Minister said today that re-opening a nuclear power plant against the recommendation of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission is just fine, because "there will be no accidents." Is that confidence, or arrogance? Hmmm...

Listening to: Down Under by Men at Work from The Best of Men at Work: Contraband.

Details, details

More fascinating photos from Mars as the high resolution camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter comes on-line. Gorgeous stuff.

Follow-up to Wednesday's Provincial election: The Liberals are back in with a second majority, Conservative leader John Tory didn't even win his own seat (which happens to be my riding, Don Valley West). Let's see what happens this time.

I found a copy of the Hotel Chevalier short film "somewhere". Interesting back story for The Darjeeling Limited. Natalie Portman seemed uncomfortable with her nude scene though.

My poor over-worked iPod nano gave up the ghost after my hour of riding in the pouring rain. I've fiddled with it myself and had the guys at iRepair look it over, there was nothing to be done other than replace it at the Apple Store. :-( Still, the new nano is cute and has more capabilities. I bought the (red) one. Sheryl is looking forward to finding it cleaned up and placed under her Christmas tree when my Ironman training is over.

Lastly, but most importantly, my VRETA sofa has arrived from IKEA. Finally a place in which to sleep in front of the TV.

Listening to: 1234 by Feist from The Reminder.

Ironman Western Australia Entered

Yesterday I finally pulled the trigger and signed up for Ironman Western Australia. I've been training for it for about a month now but it's still going to be an interesting physical and logistical challenge! The above image is of the Busselton Jetty, which conveniently extends 1.8K into the protected salt waters of Geographe Bay. The Ironman swim will go up one side and down the other. Lately I've been doing my training swims at the Douglas Snow Aquatic Centre, a 50m pool which has a weird shallow section in the middle, to get used to continuous swimming.

Today is the Ontario Provincial election. The ruling Liberals didn't look very strong coming into it, but a strange mis-step by the Conservatives seems to have handed the election to them. The Conservative leader made funding of all religious schools a part of his platform and it proved to be very unpopular. Initially I thought the policy was either idiotic or deeply cunning. Sometimes positions that are widely, but mildly, unpopular don't drive votes away but pull in all the votes of a small minority. The result, if well calculated, is a boost in votes from an unpopular policy... Well it doesn't seem to have happened that way. Sadly it did manage to obliterate all the other issues.

I saw the new Wes Anderson film, The Darjeeling Limited, with Sheryl last week. I enjoyed the quirky tale of three estranged brothers on an "enforced spiritual journey" in India. Interesting performances and great cinematography. Sheryl wasn't so enamoured with it. Annoyingly, I can't watch the Hotel Chevalier "intro" on the iTunes Store as it's only available to US customers. So maybe I missed something.

"Family" news: Recently Sheryl's six year old grandson achieved Junior School fame, in my eyes, for deciding to capture a squirrel. With his step-father's help he converted a cat transporter into a trap, and after probably seven hours of waiting for a squirrel to investigate their bait, he pull the string and caught one! The poor creature was released after an hour rather than being eaten as originally planned.

Listening to: Dancing on the Jetty by INXS from The Swing.

Weekend Update

I had a great ride this morning, joining up with my triathlon club at Kelso Conservation Area. We rode the 30K route of the upcoming Milton Triathlon in beautiful sunny weather. Fantastic! Between a missed turn and doing two laps I actually covered 65K in just over two hours. The route has a massive hill early in the course, followed by rolling terrain. "Out" is definitely harder than "back" where I reached speeds of nearly 80kph!

Chris, as usual, spent the morning in front of the computer playing World of Warcraft... When I got home we headed back out on foot to get his hair cut and see a matinée of Shrek the Third. Sadly, it was more like "Shrek One Third". Funny moments, but too many aimless segments. Running out of steam, I think. My friend's daughter was in the theatre, but never noticed us even though we were only 2 meters away. Preoccupied with girl talk I think.

I was disappointed to read today that the minority Conservative government has been actively blocking parliament's work. I knew that they were happy to delay processes that didn't favour them, but it seems that they actually took the time to put together a 200 page manual on how to deadlock committees! This from the party that promised to "Get Things Done" and follow the principles of "integrity and honesty"...

