Andrew's Blog of Justice and Learning

Schwarzenegger vs Video Games

2010-11-02T08:23:00.002-04:00

There is an interesting court case that is coming up today. Sadly you wont read much of it in the news as its also Mid-Term elections today in the states, so odds are the decision will get relegated to the back pagers and end of the news cycle.

Today the hearing of California v. The Entertainment Merchants Association and Entertainment Software Association (otherwise known as the Video Game industry) begins. So what does this mean and why is this a big deal? Back in 2006 a California assemblyman Leland Yee brought forth a bill making it illegal for video games retailers to sell violent video games to minors. Governor Schwarzenegger signed it into law. The EMAESA then took this to the California Supreme Court where the law was overturned as unconstitutional (restriction of free speech). California brought it before the Court of Appeal where it was the previous ruling was upheld. Finally they have brought it before the Supreme Court.

So why is this a big deal? Well movies, magazines, books, music etc are not restricted in their sale to minors. These industries are allowed to regulate themselves (which is where movie rating come into play). Video games have the same system in place. Based on the content retailers limit who can buy what game. Some retailer (Target) even scan your drivers liscence before selling an M (17+) rated game, making it literally impossible for a clerk to sell the game to someone under-age. But what about R rated movies? It is not illegal to show a child an R rated movie. Like Video Games, the Movie industry restricts who can watch their films based on age. However if they decide to show an R rated film to a minor no law has been breached. There is one exception to this. Pornography. It is illegal to sell pornography to a minor. This is where this law becomes tricky. If passed it will mean that the violence contained in some video-games is the same as the extreme sexual content portrayed in pornographic material. It also insists that video games have no artistic value. If you haven't played video games in several years you might be wondering about this last statement. Video games have changed dramatically over the past decade. They now boast budgets that rival movies (no uncommon for a game to have a budget of 50-100 million dollars) and development teams that surpass most movie crews. They hire hollywood and professional actors and writers to pen and perform. Sometimes even hollywood actors direct them (like the upcoming game from Pan's Labyrinth director Guillermo Del Toro). Video games are even now reviewed in the New York Times, which recently said this about the highly acclaimed Red Dead Redemption

Marston straddles more than the border between Mexico and the United States. He also stands between the Old West and modernity — between the celebration of the individual and the collective requirements of organized society — as he tries to salvage a family life from the smoldering legacy of his criminal past. Along the way, he and his creators conjure such a convincing, cohesive and enthralling reimagination of the real world that it sets a new standard for sophistication and ambition in electronic gaming...Like our own, the world of Red Dead Redemption — its cantinas, dusty arroyos, railway stations and cragged peaks — is one in which good does not always prevail and yet altruism rarely goes unrewarded. This is a violent, unvarnished, cruel world of sexism and bigotry, yet one that abounds with individual acts of kindness and compassion. Like our own, this is a complex world of ethical range and subtlety where it’s not always clear what the right thing is. This is a world where revenge often tastes not sweet but bitter, like the dregs at the bottom of a mug long since drained.

Does this sound like pornography? Because this game is violent. Perhaps as violent as they come. But not more violent films like The Pianist or Saving Private Ryan. If it helps make the connection, this game is from the same people who made Grand Theft Auto, a brutally violent tale which tells of the struggles of an illegal immigrant in New York City trying to escape his past and begin a new life but none-the-less finds himself dragged into the seedy underbelly of big city crime.

Video Games are an art form. I understand that not all games are, but frankly neither are all movies nor all music. But that is not for the government to choose. Its for the individual, and in the case of the minor, its for the parents, not a government assembly.

Blog Stats

2010-10-25T13:42:00.003-04:00

So I discovered the other day that Google keeps records of various blog stats. Some of them are actually pretty interesting (and random). So here is a sampling for your reading pleasures.

I have received 564 unique hits since beginning my blog.

The majority of those hits come from the US (248) with Canada placing 2nd with 134 hits. The rest are the expected countries, UK, France, Italy, Germany and Russia. However two notables of 33 hits from Serbia and 28 from Singapore (Random!)

78% of my readers access with internet explorer (yuck!) with Firefox, Opera, Safari and Netscape (this still exists???) all come in with single digits and Chrome and Sleipnir (no idea) both with <1%

Windows dominates with 91% of hits, followed by 6% from Mac, 2% from Linux <1% from both Blackberry and Iphone.

My biggest month was September 2010 which received 249 hits.

Easily my most popular post is :) with a strong 137 hits.

Most of my audience finds my blog through referring sites (mainly other blogs I visit and comment in, as well as facebook and a few random sites I have never heard of [including a random russian dating network site]). I have a smattering of other hits from varous google searches which include: "I hate CTV", "Wendell Berry", "Andrew Cockell", "Georgia Tech causing robot apocalypse" and "ronald arkin" - I have no idea who that is.

I hope you found this as fascinating as I did...or kind of wierd.

So I have this Cousin...

2010-10-14T09:39:00.002-04:00

So I have this cousin (through marriage) named Joel. I have met him once (a few years back) and he seemed like a nice enough guy. Right now Joel is doing something a little different. Joel is running for congress...see Joel run? Run Joel Run!

Joel is running for Congress in Chicago...as a Republican. Can anyone say Sacrificial Lamb?

Sure Joel has made some questionable decisions regarding politics in his short political career, such as attempting to out argue Barney Frank

Then he made an appearance on Sean Hannity

I could now post a series of videos of Sean Hannity making a complete jack-ass of himself, but that would be too easy. If you want to see you can find them yourself. Simply google him and I am sure you can find more than a few.

Since then Joel has had several campaign adds. One features primarly his wife and her apparent credentials as a House-Wife of DC

I just have to say I find the claim that "America has done the most to advance freedom and oppurtunity" to be laughable. Again, do I really need to list examples here? I'm sure this is something which could easily be researched on your own. Maybe I will post later about this, either way this is classic patriotic pandering at its worst.

So I hope you enjoyed an introduction to Joel and his campaign. Before I depart let me say, Joel does seem like a nice guy, and from the one time we met he seemed to be a genuinly nice and intelligent young man...despite how I may feel about his political views or his obvious pandering towards a cultural-political system which, by his own confession, is broke.

Now let me leave with one last video...I hope you enjoy it.

Time for a change

2010-10-08T08:44:00.003-04:00

So I have decided simply wearing sandals for a streak is not good enough. I can then wear thick wooly socks and my burks. And really shoes are not the enemy here...the enemy is the sock! That restrictive, smelly, band-line implanting beast of satan! So I will continue my streak with no socks! I may where shoes, as lets be real, some shoes are truly awesome...but no more socks!

And on another note...check out this awesome Family Guy clip

How is this a good idea?

2010-09-15T08:59:00.003-04:00

This is right up there DARPA attempting to create a saliva and waterborne virus that turns its hosts into mindless animal like killing machines (basically Zombies). Why some scientists seem always ready to further some sort of Apocalypse I have no idea. Aparently DARPA and their Zombie Apocalypse wasn't enough. A group of researchers over at Georgia Tech have now decided that in order to assist the Zombies they should create what can really only result in a Robot Revolution.

The following article has been taken from Kotaku

"Researchers Teach Robots To Be Decepticons

Robots will soon be weaving tangled webs as researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology grant robots the power to deceive, which sounds like a perfectly good idea to me.

People tend to get angry when I casually mention the theoretical robot apocalypse, so I generally avoid the subject. Realistically, robots are simply machines, limited to perform the tasks assigned to them by humans. They can't think for themselves. Any intelligent thought by a robot is merely a result of programming.

And now we're programming them to be deceptive, so even if they do develop independent thought, they won't tell us. It's not in our best interests to know.

"We have developed algorithms that allow a robot to determine whether it should deceive a human or other intelligent machine and we have designed techniques that help the robot select the best deceptive strategy to reduce its chance of being discovered," said Ronald Arkin, a Regents professor in the Georgia Tech School of Interactive Computing.

The experiment used to train a robot to deceive involved two robots, one black, and one red. The black robot was programmed to recognize situations where deception was warranted, and then perform said deception.

Arkin and research engineer Alan Wagner used interdependence theory and game theory to create algorithms the robot could use to weigh the value of using deception in a given situation.

The test itself involved a series of three hiding places, the paths to which were lined with colored markers. The black robot was the hider, and the red the seeker. Utilizing deception, the black robot would knock down markers leading to one hiding place, and then hide in another spot, avoiding knocking down the markers indicating it. The red robot, fooled by this chicanery, would be programmed to shake its tiny robot arm and say, "Aw, you got me," if I were in charge of the experiment. I was not. "

The experimental results weren't perfect, but they demonstrated the learning and use of deception signals by real robots in a noisy environment," said Wagner. "The results were also a preliminary indication that the techniques and algorithms described in the paper could be used to successfully produce deceptive behavior in a robot."

What good are deceptive robots? On the battlefield they'd be able to outmaneuver foes by providing false clues as to their whereabouts. In rescue operations, a robot might use deception to help calm people awaiting rescue. In the robot apocalypse, they could use deception to lead humans into traps.

Oops, sorry about that.

Still, the researchers are considering the ethical ramifications that teaching robots to lie and cheat could have on civilization.

"We have been concerned from the very beginning with the ethical implications related to the creation of robots capable of deception and we understand that there are beneficial and deleterious aspects," explained Arkin. "We strongly encourage discussion about the appropriateness of deceptive robots to determine what, if any, regulations or guidelines should constrain the development of these systems."

Since this is unfolding right in my backyard, I'll be sure to let you folks know if any robots come knocking on my door, trying to offer me candy.

Researchers Give Robots the Capability for Deceptive Behavior [ScienceDaily]"

Just an Update

2010-09-09T11:41:00.003-04:00

In case anyone is keeping score, this is my 185th consecutive day of wearing sandals (i'll admit, i wore shoes once for a being a grooms-dude in a wedding, but that is it! your welcome Peter, I hope it was worth it!)

so why the update? because this is where it gets tough. The weather is getting colder, especially at 7:30 in the morning when I leave the house. So lets so how long I can go before I officially give in. Hey, maybe if we have a winter like last and then I can make it until February and then go to New Zealand and be able to add an extra 2-3 months easily before their winter kicks in. Here's to hoping!

Great TV show...really bad name.

2010-09-03T09:05:00.003-04:00

So lately Shary and I have been watching alot of Kiwi TV to get ourselves psyched for the big move, that and it will give us a leg up on getting used to the accents and slang for when we get there. And I have got to say, making quality television shows is something that they definatly inherited from their UK forefathers (sadly we did not). The only downside is they really really suck at coming up with names. Oh well, can't win them all I guess.

Anyways there is one show that has particularly grabbed our attention. This Is Not My Life. This show, as of half way through the first season, is one of the greatest pieces of modern Science Fiction I have ever seen. It is the story of a man who wakes up and remembers nothing. Not his name, not his past. Nothing. So far this sounds pretty generic, but as the show progresses it becomes anything but. I wont say anything more as it gets extremely complicated very quickly and I wouldnt want to give anything away either. What I will say is that it seems to feel a bit like a mix between the Truman Show (Artificial world), Bourne Identity (Who am I mystery) and Brave New World (Carefully scripted subconscious society). But keep in mind, this is a show in the UK style, so you have to watch very attentivly. There is little emphasis placed on key lines and reveals (unlike a show like Lost where you can see them coming 15 minutes down the road) and as a result they tend to happen rather suddenly. And like its UK sibling show's there is little action and the majority of the show takes place in conversation. Lucky for us the acting and writing are top-notch. I strongly suggest this show for anyone with an inkling towards science-fiction.

