Movember

May used to be my favourite month because I got to celebrate Moustache May. But now November is my favourite month. Because it's Movember and it starts tomorrow. That means if I choose to, I can grow a moustache to raise awareness and money for men's health issues such as prostate and testicular cancers and male depression. And Donna, you can't say anything about it because it's for a good cause. So let the growing begin. Now, which moustache shall I grow?

A Visit From Jack Frost

Somehow it seems wrong that I've had to scrape the windows of my car for the past two mornings. Wrong because it's Vancouver and it's not even November yet. But I don't mind too much. I like the cold. Bring it on I say.

Monkeys

"We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true."

~Robert Wilensky

In Exile

A U.S. highschool teacher was convicted for having sex with a fifteen year old student. For his sentence he was given a choice between a year in prison or a three year exile to Canada. He lives in Fort Erie, Ontario with his wife and children. So while there may be some reasoning behind it, the legality of it remains to be seen, particularly whether or not Immigration Canada will go along with it. That will depend on his residency status, among other things. My questions are not about the legality or morality or what-have-you about it. My questions are these: Exile to Canada? WHAT? Are we the new fricken Siberia? Will he be living on watered down Borscht and stale rye bread while doing forced labour in crappy boots for the next three years? Okay then.

On Being A Grown Up.

A couple of months back, I wrote about my milestone of ordering decaffeinated coffee for the first time in my life. Since then I've had it a few more times, though maybe not as consistently as I ought to, because, let's face it, I prefer the real deal or at least the thought of the real deal. Anyhow, today I took that one step further. Today I bought whole bean decaffeinated coffee. That's right, I brought the stuff into my house. I ground it in my coffee maker. I brewed it in my espresso maker. I'm drinking it right now. It's okay, though not as good as the usual espresso I like to have in the evening. A number of things have brought this on. A few recent nights of being awake until after 3h00. (Though only one of those can be blamed on coffee. (You're right Donna, it was crazy of me to have that Americano at the movie on Tuesday.)) As well, the onset of the rains (yes, they're coming) and the dark nights means more evenings at home. And if I'm sitting at home of an evening, I really like to drink coffee. I guess I'm now at an age where I can't drink real coffee too late and expect to sleep well. And though I'd actually rather be awake well into the night, I have this job that I have to go to in the mornings. So for now, decaffeinated coffee it is. Sometimes.

Ouch #2

I don't really watch the UFC, not having much interest nor a television. But a friend told me of a fight he had seen recently, that made me want to see it. I didn't want to see it for the fight specifically, but rather for what the loser, Ed "Shortfuse" Herman, said after the fight. He had been expected to win, but the underdog, Jason "The Athlete" MacDonald, got him into a leg-lock-triangle-hold-thing, so he tapped out. Clearly disappointed with himself for his performance, he had this to say about it:

"I should have went to sleep like a man, but I tapped out like a little bitch."

Here is the video should you wish to see it. The interviews are at the end.

Ouch!

A school in Massachusetts has banned the playing of tag, touch football and any unsupervised chasing games, according to a CBC report. They have done this for fear of a child getting hurt and the school being held liable. Now, I can understand this somewhat, as we live in a ridiculously litigious society. What I don't understand is this: a culture that wants it's children to grow up in a bubble. By not allowing children to participate in activities where they could possibly hurt themselves takes away from them the possibility of learning valuable lessons, such as, if you're not careful, you could get hurt. This may seem like a bit of a contradiction, allowing people to get hurt to learn that they could potentially get hurt, but come on, it's tag. How seriously can someone get hurt playing tag? I haven't been around a schoolyard for many years now, so I'm not up on the latest manifestations of the game, but I'm guessing it's a lot like it was when I was a kid. Unless the kids are playing tag with guns these days, then forget everything I'm saying.

I realise this is only a handful of schools with such bans, but to me it is just one example from a larger problem. Another example: The amount of kid-proofing that goes into houses with small children seems to me ridiculous. I understand parents want their children to be safe but removing any possibility for even the smallest of injuries assumes that children do not have the capacity to learn from their surroundings and experiences, which is, by the way, a valuable skill to learn. A case in point: those little plastic electrical outlet covers. My house never had those. I once jammed a pipe cleaner into an outlet. I never did it again.

If children aren't allowed to experience any danger, how can they be expected to understand and deal with potentially dangerous situations. How can they be expected to be responsible if they don't learn to be responsible for themselves? How can they be expected to face adversity, and you can be damn sure they're going to have to, if they have never had to before? How can they be expected to learn from their mistakes, if they aren't allowed to make any? It is when they are children that you want them to learn these things, when the situations they are in that they will learn from are relatively minor with the consequences not so great. Otherwise you end up with a culture of people afraid to take risks, unwilling to take responsibility for themselves, and ill-equipped or unable to deal with the crap that life is going to throw at them.

Song Of The Day

There are many times when, for whatever reason, a certain song somehow encapsulates my mood perfectly. It could be the lyrics or the music, or both, or the song could evoke an emotion or a time and place I want to get lost in, or the mood of the song echoes my own, or the mood of the song is the mood I want, or, you get the idea. When that happens I have an uncanny ability to listen to a song over and over and over. And over. And over. Recently, on such a day, I listened to the same song 5 times in a row on my drive to work. If I worked twice as far from home, I'd have listened to that same song (Belle & Sebastian's Another Sunny Day, if you're wondering) 10 times in a row. And then I listened to it more at work. And then on the drive home again. I know it could drive some people crazy, hearing the same song repeated again and again. But for me, listening to that song is a little reverie scattered throughout my day. These are some of the songs that have caught me in that way recently:

Pink Bullets-The Shins
New Slang-The Shins
Atlantic City-Bruce Springsteen
Youngstown-Bruce Springsteen
Tijuana Lady-Gomez
Help Me Make It Through The Night-Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash
Crazy-Gnarls Barkley
Meadowlake Street-Ryan Adams
I'm Waiting-Ryan Adams
Cocody Rock-Alpha Blondy
Yolanda-Pablo Milanes
Scholarship Is The Enemy Of Romance-Billy Bragg
Chances Are-Bob Marley
Paradiso-The Chameleons
The Prisoner-The Clash
Lodi-CCR

And most recently:
I Wish I Never Saw The Sunshine-Beth Orton

Dessert!

Introducing the little bit of heaven that is the lava cake. At first it doesn't look like much more than a simple little chocolate cake. But wait, oh just wait, until you take a spoon or fork to it.

Yes, that is warm chocolate oozing out. Simply divine. Thanks for the recipe, Mom.

Blocked!

If I write about not having anything to write about, does that then mean I am lying?

Little Superstar!

It's a dancing, smoking Indian midget. Wicked.

Champions!

The Vancouver Whitecaps are the 2006 USL Champions. Well played, muchachos!