Listening to: Virtue by Jesse Cook from Free Fall.

The Shock of Recognition

My son was watching 30 Rock earlier this evening and something caught my eye. We "rewound" the TV (thank you, PVR) and watched the clip again. It was me! The footage was the "running in the rain" stuff I did for the University of Phoenix back in December. I thought it had been and gone, unseen.

My Dad appears to be stable after his stroke, which has affected the right side of his body (left side of his brain) causing at least partial paralysis and aphasia. My brother is out there now and reports that Dad is pretty demoralised and has been refusing to eat. I think I'll fly out early next week and spend a few days with him.

So what else is happening in the world? Apple announced today that their next big version of Mac OS X (version 10.5, a.k.a. Leopard) will not ship in June. Because of the simultaneous development of the much-anticipated iPhone Apple is pushing back the release of Leopard to October. This has caused a great wailing in the blogosphere and expressions of hatred of and resentment toward the iPhone from certain quarters... I can understand Apple's position though. Both the iPhone and the just-released Apple TV are running specialised versions of Mac OS X, which is actually a technical strength, but the three projects have been placing a strain on largely the same development teams. A cell phone that doesn't work reliably would be a disaster, so getting the iPhone completed and out on time has to take precedence. Too bad though, I've been itching to get my hands on Leopard.

Belinda Stronach announced today that she's leaving politics to return to an executive position at Magna, her father's corporation. She certainly stirred things up in her time, running for the Conservative leadership before even being elected and then switching to the Liberals, but I guess the nay-sayers will be saying "told you so."

Last item today was an errand with my friend Brian's wife. She asked me to come with her to Costco to help her buy and bring home a "fancy tool chest" for Brian's 50th birthday. Apparently Brian has been admiring this particular tool chest for years. I couldn't believe it when I saw it though. It's five feet tall with wheels and weights 400 lbs! Huge. People could live in it. I stood there stunned for a minute before I could grasp the fact that she thought the two of us could maneuver this thing into the back of a little Volvo station wagon, get it into their house and then get it down a spiral staircase into their basement... This thing was strapped to a pallet. Oy!

And that's the day that was.

Listening to: Living on Video by Trans-X from Living on Video.

Good Days, Bad Days?

President Bush say that there'll be "good days and bad days" in Iraq. Thanks for clearing that up! Oh, wait, was there ever a good day? Can't get an answer to that because Bush, as usual, didn't take questions after his statement...

Chris and his grandmother's flight from London landed on Friday night at 7:30 and by 8:30 we were driving straight to grandmother's house in Cobourg. Chris conked out pretty fast once we arrived and grandmother wasn't far behind. He seems to have had a great time although they were both a bit cranky on the flight home. Chris didn't lose his wallet by the way, it had just slipped out of his pants and into a corner of his luggage!

Saturday morning Chris and I drove back into the city and he got in several hours of pent-up computer time after I downloaded his 200 England pictures. He's got some good ones in there. He enjoyed the London Eye, the Natural History Museum, the Imperial War Museum, the Tower of London, Stonehenge, the Roman ruins in Bath, and Cambridge. He also enjoyed seeing Patrick Stewart in The Tempest.

I'm still trying to prepare for the 30K Around the Bay race this coming weekend. Not much I can do now except rest, but on Sunday I did almost the full race distance with some people from the Running Room. My 29.6K took 2:51, which was done at a fairly slow 'n' steady pace. The girl I ran with thinks I should be aiming for a race time of under 2:30. My knees were pretty sore that evening, but I seem to have bounced back. Thursday will be my triathlon club's "Newbie Night". I'll be presenting the swimming section of the evening. I'm turning into an expert!

Listening to: Have You Ever Been Away by The Beautiful South from Welcome to the Beautiful South.

Ratios

I just checked my e-mail inbox(es), the ratio of spam to real mail was 25:1. This is with filtering active on all my mail servers! Maddening.

Some bits of news that caught my eye this morning: A German paraglider in Australia was caught in a storm that swept her higher than Mt. Everest with temperatures dropping to -40C. She encountered hail the size of oranges and passed out from lack of oxygen. As she glided down again she revived to find herself coated in ice. What a tale to live to tell! A Chinese pilot caught the same way by the storm died.