Here is a trailer I found on you-tube, there was a better trailer I saw before, but sadly I was unable to find it again.

If you wish to watch it, since it is a NZ show, you may need to be "creative" in how you find it. If you still cant let me know and I can either tell you how to get it, or bring me a USB key and I can load up a bunch of episodes for you.

How a man spends his money - Bienvenu Part 2

2010-08-26T11:50:00.002-04:00

Its been a while since I have come back to Bienvenu, so lets take another look at this man and the way he lives his life.

We can learn alot about a man in the manner in which he spends what he is given. Instead of talking about how he spent I will merely provide a copy of his annual budget.

"NOTE ON THE REGULATION OF MY HOUSEHOLD EXPENSES.

For the little seminary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,500 livres
Society of the mission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 "
For the Lazarists of Montdidier . . . . . . . . . . 100 "
Seminary for foreign missions in Paris . . . . . . 200 "
Congregation of the Holy Spirit . . . . . . . . . . 150 "
Religious establishments of the Holy Land . . . . . 100 "
Charitable maternity societies . . . . . . . . . . 300 "
Extra, for that of Arles . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 "
Work for the amelioration of prisons . . . . . . . 400 "
Work for the relief and delivery of prisoners . . . 500 "
To liberate fathers of families incarcerated for debt 1,000 "
Addition to the salary of the poor teachers of the
diocese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,000 "
Public granary of the Hautes-Alpes . . . . . . . . 100 "
Congregation of the ladies of D----, of Manosque, and of
Sisteron, for the gratuitous instruction of poor
girls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,500 "
For the poor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,000 "
My personal expenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,000 "
------
Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,000 " "

Later when asked how come he walked everywhere and did not take his carriage he immediatly wrote to the head diocese asking for finances to cover carriage and travelling expenses. Upon receiving this sum he amended his budget, adding the following,

"EXPENSES OF CARRIAGE AND CIRCUIT.

For furnishing meat soup to the patients in the hospital. 1,500 livres
For the maternity charitable society of Aix . . . . . . . 250 "
For the maternity charitable society of Draguignan . . . 250 "
For foundlings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500 "
For orphans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500 "
-----
Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,000 " "

And so we see a Bishop, a high ranking religious official who lives in a dilapidated small hospital instead of a palace with only 1,500 livres.

To put that into perspective one livre (in France at the time) would amount to about 10 USD today.

3 Adults living off of $10,500 a year is admirable, especially when he could be living off of $180,000.

Amazing!

2010-08-10T09:42:00.003-04:00

So "people" have been complaining that my blog contains too much complaining and serious stuff and general negativity. Well I found this today and thought it was amazing! Seriously amazing! READ IT AND BE AMAZED!

Best way to quit a job ever!

I Hate Youth Pastors!

2010-07-28T13:14:00.003-04:00

I do...I really very do. Okay well maybe hate is too strong a word. I intensely dislike youth pastors...well not all of them. Alright, lets settle on this. There are many youth pastor out there who can really get my goat. There that's better.

Too many youth pastors try to sell Christianity. Its true, they most certainly do. And while this is a problem in itself, its the way in which they sell it that bothers me most. They try to make it cool. This seems like a great way to sell something, after all society tends to look more fondly on those who are "cool" so we all try to become cool by associating ourselves with cool things. At first glance this seems like a good idea, make Christianity cool and then people will want it...in the short term. By making Christianity cool you are simply making it fashionable, and like all fashion - it will eventually go out of style. Something newer and shinier will come along and distract these people and lead them away. By making Christianity cool you are turning many young adults into shallow soul in which they will grow quickly but soon whither and die. Don Miller says something interesting about the nature of cool. He writes,

[Deep belief] isn't cool. I mean it is in a "Reality Bites", "Welcome to Sarajevo", Amnesty International sense, but that is only as good as dreadlocks. Chicks dig it to a point, but then you can't be all about it; you also have to want a big house and expensive clothes because in the end, our beliefs are about as enduring as seasonal fashion. In the end we like Ethan Hawke even though we don't know what he believes. Even our beliefs have become trend statements. We don't believe things because we believe them anymore. We only believe things because they are cool things to believe.

The second reason why making Christianity cool is a bad bad bad idea is it only feeds our sense of self addiction. Nearly everything that is wrong in our society, every aspect of the fallen nature of man comes down to the fact that we are addicted to ourselves. Everything we do is for ourselves, and we treat ourselves as the primary end in our actions - our thoughts, beliefs, even our friends and our families are all means to which we may meet our own ends. Be it material pursuits or self affirmation. Self addiction is sin and sin is self addiction. Why did Adam eat the fruit, because he thought it would make him smarter (and Eve told him too, so maybe also for the possibility of sex); why did Cain kill his brother Abel? Because Able made Cain look bad, and Cain as a result needed to uplift his personal sense of worth. By making Christianity cool all you are teaching is that Christianity is simply a way to better yourself. It will make you cool (and at the very least give you a front row seat in heaven), and therefore make you better in the eyes of society. By making Christianity cool you are essentially turning it into sin. It becomes a tool to bring glory to yourself - be it through a group of super good looking friends led by a youth pastor who drives a motorcycle, is in a rock band and constantly has a toothpick in his teeth and that feeling that you are a bigger part of society, apart of something cool.

Now I don't like to simply criticize. Sometimes I do, but most of the time I prefer to offer an alternative. Empty criticism breeds bitterness, alternatives breed progress. Instead of trying to make Christianity cool, stop trying to make Christianity anything. It can't be made - it isn't a tool to utilize. Instead be passionate. People, and especially kids, love passion. They want something that doesn't sway, which is consistent and sure. If you are passionate people will follow. They will think you know something that they don't, some clue to the meaning of the universe...and you know what, you do.

Who knew Vietnam was so relevant today?

2010-07-27T09:24:00.005-04:00

I decided to take a quick break from M. Bienvenu - This is easily one of my favourite speeches - Its a little long, but its pure quality. Also extremely relevant in regards to current global issues. Not to mention it serves as an excellent counter-argument to Glen Beck and the "anti-social-justice-'christians'" - I have posted an abridged version - if you wish the full 55 minutes if available online - just search youtube "Beyond Vietnam: A Time To Break The Silence".

hope you enjoy!

and on the plus side its a youtube video about politics which comments are actually bearable...maybe this is hope after all

Ooops, I accidentally posted the wrong speech, he spoke on this topic alot - anways the proper speech is now above, but this is good too - so take a listen if you wish

A First Exchange - Bienvenu Part 2

2010-07-23T11:00:00.003-04:00

How Bienvenu ended up as a Bishop in an unamed region in the mountains south of Paris is largely inconsequential. What he does with this position is what truly matters. When he takes up his post the gentle priest moves into his palace. It is fitting for a Bishop in the Catholic Church at the time, that is to say overtly grandiose and quite excessive. His palace is situated next to the hospital so he may easily be available to the sick and dying. His first official visit of his new post is to the hospital. After going on a short tour he invites the hospital director back to his palace,

"Monsieur director of the hospital," said he to him, "how many sick people have you at the present moment?"

"Twenty-six, Monseigneur."

"That was the number which I counted," said the Bishop.

"The beds," pursued the director, "are very much crowded against each other."

"That is what I observed."

"The halls are nothing but rooms, and it is with difficulty that the air can be changed in them."

"So it seems to me."

"And then, when there is a ray of sun, the garden is very small for the convalescents."

"That was what I said to myself."

"In case of epidemics,--we have had the typhus fever this year; we had the sweating sickness two years ago, and a hundred patients at times,--we know not what to do."

"That is the thought which occurred to me."

"What would you have, Monseigneur?" said the director. "One must resign one's self."

This conversation took place in the gallery dining-room on the ground-floor.

The Bishop remained silent for a moment; then he turned abruptly to the director of the hospital.

"Monsieur," said he, "how many beds do you think this hall alone would hold?"

"Monseigneur's dining-room?" exclaimed the stupefied director.

The Bishop cast a glance round the apartment, and seemed to be taking measures and calculations with his eyes.

"It would hold full twenty beds," said he, as though speaking to himself. Then, raising his voice:--

"Hold, Monsieur the director of the hospital, I will tell you something. There is evidently a mistake here. There are thirty-six of you, in five or six small rooms. There are three of us here, and we have room for sixty. There is some mistake, I tell you; you have my house, and I have yours. Give me back my house; you are at home here."

On the following day the thirty-six patients were installed in the Bishop's palace, and the Bishop was settled in the hospital.

His first act is not only an act of charity, but one of restitution. The Bishop understands that his palace does not belong to him, but to God. And God intends those to have who need it most. By giving up his home the Bishop is not just providing the sick a place to stay, but infact returning it to their rightful owners. Many would read this and see it simply as a sincere act of charity but in reality it is much more grand. It shows that this man is not just willing to give what he has to others, but to set the scales of a society in such a way that they are balanced. This demonstrates a much deeper theological understanding of the needs of the poor than simply giving.

Fin - Bienvenue Part 1

2010-07-22T08:19:00.002-04:00

On my way to work this morning I just finished my reading of Les Miserables. And man after multiple reads it is still amazing! Why am I sharing this? Because my next few posts are going to be an introduction to my favourite character in all of literature. If I can be half the man that this man is I will consider my life to be much more than satisfactory. Who is this man? His name is M. Charles Francois Myriel, or better known in the literary world as Monseigneur Bienvenue (Welcome). This character, though only contained within the first 100 pages of this 1,600 page tome is easily the most influential character in the basic underlying themes of the novel. What are these themes? I'm sure as you read my forthcoming posts about this man you will more than understand.

In the meantime have a gander at this. One of the most well known quotes in all of classic literature, it encompasses the general idea of this Monseigneur Bienvenue quite nicely without ever directly referring to him.

"Undoubtedly they seemed very depraved, very corrupt, very vile, very hateful even, but people rarely fall without becoming degraded. Besides, there is a point when the unfortunate and the infamous are associated and confused in a word, a mortal word, les misérables; whose fault is it? And then, when the fall is furthest, is that not when charity should be greatest?"

The Church

2010-07-19T09:27:00.001-04:00

"The Church is a hospital for sinners, not a musuem for saints."

- Abigail Van Buren

"The Church exists for the world, not itself"

- Rick McKinley

Grace and Justice - A picture of Christ in the unexpected

2010-07-16T12:05:00.002-04:00

In case you havent figured out by now, I have been re-reading my favourite novel, Les Miserables. And like every good novel, the more you read it the more you end up noticing that you never saw before. There are obvious religious ties in this novel. Filled to the brim with themes such as love, mercy, generosity, grace etc, this didactic work is by definition one from which we are meant to take certain lessons about everything from politics to religion and whatever may fall in between. In previous readings I had always taken the main character, Jean Valjean, to be the main figure from which we can learn. This highly likable convict attempting to escape his past through transforming his life is not only realistic and highly flawed, but immensly believable in his course of events that take him through the novel. Valjean, with his story of conversion and redemption is the obvious choice to draw some sort of religious pretext from in this novel.

However nearing my completion of this reading there is a new character that is striking me. If Valjean is the everyman Christian trying to turn his life towards God and love then, ironically his nemesis; the insatiable and strong willed Inspector Javert, is in some ways his Christ. Javert is neither a good man nor a bad man. He is simply a man - a man compelled by one thing, Justice. He knows no life outside the police and has no patience for circumstance or grace. In nearly everyway he is the antithesis of Valjean. Then what makes him Christlike? While he may not be like Christ in his actions, he certainly is in his struggles. Towards the end of the novel Javert faces a decision regarding Valjean, should he continue to pursue this man despite all the good he is? What is more important, justice or grace? To whom does he owe an allegiance, his morality or his duty? Like Christ was faced with a dilemma at the cross, how to reconcile both mercy and justice, Javert finds himself in a similar dilemma.

He saw before him two roads, both equally straight; but he saw two; and that terrified him--him who had never in his life known but one straight line. And, bitter anguish, thee two roads were contradictory. One of these two straight lines excluded the other. Which of the two was the true one?

As we know the only way to reconcile both Grace and Justice is with some sort of sacrifice, but of what? We know what Christ did but what does Javert do? I wont tell you incase you have not read, but know its unexpected. If you dont know I suggest give the book a read and you wont be dissapointed.

Wendell Berry: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front

2010-07-08T11:25:00.000-04:00

Love the quick profit, the annual raise,
vacation with pay. Want more
of everything ready-made. Be afraid
to know your neighbors and to die.
And you will have a window in your head.
Not even your future will be a mystery
any more. Your mind will be punched in a card
and shut away in a little drawer.
When they want you to buy something
they will call you. When they want you
to die for profit they will let you know.

So, friends, every day do something
that won't compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.
Denounce the government and embrace
the flag. Hope to live in that free
republic for which it stands.
Give your approval to all you cannot
understand. Praise ignorance, for what man
has not encountered he has not destroyed.

Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millenium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.
Say that the leaves are harvested
when they have rotted into the mold.
Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.

Put your faith in the two inches of humus
that will build under the trees
every thousand years.
Listen to carrion - put your ear
close, and hear the faint chattering
of the songs that are to come.
Expect the end of the world. Laugh.
Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful
though you have considered all the facts.
So long as women do not go cheap
for power, please women more than men.
Ask yourself: Will this satisfy
a woman satisfied to bear a child?
Will this disturb the sleep
of a woman near to giving birth?

Go with your love to the fields.
Lie down in the shade. Rest your head
in her lap. Swear allegiance
to what is nighest your thoughts.
As soon as the generals and the politicos
can predict the motions of your mind,
lose it. Leave it as a sign
to mark the false trail, the way
you didn't go. Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection.

Baptizing Jews you say!!! Gasp

2010-07-05T09:01:00.002-04:00

I never thought about this before till I recently heard it. Jewish people don't get baptized. The only time a baptism occurs in Judaism is when a gentile converts. So what was John the Baptist doing? Is there anything more subversive than showing up to the people of Israel and Jerusalem and say "Repent and be baptized" - This would be similar to walking into a Church or christian community and telling everyone that they are sinners and we need to get saved. I'm sure that would cause quite a reaction. And then the level of conviction of what he was saying and the way that God was moving through the people must have been so great, because you know what? It was working. Why else would the Pharisees be there? Cause they were pissed! John was telling them they were hacks. Their religion did not cut it and they, and their followers, were nothing more than gentile "dogs".

Not sure what to make of this, I'm going to let it percolate for a while before I form an opinion, but I just thought I would throw it out there.

Irony and 50! woot

2010-07-02T10:00:00.001-04:00

Does anyone find it ironic that the Netherlands gave an anti-racism speech in South Africa before their match?

PS - post 50!!! woot!

Blog Update

2010-06-24T10:39:00.001-04:00

Fixed my background, so now its stable. Ive been trying to do this for a while but couldnt figure it out because I thought blogger used HTML (as it says it does in the edit blog section) but it turns out they are wrong...actually uses CSS. Anywhoo done now!

Social Observations About the Earthquake

2010-06-24T08:43:00.003-04:00

I had an interesting observation about yesterdays earthquake. Everyone at my office, like myself, was surprised to feel our desks and cubicles shake. However shortly after a buzz began to fill the office. People were sending emails and calling friends to see if they had felt the quake too. Soon news reports came in and people were talking about the scale and size of the quake. The main chatter that I overheard was the claim that "they even felt it all the way in Ottawa." I find this interesting. These comments suggests that the epicentre was in or near Toronto. However we soon learned that the Quake itself was 60km north of Ottawa. Why did people suddenly assume that the quake was located in Toronto and only "felt" as far away as Ottawa when technically it was located in Ottawa and felt"all the way" in Toronto and Montreal? Is this an example of people simply assuming that they themselves sit at the proverbial and, in this instance, literal epicentre? Or is this an example of that Toronto egoism the rest of the country complains about? Or perhaps I am reading way too much into this. Maybe a little bit of all three.

Wisdom of Victor Hugo pt. 2

2010-06-18T10:39:00.002-04:00

A simple idea, but never has it been revealed so eloquently

There is beneath society, we must insist upon it, and until the day when ignorance shall be no more, there will be, the great cavern of evil.
This cave knows no philosophers; its poniard has never made a pen. Its blackness has no relation to the sublime blackness of script. Never have the fingers of night, which are clutching beneath this asphyxiating vault, turned leaves of a book, or unfolded a journal. The object of this cave is the ruin of all things.
Of all thing. Including therein the upper saps, which it execrate. It does not undermine, in its hideous craw, merely the social order of the time; it undermine philosophy, it undermines science, it undermines law, it undermines human thought, it undermines civilisation, it undermines revolution, it undermines progress. It goes by the naked names of theft, prostitution, murder, and assassination. It is darkness, and it desires chaos. It is vaulted in with ignorance.
All the others, those above it, have but one object - to suppress it. To that end philosophy and progress work through all their organs at the same time, through amelioration of the real as well as through contemplation of the absolute. Destroy the cave Ignorance, and you destroy the mole Crime.
We will condense in a few words a portion of what we have just said. The only social peril is darkness. Humanity is identity. All men are the same clay. No difference, here below at least, in predestination. The same darkness before, the same flesh during, the same ashes after life. But ignorance, mixed with the human composition, blackens it. This incurable ignorance possesses the heart of man, and there becomes Evil.

Wisdom of Victor Hugo pt. 1

2010-06-11T08:15:00.002-04:00

"What is called the 'government' is only an interference with authority, an interference which is always questionable. First the rules; as to the code, we will see. Men, make as many laws as you please, but keep them for yourselves. The tribute to Caeser is never more than the remnant of the tribute to God. A prince is nothing in presence of a principle."

I like this idea.

I AM A SPORTS PREDICTION GOD!

2010-06-10T08:52:00.003-04:00

So I love sports...alot actually and I love making predictions and usually I am spot on. However last night my greatest sports prediction came true! The Chicago BlackHawks won the Stanely Cup. Personally I thank Barak Obama, but thats something different all togethor.

So what was my prediction. Back in 2001 I believe (maybe 02) I predicted that the Chicago BlawkHawks would win a Stanely Cup before the Leafs would. This meaning that every other original 6 team has won a Stanely Cup since the Leafs won their most recent. So suck on that leafs! Why dont you shrivel up and fall in my gutters before I grab your moist dead bodies and shove them in a garbage bag to be composted and consumed by grass!

Stupid Leafs

HOOVER BOARDS!

2010-05-28T08:40:00.003-04:00

ZOMG MAGOGS! HOVERBOARDS!

So thats pretty cool I think. But I hope when this becomes a real thing they fix the problem with the back to the future hoverboard. Not only does a hoverboard that you have to push off with seem totally unnecessary but im pretty sure its impossible, you would just look like some guy on a flying board flailing around his leg like some sort of river dance interpretation. See?

Lost...and Found?

2010-05-25T08:39:00.007-04:00

ATTN: THIS CONTAINS MASSIVE SPOILERS!!! IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED THE SERIES FINALE OF LOST THEN STOP READING NOW!!!

So after 6 long gruelling seasons of intense anxiety and excitement, Lost has come to an end. And I have to say, I am a little sad; I am sad for two reason: that it is over, cause lets be honest...we never really wanted it to end, but we also didn't want it to drag on into ridiculousness like its spiritual successor, the X-Files; and secondly that the ending was not what I had hoped it would be. Now before I get any further let me say that an unexpected ending is not necessarily a bad ending. Most times a well executed unexpected ending is better than any well executed expected ending could ever be. However this was not one of those times. When I first finished the episode I was satisfied, not happy but not disappointed either, however the more I thought about it, the more disappointed I became.

First I'll start with the good. The characters. Lost had amazing characters...and they finished exactly the way they came in (sometimes quite literally), epic. Each of the main characters (Jack, Sawyer, Kate, Hurley and Ben - as well as the more supplementary but equally as important Kwon's, Sayiid, Richard, Claire and Desmond) finished with complete character arcs that left me very pleased. Sure each character did not receive the happy ending that they deserved, but that is the beauty of fiction, it allows us to view and be involved in intense heartache and sadness, to view unrequited love and sacrifice that is too little, too late. We can be changed and affected by this. Not every character needs to have a happy ending, no matter how much we want it. The beauty behind Shakespeare was that he knew when to make his audience laugh and when to make them cry, and Lost nailed this to a T. You might be saying, What about the flash side-ways? Didn't everyone receive their happy ending through that? That's a good question and I shall respond to that concern later.

Now with my concerns. Lost was a show that was based around mystery and intrigue. A group of people all somehow interconnected find themselves on an island with more mystery than an Angela Landsbury marathon, and yet NOT ONE SINGLE SHOW-SPANING MYSTERY WAS REVEALED!! Now I'm not asking for the whole package...but lets at least get the meat and potatoes of what the heck is going on. Sure some mysteries were solved in the last few episodes, such as the voices in the jungle. Mind you this was solved with a very weak explanation provided by Micheal that they are the murmurings of lost souls who did bad stuff....ohhhh so spooky...and cheesy. I would have rather this mystery remain unexplained, the audience could have come to this conclusion on their own...or ignored it - this would have made a great unexplained mystery, just one of the islands many mystical elements. The other mystery that was revealed was the nature of the smoke monster. This at first was a huge reveal. It was the first mystery we encounter back in episode 1 and has remained constant throughout the show. We learned early this season that it was Jacob's nemesis and, soon to be learned, brother. This was an acceptable explanation, after all Jacob has his own set of unique abilities, and so must his brother. However in the episode "Across the Sea" we learn that this is not the case. Smokey Joe is not in fact Jacobs brother, but its own entity simply wearing his skin - the same way it wore Christian's and Locke's. All we know was that when Jacob killed his brother and pushed him into the "light" that the smoke monster came out...we don't know why, how or anything...just that it is evil and cannot be allowed off the island and we never find out why, other than the odd reference to great evil and lots of people dying. So really the only explanation we have for anything is the whispers, and even that is pretty weak.

In my mind there were 3 big mysteries (other than the nature of the Island and its "light" and Smokey McSmokerson) that were left unsolved. These are Walt, Aaron and the numbers. Each of these mysteries, like Sir Smokesalot have been with us since the first season are considered some of the chief mysteries of the show. Throughout all of Season 1 and 2 Walt was paraded around being declared "special". He was kidnapped because of this and even was able to appear in two places at once, at one point soaking wet and speaking backwards before quickly disappearing. Now whether or not this was Walt or the Island, we never know. However we spent two years wondering about this before the writers decided to drop it. Normally that would be fine, however the main writers have been further parading Walt around in the off-season declaring that he would come back and play a prominent role in the final season...that was hardly the case.