There was a conference on Canada's Bill of Rights this week, according to the news. Canadian Supreme Court Justice Ian Binnie presented the widely held Canadian philosophy of interpreting the Charter to reflect modern society's values and protect minorities. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia extolled that "what democracy means is that the majority rules", apparently suggesting that minorities should shut up and do as they are told. Regarding extending rights, Scalia is of the opinion that judges aren't to be trusted. The only acceptable route is to explicitly change the constitution. He also said that he had "not seen a case where I thought there was the slightest doubt about the person's innocence". Scalia's words say more about his own vision than they do about justice. The list of wrongly convicted, even wrongly executed, Americans is long, and I don't think America's hallowed founding fathers had the faintest idea of how their society would change (thank god the American constitution was written after the whole witchcraft thing was set aside).

Listening to: Blue Sky Mine by Midnight Oil from Blue Sky Mining.

Valentine's Day Blizzard

We got a substantial snowfall last night, resulting in slippery roads and slow traffic today. Too bad I had a million things to do in the car! I knew I had a casting call in the morning, but then Sheryl called from her daughter's house in Rosedale, where they were "stranded" without a car. I agreed to swing by en route to the casting, drop Sheryl at her condo and take Tamara to her office. Then another call from my agent added a "go see" to the end of my morning.

So the day started with a quick trip to a neighbourhood chocolatier for two boxes truffles and then down to pick up the girls. Trying to find a side street route to Sheryl's I managed to do an illegal right turn in front of a police officer and buy myself an expensive ten minute time out. I got to the audition late, but so did everyone else. Later in the day I got word that I'm on "hold" for the part. Lines and everything! Fingers are crossed...

Next I slipped and slid over to the "go see". Met the art directors in their lobby, shook their hands enthusiastically and showed them my portfolio. Waiting to hear about that one. Next stop was my agent, to pick up my first big cheque from the work I did back in December and leave them the first box of truffles so they don't forget me. The second box of truffles were for Sheryl as we were heading out for a celebratory lunch over the pay cheque.

Since it was Valentine's Day I had a card for her to go with the truffles. The card was actually a carefully planned practical joke... She's been complaining that since we "broke up" I've been spending more time with a mutual friend (Adrian the photographer) than I do with her. She's also been teasing that she suspects there is more to my friendship than meets the eye. So her envelope actually contained a pretend Valentine written to Adrian with lots of references to how much he has "taught me", has "opened my eyes" and how I look forward to "learning more." As she began reading the card with a puzzled look on her face I quickly pulled it away from her and told her I'd put the wrong card in the her envelope. I had her going for about ten seconds...

A quick technology "ha ha": Last week while Bill Gates was promoting the launch of Microsoft's new version of Windows (Vista) he stated that there is a new exploit of Mac OS X "every single day" but no one will be able to exploit Vista. Well first of all the slight against Mac OS X was blatantly incorrect, as Bill undoubtedly knew. There have only been a handful of exploits reported in five years and none of them have ever been used to actually compromise a Mac. Secondly, Microsoft has already released it's first security patch for Vista, a critical vulnerability in Vista's security tools! Microsoft has also admitted that they made a number of deliberate and significant security compromises in the name of user convenience. It's also clear that a sound file, played over a Vista computer's speakers and "heard" by its speech recognition can, under the right conditions, execute commands to delete files, go to dangerous web sites, or mail user's documents to a third party. Oops.

Politics: Prime Minister Harper admitted today that he intends to pick judges that support his ideology. That's an unsettling first for Canada, love 'em or hate 'em the Liberals did a pretty good job of keeping the judiciary qualified and apolitical. Also weasel words today from Environment Minister John Baird; in spite of Al Gore's explicit statement to the contrary Baird claims he is still justified in quoting Gore as supporting the Conservative government's do-nothing environmental agenda.

By the way, the worst snowfall this week has been across Lake Ontario in the town of Oswego. They've had 12 feet of snow!

Listening to: In the Beginning by K'naan from The Dusty Foot Philosopher.