Aaron is another mystery. Claire was told by a psychic that unless she raised her child a great evil would be unleashed. Later we found out that the psychic believed himself to be a fake, however he appeared visually disturbed and emotionally shaken after his "reading" of Claire. He even sent her to LA on a plane that then crashed on a deserted island, this appears to be an attempt to keep mother and son together. The fear of this great evil was then teased before us with the Others attempting to steal Aaron, also saying he was "special" like Walt. 3 seasons later Smokey (an alleged great evil, attempting to unleash himself upon the world) appears before Claire as her father, causing her to leave Aaron to be raised by Kate in her stead. I thought the writers were on to something, especially when Claire subsequently went insane. Perhaps Claire was going to play a crucial role in stopping the Smoke Monster from escaping but due to her lack of sanity would be unable to assist in anyway. Then with Kate returning and helping Claire become the mother we know she is one could assume that Claire could not play her role. Alas she really did nothing except serve as a character prop for Kate to complete her arc - cool but ultimately not satisfying. Again the writers would not have needed to spell this out for us, it could have been a mystery easily solved by the audience through interpretation. All that they would have needed to do to resolve this was to have Claire shoot Smokey a la Locke instead of Kate...and I mean common...Claire had a gun!!!

Lastly the numbers. The number have appeared everywhere, in dates, birthday, phone numbers, lottery tickets. Pretty much every place their was a digit the numbers were involved. Now they sort of explained this as they are the numbers on Jacob's compass that are associated with Jack, Locke, Kate, Sawyer, Sayiid, Hurley and the Kwons. However it doesn't really explain what Dharma was doing with these numbers, why broadcast them from a tower to lure Rousseau to the Island, etc. Basically why are they permeated everywhere. One could argue that it is fate simply executing a pattern, and I am satisfied with this conclusion. However it would have been nice for a little hint in this direction, other than the completely blind assumption that I am making.

Lastly, I am not really satisfied with the "Big Reveal". Namely that the flash sideways universe is not sideways at all, but rather is some sort of purgatory that resembles our own world in which we are supposed to find those who were important in our lives so that we can then move into whatever personal heaven we have for ourselves. To me this is the equivalent of the wake up its all a dream twist endings. It really has no bearing on the show itself, the only connection I can make is the Island and its light doesn't control anything in our world, but the light on the island is the source of the afterlife, mirrored in the light that came from the doors as Christian left the church. Other than that I felt that it was largely detached from the main story. It also felt a little contrived that the big reveal was in regards to something that did not happen until the final season, it made it feel cheap. It also makes me question the claim that the writers had this planned out from the beginning. Everything that they used to sum up the finale has occurred in the final season: the light; the flash sideways etc. Their ace in the hole was "Adam and Eve" the two dead bodies in the cave that the writers touted as proof that they had it planned. However since "Across the Sea" I highly doubt this. IGN did an excellent job at surmising this,

The revelation that the MiB (well at least his body) and his mother (names for these characters would be great) are actually the Adam and Eve skeletons from way back in Season 1 felt incredibly forced. Cutting to Jack and Kate's discovery of the skeletons didn't help at all either and seemed more like Lindelof and Cuse trying to reinforce the fact that they had this all planned out from the beginning.

Well, for those of you who have watched "House of the Rising Sun" recently, you would probably remember the rest of the scene and the fact that Jack mentions that the remains look no more than 40-50 years old. Now, maybe we'll get some sort of weird time travel explanation for this, but as it stands this looks really sloppy. They should know their audiences' meticulous attention to detail. Conveniently dismissing Jack's important bit of dialogue in that scene makes it seem as if they are now covering their tracks. This is one Lost ending I'd rather forget.

A few final issues. There was one large continuity issue which Shary and I were yelling at the TV for nearly 2 hours. "THERE IS C4 ON THE PLAN YOU MOTHER TRUCKERS!!!". Seems that they decided to ignore that fact that Whidmore rigged the whole plane with C4 before they took off. Oh well, not a big deal I guess...but kind of annoying. Especially since the boat was there and they could have just taken that instead. I guess the continuity error was worth it to have the plane fly over Jack as he died, sort of a symmetrical approach to end the show. But again, this could have been fixed with a little quick writing. I also failed to see the urgency in preventing Smokeroo from getting off the Island. Was he really going to go on some sort of smokey rampage and kill everything? Especially since he can be so easily contained with electromagnetic fields? I mean it would have been bad...maybe a few cities rampaged, but if science fiction has taught us anything its that murderous monsters rarely destroy more than downtown Manhattan before being contained.

My final (and I promise) grievance is that Lost fell victim to any successful TV show...it became a product. As mentioned before, on the Island not every character received the happy ending they deserved. This was quickly quashed in the flash side-ways. Sawyer and Juliette found each other. Jin and Sun didn't die and got to raise their baby, as did Claire and Charlie. Basically everything worked out fine. This is mainly because people would have been pissed if it hadn't. Personally I think they aren't giving today's audience enough credit. Were we sad that not everyone got a happy ending? Yes, but were we okay with it? Of course. Giving it the happy fuzzy ending was not exactly fitting for the show. It was a show about flaws, betrayal and manipulation. At times it was very dark and dreary, despite the tropical locale. To add this ending seemed very forced and inconsistent with the rest of the show.

However all that being said, Lost was a great show. It had amazing build, strong characters, brilliant writing, some great twists and a sense of grandiose mystic that has never been seen before in a Television series and rarely seen on film. Despite the slightly lacklustre ending it was a fine show and easily ranks as my favourite complete series of all time (West Wing takes #1 if you only count seasons 1-5).

Well done Lost...well done.

3-D TV

2010-04-22T08:35:00.002-04:00

So this new fangled 3-D technology has been around for a while now right? At least a year or so and now Sony, LG and a few others are gearing up to bring it into your living room. I'm not so sure if this is a great idea. Bringing 3-D into a living room at this time is a terrible terrible business idea.

Before we get into the logistics lets run down some numbers. The average cost for a 3-D set is about $2,900 (Samsung 46'' 1080p 240Hz HDTV) - the price for an identical non-3D set is about $1,999.

Then you need a new, yes that's right I said new, blue ray player. Apparently your old blue ray wont work and its somehow impossible for them to release a firmware update to allow it to play 3D despite that all Sony blue-ray players run an small operating system and the XMB menu bar which is identical to the one in the PS3 - which Sony has announced will receive a firmware update in the next 2 months to make it 3D compatible. So unless your a lucky PS3 owner be prepared to drop $399 for a Samsung 3D blueray player. Personally I would recommend just buying a PS3 new for $299 and saving the 100 bucks while also gaining a top tier gaming system. That and it looks really sexy beneath your TV.

Then there are the glasses, yes you have to buy the glasses and yes they are CRAZY! expensive. Look for each pair to set you back by 250 bones. Lets say you don't want to watch your brand new 3D set by yourself in the dark so look to buy at least 4 for roughly $1000. And then lastly you need a new HDMI cable capable of handling 3D data. This will run about another $100. So in total your going to drop roughly $4,400 plus tax and futureshops environmental handling fee. All in all its going to run $5,027.37

So lets assume you have 5 grand to drop on a whim for entertainment purposes (note this does not include any audio set-up or display cases or anything. If you interested in adding those perks or upgrading your previously existing ones feel free to add at least another 2000 to the total). Even with this disposable income you most likely purchased your brand new Samsung HD TV within the last 3 years, and a blue ray player within that time as well. The majority of consumers are not yet ready to purchase a brand new entertainment package. The thought of throwing away what amounts to essentially new equipment to in order to purchase new equipment that essentially amounts to nothing but "waggle" value seems absurd (if your not sure what I mean by waggle then you clearly do not play enough Wii). I am not alone in this assessment either. IGN recently ran a poll on 3D televisions to gauge the enthusiasm towards the product. Users were asked how they felt about 3D TV's. They could respond with either very enthusiastic and wanted it right away, so-so and planned on waiting until prices dropped, or couldn't really care less. Only 5% said they could not wait. 40 something said they wanted to wait till prices dropped and 50 something said they did not care. Normally these figures would not upset retailers, however those who frequent websites such as IGN are mainly techies and geeks. People who need to have the newest toys. I would expect enthusiasm among the general populace to be considerably lower.

Oh and studies are coming forward saying that continued use of these new 3D glasses can have serious health effects.

My guess is they should not have tried to push this so soon. Let the market age, the technology increase and production become more refined so prices can drop. Too soon Sony, LG and Samsung, you guys should have waited another 2 years or so before bringing it into our living rooms.

Coming to a close...

2010-04-13T15:16:00.002-04:00

So I have one more exam left to write and then my degree is done. Im excited and scared, but that aside here is a list of things I have done over the course of my degree

Recieved 1 Dregree
with 1 Major and 2 minors
At 2 universities
studied 2 different languages
Over 5 years
Taken 29 classes
across 8 different disciplines
studied for over 75 exams
written over 40 papers
combining over 320 pages
and spent roughly 30,000 dollars

and now im gearing up to start it all over again in February...and you know what...I cant wait

Andrew <3's school

Would You Let This Man Babysit Your 7-Year-Old Son?

2010-03-30T10:05:00.005-04:00

I don't know about you, but I certainly would not. So what made me ask this oh so obvious rhetorical question my devotedly teensy readership?....Why I am glad you asked. Please allow me to tell you. The other day I was at work (yes i do work...A-SHOCK!) And while i was at work I was slacking (A-SURPRISE!) and hanging out at Scarborough Town Centre in Electronics Boutique perusing the used video games to see if I could find any inexpensive hidden gems. While I was browsing I heard this woman asking about games to get for her seven-year-old son who was spending the summer in Brazil. Now video games in Brazil cost about twice as much as they do hear and are about 1 year behind in release dates, so she was sending him quite the stockpile (more games than I even own). At the top of her pile was a classic, amazing and yet highly inappropriate game for the age of her highly juvenile son. That game was Grand Theft Auto IV. Now she seemed like an intelligent women. Well spoken and had a very Michelle Obama thing going on, obviously was educated and had a respectable job. And yet she assumed it was okay to purchase this game for her very young son at his request. The store clerk and I were both shocked by this. I am amazed that someone would want to purchase a video game with a indictable offense at the title and with this as the cover. If you turn the game over you can easily see that it is rated "M for Mature" which means 17+ and then it gives a nice brief description of the things you will find in the game that require such a rating. Here is the exact wording found under the giant M 17+ sign. "Blood, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs and Alcohol"

In what world is it appropriate to buy this game for your child. When I pointed this out the women was shocked. She had no idea. I explained that there is drug use, you can hire a prostitute (to restore your health) and then kill her when you are done and simply take back your money. You can sell drugs, perform hits, rob banks and the ever so entertaining drive your car through a packed shopping mall. So I guess there is a good lesson to be learned here. Just because you are educated and appear to be intelligent does not make that so...nor does it make you a good parent either. Even without first or second hand knowledge of the game, the title and box cover alone should be enough to deter you from purchasing this for any child. It is simply not appropriate.

I AM A GENIOUS!

2010-03-10T08:28:00.001-05:00

Why you might ask? Because being a genious is the ability to come up with concepts on your own that would normally required being taught or told. And no one was ever told me that I am a genious, and since the idea of being a genious is a concept, and I have come up with this concept on my own I therefore must be a genious! Hooray!

bonus pts if you can find the 2 MASSIVE logical missteps in this line or reasoning...but either way...I kick ass!

A glorious day!

2010-03-08T16:42:00.003-05:00

Today is a glorious day, not because its super nice out, but rather because I am wearing flip-flops...Flip-flops are glorious....glooooooooglooooooooooglooooooooorious in excelsus deo!

anyways from this day forth no closed toe shall touch mine toe! I HEARBY DECLARE TO REFUSE TO WEAR ANY SHOE, BOOT OR CLOG UNTIL IT IS TOO COLD FOR ME TO BEAR!

From this day forth let March 8th begin the great shoeless marathon!

How the Olympics Should Have Been Scored

2010-03-02T10:29:00.002-05:00

The olympics is not just a series of competitions, but in actuality is one large competition with a series of events. Each event is then scored and the top three places in each event award one point to the team (or country) that they represent. In laymans terms this is the Medal Count. Currently each medal is worth the exact same as every other medal. A bronze counts as the exact same as a gold. These seems unintuitive to the greater goal of having scoring in general. Coming in first place is regarded as better than second place and certainly more so than coming in third. Instead of simply counting medals I propose that the IOC adopt a Borda Count method of scoring. That is that they assign points based on each medal and then add up the total points to determine which country comes out on top. 3 for gold, 2 for silver and 1 for bronze. Here is a breakdown of the top 10 nations of the most recent Olympics when ranked under my proposed method - with their previous ranks in parenthesis.

US - 70pts (1)
Ger - 63 pts (2)
Can - 60pts (3)
Nor - 49 pts (4)
Kor - 32pts (7)
At - 30 pts (5)
Rus - 26pts (6)
Chi - 23pts (8)
Swe - 23pts (8)
France - 18pts (10)

Now there isnt much of a change, unless your Korea in which case you move up too ranks into the top 5, but it does make it a much closer affair than before. Canada is potentially 1 medal out of 2nd place instead of 4. Essentially it places more of an emphasis on winning over simply placing. Now part of this is because I am Canadian and yes Canada won more gold medals than any other country, but why should the US sit on top simply because they won twice as many Bronze medals as any other country. A bronze should not be valued the same as a gold simply because it is not as valuable. If you ask any athlete what they prefer to win, bronze or gold, only a fool would say bronze. So why must the IOC consider them to be equals when no one else does?

So Proud...so very proud

2010-02-24T08:46:00.001-05:00

I am the proud new owner of my first tuxedo :D

it is a glorious day...pictures coming soon

You know Stephen Harper is a Douche-Bag When...

2010-02-05T17:59:00.002-05:00

This is the new logo for the swedish ran torrent site known as Pirate Bay

I Hate CTV

2010-02-02T10:21:00.003-05:00

CTV is seriously making me consider boycotting this years Olympics. If it were being held in any country other than Canada than I would have already made up my mind. Now boycotting the Olympics is not a new phenomenon - every 2 years thousands of protesters march upon whatever city is hosting the Olympics and hold their protests - largely over the hypocrisy that surrounds such an event, but that's for another post.

My beef is with CTV. When I heard that the CRTC and the IOC granted CTV the rights to broadcast the Olympics this year instead of the usual CBC I was greatly disappointed. My first disappointment meant that I had to listen to former CBC and now CTV sports caster Brian Williams awkwardly handle the desk, especially with his simply bizarre transitions, "speaking of the German bobsled team, lets go to women's Alpine events!" - UGH!

If you watch CTV at all then you cant go 15 minutes without a 5 second spot featuring some ridiculously good looking athlete standing gawking at the camera. Its annoying, they only show the same 5 athletes over and over again...it would be nice that if, in the Olympic spirit of world peace, unity and cooperation, that they showed some athletes other than the ones who could have second jobs as catalogue models. I never remember CBC doing this in the past - instead they simply showed clips of athletes in previous Olympics' donig what they do...competing.

Then came the CTV Olympic Theme Song "I Believe" by Nikki Yanofsky (I have no idea) - CTV is using this as a chance to earn as much money as they can. Opportunism at its worst. If you don't believe me check out the CTV Olympic Store - there you can find a $30 acrylic scarf (no doubt made in China - HBC your guilty of this two...nothing like celebrating human rights and national pride like outsourcing a product to a sweatshop based in a country that executes more children every year than the rest of the world executes adults combined), a $75 key chain or a $300 mini replica Olympic torch. Maybe if CTV spent less time hawking morally questionable clothing and cheap over produced music I might have a little more faith in the quality of their coverage.

But the thing that makes it the worst is that I know come Wednesday night, when I wanna watch the Men's Giant Slalom I will have to turn to TSN (a channel I don't have because I believe $50 is too much to pay per month for television) because all that is gonna be on CTV is American Idol.

Googles Exemplary Example!

2010-01-19T10:01:00.003-05:00

Normally I'm not a fan of the corporation. In fact as a general rule I tend to be extremely anti-corporate. It is for that reason alone that I am so fearful of the rise of China to a world power. Most people are afraid because of their large army or that major western corporations well either fall by the wayside and be replaced by their Chinese counter-parts or simply relocate, thus severely damaging our economy and our current way of life. These concerns, while valid, do not bother me in the slightest. Instead China worries me because of the comparative lack of corporate responsibility. While Western corporations can hardly be called responsible, they are at least accountable to the citizens of the country in which they do business (instead they simply export their unsavoury actions to another part of the world [ex - shell in Nigeria, Nike in Vietnam, Coca-Cola in Latin America and Walmart everywhere]) But for the most part a corporation based in Canada, the US or the EU would never think of perpetrating an offence in their host nation(s) like those committed abroad. When such an offence is committed, justice, to the extent of the law which can be used against a hazily defined entity such as a corporation, usually comes swiftly as it did for Enron.

However with China that would not be the case. China is essentially a pragmatic economic juggernaught. What that means is there primary concern is the padding of the GDP and GNP - essentially they are willing to turn a blind eye to any corporate misgivings as long as the economic success of the corporation outweighs the economic value of perpetration committed. And for the most part the world, and its subsequent governments and corporations, has chosen to ignore this.

Google has stepped forward. Standing amongst the largest and most economically significant corporations in the world has taken a remarkable stand against the Chinese government. In a blog release last week, Google reported that they had a breach of security. That the breach had originated from China and what was targeted was the source code of much of their Internet technologies and the Gmail accounts of several prominent human rights advocates who operate within China. Google was not the only major corporation involved in this attack, but over 20 other corporations were attacked as well (Including Yahoo, Microsoft, Adobe) - However what makes Google stand apart from the other corporations is their response. Every other corporation either refuses to comment on the attacks (such as Dow Chemical and Symantec [the makers of Norton Anti-Virus]), agrees with Google in spirit but won't act (such as Yahoo) or simply sees this as the cost of doing business within China (like Microsoft). Google will have none of this. In accordance with their company ethos, "Don't be evil," Google has given China an ultimatum: either remove the censorship from Google's search engine, or Google will shut down google.cn, close their offices and walk away.

Google has said enough is enough. They truly are a corporation that is taking a stand for human rights and they deserve mad props for this. Either China folds and provides its citizenry with a search engine that provides results other than the state owned Xinhua news agency's account of Tianamen Square incident or they loose 1000's of high paying educated jobs and the worlds largest Internet technologies corporation. Its a tough choice, but either way the world will be a better place and for that alone Google deserves praise.

The First

2010-01-12T08:40:00.003-05:00

The earth rotates around the sun, and the sun then rotates around the galaxy. Thus we move at a speed just over 800,000 km/h. The Galaxy is so large that it takes over 250 million years for our solar system to rotate around it. According to science modern humans have only been on earth for about 200,000 years. That means humanity is only .8% of the way through our first orbit. Therefore, I, Andrew Cockell am the first human being to ever to post a blog post from this exact location in the universe!

Woot!

thanks to dinosaur comics for starting this train of logic :D Props be where props are deserved.

Youtube

2009-11-05T09:31:00.008-05:00

I love youtube, and while there are some amazing things on it there is also a lot of crap. Everything from cheesy amateur skate videos to the stupidest thing I have ever seen...the Haul videos. I'm sorry but no body cares!!! (if you don't know what im talking about simply go to youtube and search "my newest haul" or something along those lines)

But by far the worst thing on youtube are the people who post comments. Anyone who posts anything on youtube in my books is a certifiable moron. It doesnt matter how insightful or deep your comment may be, even on the most artistic of videos...you are a moron. And why you might ask? Because regardless of what you post someone else will post something in response to yours that is horrendously ridiculous, taken way out of context and most likely filled with unforgivable spelling and grammatical errors. It is actually for this reason alone youtube has instituted a function, at the urging of Randall Munroe, that actually says aloud your comment back to you, so you can hear exactly how stupid you are. Personally this is a brilliant idea, but sadly has done nothing to curb the idiocy of youtube commentary. If you dont believe me check any of the following links and read the comments. Now I know that the links are static, and that by the time you check these the comments will have changed but my faith in the density of the brains of youtube comment posters is so strong that I can all but guarantee that each video is still full of ridiculously inane comments.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMINSD7MmT4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBt3i7fpDjc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNS0Q-uxycA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNTGRL0OJWQ

need i say anymore?

and for my own personal amusement please if you decide to comment post your favourite youtube comment as well (as well as the name of the video that was being commented on)

have fun!

Shout out!

2009-11-04T20:19:00.003-05:00

Just wanted to give a shout out to my loverly wifes blog - its a photo blog filled with her fine photo-graphic-artsytastical hobby-rificness - she recently began updating it again, after the insanity that was teachers college and exploding a person from her body

check it out on the left...theres some pretty awesome stuff there

or click here

http://sharyphoto.blogspot.com/

hmmmm

2009-10-24T07:28:00.001-04:00

I had a really awesome medical study musing idea, but then i only slept 3 hours last night and now i cant remember it...and im too tired to spell check or care

so this is all you get! deal with it chumps!

im grumpy

:(

2009-10-15T14:41:00.002-04:00

I wore shoes today....it was dark and I didnt want to turn on the lights to risk waking up Shary and Logan, and I couldnt find my thick wool socks, so I opted for plain white socks...and in the 1 degree weather that it was outside my feets would have froze! Oh no!

So there goes the streak. For those keeping score it was 137 days without shoes. Next year my goal is to pass 200.

Philosophy Ruined My Life

2009-10-01T15:38:00.002-04:00

Philosophy, like and academic discipline will change the way that you think about day to day life. Like when one studies literature they tend to read everything through a lens of literary criticism (or at least more so than the average individual, right Dave?). The same applies to Philosophy, except instead of noticing subtle literary clues like foreshadowing or metaphor one looks for logical inconsistencies. In the last couple of days I have noticed top such instances which have given me much frustration.

The first example was a quote from the ever wise and subtle Lady Gaga. She was defending Douche-Bag West for his treatment of Taylor Swift at the MTV VAs. Essentially what she said was that "everyone should back off and just respect what the man has done. The music that everyone listens too has been pioneered by this man...etc etc etc" Do I even need to say why this is ridiculous? Maybe this statement comes close to the truth if all you listen to is Kiss FM, but otherwise its a load of crap.

The second example runs close to philosophy. In todays Metro there was an article on yesterdays "International Day of Blasphemy" where at UofT students gather to essentially Blaspheme. And while I firmly believe in their right to do so, the author of said article is another moron. He was discussing how the turn-out was not very successful and its because people are too shy to express how they feel about religion. While this may be true, it is not necessarily true. This is the most common logical fallacy found in the media. Perhaps another reason why the turnout was less than satisfactory was because in our society we understand that like freedom of speech we also have freedom of expression and freedom of religion, and perhaps the majority of these well educated young adults recognize that and choose to opt out of expressing their views on religion out of solidarity to those who choose to believe or express themselves in ways that others may not understand. Just because all cats are fluffy doesnt necessarily mean that everything that is fluffy is a cat...while it may be true it is not necessarily true.

Logan!

2009-09-24T14:27:00.002-04:00

So here are some picture of Logan for all your viewing pleasure

enjoi!

Shoe free!

2009-09-24T10:45:00.001-04:00

I have not worn shoes since July 3rd...but its getting cold, and i want to keep my "no closed toe" streak going strong

ahh the cross-roads that life presents us

perhaps i may adopt birks with socks?

Abortion - Morality vs Pragmatism vs Moral Pragmatism

2009-08-27T11:02:00.000-04:00

The abortion topic is one of much contention. People from all walks of life can weigh in on this subject, and it most often starts as a healthy debate but quickly degrades into a heated argument. In the last 5 or so years there has been a resurgence of the abortion debate, especially within the Church. This is largely to do with the fact that the right wing is no longer synonymous with Christian morality and more and more Christians find themselves questioning many of the basic ideas of conservative politics (from taxation to abortion to capital punishment).

Primarily in the past we have seen three main views within the Christian community. The first is that abortion is wrong and therefore should be made illegal. End of story. The second is that abortion is wrong but people are going to have abortions anyways so we might as well provide a safe environment for them to do it in. The third view is that abortion is a personal moral decision and the state should not legislate on decisions of personal morality. Sadly all of these positions are equally as flawed in my mind. The first two employ deeply flawed and over simplistic logic on the repercussions of morality and the third one simply wipes ones hands clean in a very Pontius Pilate-esque way.

Jim Wallis said it best when he said that on the debate regarding abortion we can all agree on one common idea (as all resolution must begin on common ground), that abortions (while not necessarily right or wrong) should not happen. That every child should be wanted and given a chance at a healthy, productive, and enjoyable life. He also stated that abortions are merely a symptom of a deeper problem of lack of education and social and financial inequalities. The argument for that abortions should be made illegal is a strict moral decision. Abortion=Wrong, Wrong=Bad, Good Society=No Bad, therefore Good Society=No Abortion. In this logical process there is no room compassion or dignity, merely black and white. This is in itself is a great evil as it inherently requires judgment, something the Church is strictly instructed not to do. The second argument is completely pragmatic. It claims that ultimately there is nothing we can do about abortions, we it with sterilized equipment or with a coat-hanger, its going to happen. So we might as well choose the lesser of two evils. They also argue that while abortion is wrong it must happen because in the real world one cannot always get what they want, and in reality not every child will be wanted or cared for. As a Christian this is possibly the only line of logic find incredibly offensive. We are called to live in the world, but not be of it. The entire basis of Christs teachings are to not accept the harsh realities of the world, but rather to change them. To simply suggest that we should fold to the pressures and evils of our world is to deny the changing power of God's love. Such a denial is detrimental to the core theology of Christianity, that Christ came not just to act as a sacrifice, but to transform the world to more resemble his kingdom.

What I suggest is a common middle ground - I call it moral pragmatism. Its the idea that a strong moral center can exist within a pragmatic world view. That we can hold fast to our ideals and beliefs and at the same time do what we believe is best. Is it hard...yes, much harder than taking a firm stance on either side. It recognizes that abortion is wrong, that no child should die. But at the same time its compassionate towards families and women found in poor circumstances (due to lack of education, stupid mistakes, or even rape). It recognizes that fact that in the United States under Democratic presidents the abortion rate is significantly lower than under republican ones. That simply saying "no" doesn't solve the deeper problems, but at the same time saying "sure its your choice and your body" is equally as damaging. Instead it provides women and families with viable options of pre and post-natal care, financial assistance, training and comprehensive education. Instead of discussing how to resolve a symptom it attempts to cure the larger problems of our society. What I am suggesting is bed-rest for a society that seems perfectly content with just downing Advil and heading off to work anyways.

If anyone wants to read further about this idea I suggest giving Jim Wallis and his staff at Sojourners a read. You can find there blogs at http://blog.sojo.net/ - just type in abortion and you will have reading for days.

I need to show this to my parents

2009-08-25T10:24:00.010-04:00

Oh and one more thing

2009-08-21T10:40:00.002-04:00

I had a baby too! Her name is Logan, she was born on August 10th at 2:11Am weighing 5 pounds 14 ounces and measuring 56cm long.

If anyone wants to come visit and meet her, you are all more than welcome...give me a call before your drop by :D

She is perfect...I'll post pictures soon.

Deleting Facebook

2009-08-21T08:30:00.009-04:00

Lately I have been seriously considering deleting facebook. Those who know me know that I have long had a distaste for the service. While it once started as a useful networking tool for students it has now turned into a perverted, simplistic and inartistic myspace, wrought with needless drama, disinterest and insignificance.

Facebook has long irritated me. The only thing that has really kept me involved in it has been pictures. I like them...who doesn't? really? But even that's becoming a problem that I will address later. My first longstanding irritation has been the deeper issue of long lost communication. People used to pick up a phone or send off an email in order to catch up with old friends. This has now been replaced by what is being termed as "lurking" or "creeping". And that's exactly what it is. People no longer actually communicate with each other. In our society of instant gratification we would rather be instantly updated on peoples lives by a short 146 character status update via facebook or the loathsome twitter (which by the way should be called "twitting" instead of tweeting"). Why would I ask how a new friends relationship is going when I could just "lurk" on his wall, see his pictures and view pretty much anything to get the information I need. Essentially I have reduced my friendship to the level celebrity tabloid. I long for the conversation, be it the deep theo-philosophical ones that last till 3AM or just a quick gab over a coffee and slice of pie.

Secondly facebook has become the home to a Nietzhcheian phenomenon I like the call "The Denizens of Mediocrity". This is the idea that once someone receives public access to all unfettered the world will be flooded with the mundane and normal. While I don't necessarily agree with this, facebook does tend to lend this idea some amount of credibility. Especially when it comes to the world of pictures. I know some people on facebook who have 2,000 pictures of themselves tagged. Now I love pictures (of both the personal and artistic variety) as much if not more than the next guy, but its getting pretty ridiculous. When a friend goes to their cottage for a weekend I don't need to see 500 pictures of their lounging on the dock style events. It makes me wish digital photography was never invented. Remember going on a family vacation and your mom or dad would only bring 2-3 rolls of film, and those 72-86 pictures had to last a full 7 days in some exotic or exciting locale? I don't need to see everything you do all the time. Again this links to my first issue. Lets get together and share pictures, at the very least a conversation on msn and send me the pertinent ones.

Facebook is also the bastion of information...to much of it at that. As Dave Stone of the Dave Stone Limited mentioned the other day, facebook is replacing the basic tenants of information.

A status update and a comment section have become our marriage counsellors. Mediated communication becomes our main course of communication.

The public forum has become a place for individuals to work out their personal issues with each other. This is not acceptable. All it does is drag dark issues into the light needlessly. Many friendships and relationships have been aggravated by facebook (largely due to unexplained snapshots into peoples lives leading to jealousies and misunderstandings), and then the issues either get blown out of proportion or publicized and as a result chaos and anger ensues. Why would I continue to allow a form of communication that perpetrates so much anger continue to be a presence in my life?

Lastly Facebook has become a corporate whore. Since selling a portion of their site, it has become ripe with adds, bots and spam. I'm tired of getting emails catering to applications I've added or my personal interests listed on my profile.
For the longest time I tried to salvage facebook by routinely purging "friends" and keeping it only to people I keep in regular contact with, but no more of that either. Why should I continue to solve a problem half-assedly? On Sunday night I will delete my facebook account and return to old fashion email. Goodbye facebook...so long.

Hiatus

2009-07-29T08:35:00.002-04:00

So, no updates for about 2 months now...alas this is summer and the internet is mainly used for procrastinating, and why procrastinate on the internet when I can go outside?

So most likely you will see no more updates for the next several weeks, unless of course something earth shattering happens. Also the only things I have been inspired to write about recently have either been bitter or sarcastic - two things I tend to struggle with myself about, so until I have something to say that is positive and uplifting (or at least random and wierd) I shall post away.

Until further notice...adieu

Mischa Barton is the Best Actress Ever!!

2009-05-28T07:01:00.003-04:00

just kidding...seriously...she should continue to star in Enrique videos.

My favourite part of the OC was when she died...Shary and I cheered...best moment in tv ever probably

Sometimes I...

2009-05-20T11:49:00.004-04:00

like to follow a sentence with the phrase "no pun intended" when the proceeding sentence did not contain a pun

Sometimes I...

2009-05-20T11:47:00.002-04:00

like to incorrectly correct people's grammar when what they have said is perfectly fine.

Beautiful Boy

2009-04-23T07:48:00.002-04:00

I was compelled to write this post by my good friend Dave Stone - if you have not read his blog please do so - you can find it my frequented blogs thingy to the right of this.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Palestinian-Israeli conflict has been on my mind alot, most likely because I have an exam on monday for a class called "Modern Israeli Identity" that deals primarily with what it means to be Israeli or Palestinian in the current climate. And if you have been following the news the last year and a half, what a climate it has been. Now im not going to get into a discussion about the moral implications of either side, because that would take far to long, and frankly it doesnt really matter. What does matter is that this war...like any war, should not be happening. However unlike any war the causalities are hugely disproportionate (in the last year roughly 15 Israeli's are killed compared to 1,500 Palestinians - 1000 of which are civilians) - normally though we dont think much of conflict and war, we think of soldiers fighting and dying - people prepared to give up their lives doing exactly that. And while that in itself is a tragedy, it is a moral travesty to bomb homes during the night when children are sleeping (a tactic the IDF tends to use to demoralize Hamas and Fatah).

So back to the other day. I was listening to my Ipod at Main Street Station waiting for the trusty 135 to come rolling in when the song Beautiful Boy (originally composed by John Lennon, but in this case sung by Ben Harper) randomly slid into my shuffle. As I was sitting on the faded green bench waiting for my bus my head was flooded with the many images of Gaza that I have viewed over the past 10 months. That's when I realized that this song is not just about any boy, but all boys, and girls too. Its about the innocence of children and that in many countries all over the world (places like Palestine, but also Columbia, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Sudan, South East Asia, much of Eastern Europe and anywhere on the African north west coast) children are considered lucky to only be robbed of their innocence. And it made my heart ache that not only are the children in Palestine going to bed every night with the fear that a missile or bomb might hit their house, but that if it does happen they will most likely be unable to go to a hospital because many Palestinian doctors are not allowed back into Gaza due to the blockade, along with much of the medical supplies that are needed to treat such injuries.

And so that's it. When I heard this song those are the thoughts that ran through my head. So take a listen to the song below, and when you do be conscious of the children across the world caught up in conflict and keep them in your prayers, not just that they will be okay, but that their innocence will remain intact and they wont continue to foster the seemingly never-ending cycle of violence.

all i could find was the John Lennon one, but if you are able please listen to the Ben Harper version, in my opinion its much better - simpler and less over-produce - it makes the lyrics more impactful that way. Enjoi

CrossRoads

2009-04-22T12:33:00.007-04:00

I like to think of myself as a bit of a Renaissance man, not because I speak Italian or am good with the ladies but rather because I have an extremely wide set of interests. For that reason I get very excited whenever I find something that appeals to more than one passion in my life. In this case its an upcoming documentary which examines the conflict that took place in Gaza during the end of 2008 through the lens of surfing. It is called "God Went Surfing With the Devil". Essentially what the movie is about is a group of individuals attempting to smuggle 23 surfboards past the Israeli blockade into Gaza. This beautiful documentary illustrates the wonder and simplicity of surfing in the highest density nation in the world ripe with violence, conflict and despair. Watch this trailer I can assure you will want to line up to see this upon its release.

if you want to read more i recommend checking out their website

http://www.godwentsurfing.com/

What do Twilight and Bush both have in common?

2009-04-07T15:20:00.002-04:00

I mean other than irrationality and the use of refrences that neither fully comprehend? Ive discovered very humorous things on the both of them a few months back and forgot to post them up...so here they are!

enjoi

What if Twilight was 10 times shorter and 100 times more honest

Taken from Cracked...its brilliant

FADE IN:

EXT. WASHINGTON

KRISTEN STEWART goes to FORKS, WASHINGTON.

KRISTEN STEWART (V.O.)

Once upon a time, there lived an enchanting girl named Stephanie Meyer, er I mean Kristen Stewart. She was so awesome that her awesomeness couldn't be contained in Arizona, so she moved to Washington to stay with her father, who was totally lame and not cool.

BILLY BURKE

Hey honey. I'm super lame. I got you a car, but it's totally uncool because I'm totally uncool.

KRISTEN STEWART

Thanks Dad, or whatever. Time for my first day at a new school. Since every coming-of-age story requires the main character be a social outcast, I suppose I'll have to endure being the unpopular new girl until I do something that proves my worth.

KRISTEN goes to school and is INSTANTLY POPULAR AND BELOVED.

ANNA KENDRICK

Oh my God I love your hair you're so pretty will you be my new best friend?

GREGORY TYREE BOYCE

Can I take you out sometime since you're so awesome?

MICHAEL WELCH

No way you asshole, I saw her first!

KRISTEN STEWART

I'd rather watch "The Messengers" than date either of you. Why don't you go ask Anna instead?

ANNA KENDRICK

Ohmigod I'm getting Kristen's rejects, that's so awesome!

KRISTEN STEWART

Wow. I guess this is what it looks like when the unpopular fat girl's pathetic daydreams get written down and published into a bestselling book. Aren't well-written characters supposed to have flaws?

ANNA KENDRICK

Flaws? Oh, well, um, I suppose you could argue that you're a little TOO perfect and amazing. But I don't think so. Let's make out.

Suddenly, ROBERT PATTINSON enters. The paleness of him and his family members reach blinding levels while the squeals in the movie theater reach deafening levels.

KRISTEN STEWART

Who's the albino Wolverine?

ANNA KENDRICK

Oh, him? That's Robert. He's universally acknowledged as the hottest boy in school but he doesn't date anyone because no girl is good enough for him.

KRISTEN STEWART

No girl is good enough for him? Man, the excuses closested homosexuals come up with these days...

KRISTEN sits next to ROBERT, who nearly vomits in his mouth and leaves school for a week. Eventually, he returns.

KRISTEN STEWART

Hey, where did you go? Because you are exceedingly mean to me, I find myself attracted to you.

ROBERT PATTINSON

Sounds like textbook daddy issues, you fat cow.

KRISTEN STEWART

(swoon)

ROBERT PATTINSON

You have a bright career as a stripper ahead of you.

ROBERT and KRISTEN continue not quite interacting with each other and having no chemistry what-so-ever.

KRISTEN STEWART

Hey, your eyes are changing color from gorgeous to ultragorgeous. What's going on?

ROBERT PATTINSON

Alright, you got me. I was acting like a jerk because I secretly totally love you.

KRISTEN STEWART

Of course! This also explains why the captain of the football team always acted like he hated Stephanie Meyer!

ROBERT PATTINSON

There's more. I want to eat you.

KRISTEN STEWART

Holy shit, really? I need to go home and do some waxing first, but...

ROBERT PATTINSON

No, I mean literally eat you. I'm a vampire.

KRISTEN STEWART

Hmm. The only way I will believe you is if you carry me up a mountain using special effects from the 70s.

He DOES.

KRISTEN STEWART

You really are a vampire! Does that mean that garlic, stakes, and sunlight kill you?

ROBERT PATTINSON

Don't be stupid. All of that lore is far too interesting for this movie. Being a vampire just means I get superpowers. It's like being Spider-Man, but sexier. Also, I sparkle in the sunlight.

KRISTEN STEWART

So that's why why your family moved here, because it's always overcast!

ROBERT PATTINSON

That's right everyone, this whole movie is a two-hour-long setup for a joke about the Pacific Northwest.

KRISTEN STEWART

So if you're immortal, how old are you anyway?

ROBERT PATTINSON

Over a hundred, but to be fair I've spent most of that time working on my hair.

The two of them GAZE into each other's eyes with UNCOMFORTABLY HUGE CLOSEUPS for 80% of the rest of the movie.

INT. KRISTEN'S BEDROOM

KRISTEN wakes up to find ROBERT watching her sleep.

KRISTEN STEWART

Holy fucking shit! If you weren't so hot I'd have you arrested! How long have you been doing this?

ROBERT PATTINSON

2 months.

KRISTEN STEWART

But I've only lived here one month according to the script.

ROBERT PATTINSN

Yeah, the script was written in six weeks. Don't get hung up on shit like that.

KRISTEN STEWART

Oh. Well, as long as you're here I guess we could have sex.

ROBERT PATTINSON

No, I can't have sex with you! I'd be unable to control myself! I'd bite you and turn you into a vampire! Also I ejaculate boiling venom, so I'd need to wear like fifty condoms.

KRISTEN STEWART

Wait, we can't have sex at all, and you can't suck my blood? How can you make a vampire movie without anyone sucking blood?

ROBERT PATTINSON

It's alright, I think this movie already has more than enough sucking.

INT. BILLY BURKE'S HOUSE

BILLY BURKE is cleaning his gun and drinking a beer while listening to country music.

KRISTEN STEWART

Dad, my boyfriend is coming over to pick me up. Try not to get dork all over him.

BILLY BURKE

Okay, let me meet him after the movie makes the film industry's ten billionth joke about protective fathers disliking boyfriends.

KRISTEN STEWART

Alright. Oh, and also: He's a 100-year-old vampire, don't say anything racist about vampires, okay?

ROBERT PATTINSON

Hello, sir. It's a pleasure to meet you, Kristen has said absolutely nothing about you because you're so lame.

BILLY BURKE

So I hear you're a 100-years-old. And interested in my 17-year-old daughter. So, mathematically that's like, what, a 40-year-old dating a 6-year-old?

ROBERT PATTINSON

Ummmmmmmm...

BILLY BURKE

Yeah, so my friend Chris Hansen would like you to have a seat right over here.

KRISTEN STEWART

Dad, you're embarrassing me almost as much as my acting! I'm just going over to his house to have dinner with his family, I'll be back before 11. Unless the ravenous vampires murder me, of course.

BILLY BURKE

Alright, just bring this pepper spray with you. It's literally the very least I can do to offer it to my teenage daughter.

KRISTEN STEWART

Daaaaad! Stop being such a loser, I don't need this!

BILLY BURKE

Really? Weren't you almost raped by four guys earlier in the movie?

KRISTEN STEWART

Yeah but I have a BOYFRIEND now, which means I no longer have to be independent or physically capable of doing anything on my own. GOD!

ROBERT and KRISTEN go to visit ROBERT'S FAMILY MANSION in the middle of the woods, because of course the FANTASY MALE should be rich, too.

INT. GLASS MANSION

KRISTEN meets ROBERT'S VAMPIRE FAMILY.

KRISTEN STEWART

Jesus, this place is paler than an Anne Rice book signing event. At least it doesn't smell as bad.

PETER FACINELLI

Welcome to our ridiculously expensive home. I'm the father figure of this family because I'm the one who turned them all into vampires. There's something disturbing about the idea that I've only turned teenagers into vampires, but let's ignore that.

KRISTEN STEWART

Wow, you guys are so close. What keeps this family together so well?

PETER FACINELLI

Funny you should ask. Let me tell you about Count Joseph Von Smith. One day a vampire named Moronula appeared to him and told him to find these golden stakes buried in a coffin...

NIKKI REED

Knock it off, dad. So, Kristen, there must be something really special about you for Robert to take such a liking to you and risk the lives of his entire family. Tell us about yourself.

KRISTEN STEWART

Me? Oh, no. I'm just a hollow placeholder for all of the teenage girls in the audience to project their personalities onto. I have none of my own whatsoever.

NIKKI REED

Oh. Well what do you like to do for fun?

KRISTEN STEWART

Mostly smoke pot on my porch in front of the paparazzi. What about you guys?

PETER FACINELLI

Vampire baseball.

KRISTEN STEWART

Ha ha, no seriously.

PETER FACINELLI

Really. Vampire baseball. We even have uniforms. Want to come watch us play?

KRISTEN STEWART

Actually, as it happens, the very last thing on Earth I or any other sane person would want to watch is vampire baseball, but go ahead.

They play vampire baseball, which looks exactly as stupid as it sounds to all of the males in the audience. The game attracts the attention of some EVIL VAMPIRES, who actually do the type of shit vampires are supposed to, like fucking kill boring humans. One of them, CAM GIGANDET, notices KRISTEN.

CAM GIGANDET

Oh man, that looks great, are you gonna finish that?

ROBERT PATTINSON

Stay away from her or my family will have to kill you. Specifically, we'll have to hiss at you like fifth graders pretending to be Dracula, and then kill you.

CAM GIGANDET

Murder, eh? That's one hell of a family activity. My family usually just plays Scrabble.

PETER FACINELLI

The family that slays together, stays together.

CAM tries to eat KRISTEN, a poorly directed action sequence ensues, and eventually he is defeated.

PETER FACINELLI

Kristen's been bitten! She'll be turned into a vampire within minutes unless you suck the venom out! I can't do it for some reason or another.

ROBERT PATTINSON

Since the whole novel this is based on is just Mormon propaganda for abstinence and bloodsucking is a metaphor for sex, what exactly is this advocating?

PETER FACINELLI

Look, all I know is that even though it's going to be REALLY HARD, you're just going to have to PULL OUT of her before CLIMAX. The climax of the movie, I mean.

He DOES. It's very DISSATISFYING.

INT. HOSPITAL

KRISTEN wakes up in the hospital, and ROBERT wakes up after her.

KRISTEN STEWART

I thought vampires never slept.

ROBERT PATTINSON

Script. Six weeks. Remember?

KRISTEN STEWART

Right. Well, thanks for saving my life after endangering it by inviting me into your dangerous world. Let's go to the prom together.

ROBERT PATTINSON

Actually, I think it would be better if we broke up. To keep you safe.

KRISTEN STEWART

From vampires?

ROBERT PATTINSON

No, from being typecast forever after this series is done. I'm screwed, but it's not too late for you.

KRISTEN STEWART

No. No, you can't ever leave me. Never. No matter what. We must be together forever and ever and ever.

ROBERT PATTINSON

Holy shit, you're a clingy psychotic bitch. Maybe we have a realistic high school relationship after all.

They stay together and go to the PROM.

KRISTEN STEWART

I want you to make me a vampire so that I can be with you, even if it means sacrificing my own life as a mortal.

ROBERT PATTINSON

So, the next generation of young women are currently flocking to see a female lead starring in a movie by a female director based on a bestselling book by a female author, and in this movie the main character wants to become completely submissive and self-sacrificing for a male.

KRISTEN STEWART

I love you. Put a baby in me.

ROBERT PATTINSON

At least the other three books can't possibly be more misogynistic and depressing.

They ARE.

END

---------------------------------------------------

The "Misunderestimated" President - BBC News

The 'misunderestimated' president?

President George W Bush

All politicians are prone to make slips of the tongue in the heat of the moment - and President George W Bush has made more than most.

The word "Bushism" has been coined to label his occasional verbal lapses during eight years in office, which come to an end on 20 January.

Here are some of his most memorable pronouncements.

ON HIMSELF

"They misunderestimated me."
Bentonville, Arkansas, 6 November, 2000

''I know what I believe. I will continue to articulate what I believe and what I believe - I believe what I believe is right." Rome, 22 July, 2001

"There's an old saying in Tennessee - I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee - that says, fool me once, shame on... shame on you. Fool me - you can't get fooled again."
Nashville, Tennessee, 17 September, 2002

"There's no question that the minute I got elected, the storm clouds on the horizon were getting nearly directly overhead."
Washington DC, 11 May, 2001

"I want to thank my friend, Senator Bill Frist, for joining us today. He married a Texas girl, I want you to know. Karyn is with us. A West Texas girl, just like me."
Nashville, Tennessee, 27 May, 2004

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

"For a century and a half now, America and Japan have formed one of the great and enduring alliances of modern times."
Tokyo, 18 February, 2002

"The war on terror involves Saddam Hussein because of the nature of Saddam Hussein, the history of Saddam Hussein, and his willingness to terrorise himself."
Grand Rapids, Michigan, 29 January, 2003

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." Washington DC, 5 August, 2004

"I think war is a dangerous place." Washington DC, 7 May, 2003

"The ambassador and the general were briefing me on the - the vast majority of Iraqis want to live in a peaceful, free world. And we will find these people and we will bring them to justice."
Washington DC, 27 October, 2003

"Free societies are hopeful societies. And free societies will be allies against these hateful few who have no conscience, who kill at the whim of a hat."
Washington DC, 17 September, 2004

"You know, one of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror."
CBS News, Washington DC, 6 September, 2006

EDUCATION

"Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?"
Florence, South Carolina, 11 January, 2000

"Reading is the basics for all learning."
Reston, Virginia, 28 March, 2000

"As governor of Texas, I have set high standards for our public schools, and I have met those standards."
CNN, 30 August, 2000

"You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test.''
Townsend, Tennessee, 21 February, 2001

ECONOMICS

"I understand small business growth. I was one."
New York Daily News, 19 February, 2000

"It's clearly a budget. It's got a lot of numbers in it."
Reuters, 5 May, 2000

"I do remain confident in Linda. She'll make a fine Labour Secretary. From what I've read in the press accounts, she's perfectly qualified."
Austin, Texas, 8 January, 2001

"First, let me make it very clear, poor people aren't necessarily killers. Just because you happen to be not rich doesn't mean you're willing to kill."
Washington DC, 19 May, 2003

HEALTHCARE

"I don't think we need to be subliminable about the differences between our views on prescription drugs."
Orlando, Florida, 12 September, 2000

"Too many good docs are getting out of the business. Too many OB/GYN's aren't able to practice their love with women all across the country."
Poplar Bluff, Missouri, 6 September, 2004

TECHNOLOGY

"Will the highways on the internet become more few?"
Concord, New Hampshire, 29 January, 2000

"It would be a mistake for the United States Senate to allow any kind of human cloning to come out of that chamber."
Washington DC, 10 April, 2002

"Information is moving. You know, nightly news is one way, of course, but it's also moving through the blogosphere and through the Internets."
Washington DC, 2 May, 2007

OUT OF LEFT FIELD

"I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully."
Saginaw, Michigan, 29 September, 2000

"Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream."
LaCrosse, Wisconsin, 18 October, 2000

"Those who enter the country illegally violate the law."
Tucson, Arizona, 28 November, 2005

"That's George Washington, the first president, of course. The interesting thing about him is that I read three - three or four books about him last year. Isn't that interesting?"
Speaking to reporter Kai Diekmann, Washington DC, 5 May, 2006

ON GOVERNING

"I have a different vision of leadership. A leadership is someone who brings people together."
Bartlett, Tennessee, 18 August, 2000

"I'm the decider, and I decide what is best."
Washington DC, 18 April, 2006

"And truth of the matter is, a lot of reports in Washington are never read by anybody. To show you how important this one is, I read it, and [Tony Blair] read it."
On the publication of the Baker-Hamilton Report, Washington DC, 7 December, 2006

"All I can tell you is when the governor calls, I answer his phone."
San Diego, California, 25 October, 2007

"I'll be long gone before some smart person ever figures out what happened inside this Oval Office."
Washington DC, 12 May, 2008

Pac-Man

2009-04-02T13:56:00.002-04:00

Who doesnt love it? so I have added to the bottom of my blog

enjoy

ps...my favourite pacman ghost is clyde....can you name the other 3 by heart? I can...im a nerd

I hate crappy TA's

2009-03-31T11:12:00.002-04:00

Normally I'm not one to complain about marks, and I have had my fair share of fair and well intentioned TA's in the past. I'm usually very content with the comments and grades I receive on my papers and tend to do what I can to ensure that I heed them the next time I write something for that particular TA in the future. However, I did just receive a paper back from a TA who provided me with the most unusual comments, and grade. I got a 73 on this particular paper, not my best but im reasonibly content with it, especially since the class average was in the low 60s. But the wierd part is the comments combined with the grade. This is what she wrote,

On the whole, nice work. It has a good analysis and shows familiarity with the subject matter. There are two major aspects of your paper that can be improved. First, you could have used more sources and supporting evidence, and second you could have addressed more possible objections. At time (sic), it seems you mention only sources and evidence that support your thesis, but neglect to mention sources and evidence that might weaken it.

Firstly I would just like to point out that if it is a good paper, than it should have received something higher than a low B. B is usually considered to be satisfactory, with an A- being good and an A being exemplary. But I will let that slide in the face of greater injustices. I had an issue with the number of sources and amount of evidence used. She said I did not use enough. The paper was 9 paged....I had 8 sources with an average of 4 citations per page. Had I had any more sources or more citations than my paper would have been one big-ass block quote. The next issue would be that I failed to mention evidence that might weaken my thesis. An academic essay with a thesis is essentially an argument. I am making a certain position. According to my trusty Apple® Dictionary an argument is: "a reason or set of reasons given with the aim of persuading others that an action or idea is right or wrong." Why the heck would I provide evidence that counters my thesis if I am attempting to persuade the reader of my position? This wasnt a discussion paper.

So in summary....WTFBBQ Mate?

The End of a Depression?

2009-03-24T15:55:00.003-04:00

Im stealing this from an interview with the Colbert Report, normally I would just post a video, but I'm feeling lazy and dont want to figure out if Comedy Central videos work on this gizamogotchy-thingy-ma-bob or whatever...im very tired...so i wont be spell checking this either

there was an interesting discussion on the Colbert Report last week about the debate currently being engaged in the American media about the stimulus package and whether or not it will work in helping create a quicker out of this recession. The main argument of the conservative side i found to be notable. they were arguing that the stimulus that FDR provided did not help the US economy, but rather hindered it (no examples were given, so i cant comment on the validity of this at this time). They said what really provided the nation with a way out of the economy was the industrial force initialized by WWII. The gentleman who Colbert was interviewing found this to be rather ironic since WWII simply resulted in collosial amounts of government spending - the same as FDRs stimulus bills. He said something to effect of, WWII essentially had the same economic effect as building thousands and planes and tanks and then dumping them in the ocean - from an economic perspective it was completely wasteful spending but none the less allowed the country to revive itself

thats it, i just thought that was interesting and worth sharing

Intervención Americana en América Latina

2009-03-18T16:48:00.003-04:00

Its been a while since I've discussed anything political, largely because with Canadian parliament currently running in circles and the post Obama fervor has dwindled away, but mostly because short of the recession (which really doesnt interest me in any way and has just proven the insanity of everything - maybe this will be the topic of my next post) nothing has really happened. So instead I thought I would bring my musings down-a-mexico way.

For those of you who dont know, I have always had a very keen interest in Latin American politics and society, so much so that I made the horrible decision to take a first year spanish course which absolutely decimated my GPA, but did provide none-the-less the nice catchy title of this posting. So for those not Español inclinado it translates into American Intervention in Latin America - which is of course my favourite area of Latin American politics.

I have been spouting a new slogan of late. It is from the newest Bond movie, Quantum of Solace, and it is heard in the lovely scene in Bolivia where Bond has an impromptu meeting with his CIA contact Felix Leiter. During this quick scene Bond spits forth a fiery and witty barb toward his American counter-part, in reference to US interference in the region, saying, "I've always wondered what this part of the world would look like if no-one cared about communism or coco." (and no i dont think he is referring to the hit pop sensation) This quick one liner (which surprisingly I missed on my first watch of the movie) summarizes my sentiments of late. The US intervention in Latin America over the past 50 years (primarily during the presidencies of Eisenhower and Nixon) have been some of the most shocking political actions ever taken by an "enlightened" democracy. Acting under the Monroe Doctrine and its Roosevelt Corollary the United States saw itself as not only the staunch defender of capitalism but also as the big brother of the entire western hemisphere, willing and able to pull aside any of its younger brothers for a quick slap upside the head for any reason it deemed necessary. The open-ended doctrine reads

If a nation shows that it knows how to act with reasonable efficiency and decency in social and political matters, if it keeps order and pays its obligations, it need fear no interference from the United States. Chronic wrongdoing, or an impotence which results in a general loosening of the ties of civilized society, may in America, as elsewhere, ultimately require intervention by some civilized nation, and in the Western Hemisphere the adherence of the United States to the Monroe Doctrine may force the United States, however reluctantly, in flagrant cases of such wrongdoing or impotence, to the exercise of an international police power.

This piece of well crafted political propaganda was well utilized during the Cold War. There has been more than enough of my own ramblings for own post, so lets get to some examples.

Chile

Chile was often considered one of the most promising rising democracies in Latin America. Its rich agro-centered economy and large easily accessible coast line made it a prime trading partner for the entire industrialized world...that and it produced over 1/3rd of the worlds copper, a metal which at the time was used to make everything. Traditionally a slightly left of center nation the United States always had one eye on the nation, to ensure that it did not loose the valuable US owned mines that were so lucrative. When Salvador Allende (a declared socialist) one the office in 1970 heads to the north began to turn. One of Allende's first acts as a public official was to nationalize the copper mines (a move hailed by many as essential for Chile's quest to be a stable self-sufficient economic power of the region - and was necessary given the impending global recession). Needless to say, this did not go over well with the American businesses who previously owned and operated the mines. This prompted Nixon to organize CIA operatives in the region. Soon after there was a military coup in the region (supplied, funded and trained by the CIA) which installed Military Dictator Augusto Pinochet. Pinochet was among one of the most brutal dictators in Latin American history. Under his watch (and constant American support - Henry Kissinger and Nixon both claimed that the following actions were considered justified given Chiles current political climate) over 3000 people were executed or "disappeared", 30,000 were forcibly exiled from the country and over 500,000 were imprisoned and tortured (including current Chilean President Michelle Bachelet). Pinochet ruled Chile for nearly 20 years.

Guatemala

Guatemala has a long history of American intervention. The first significant acts occurred during the presidency of Jacabo Arbnez, a leader no more left leaning than JFK. Arbnez brought about his own downfall by implementing a new agrarian reform in Guatemala (a country ripe with inequality in land ownership). He passed a bill that allowed the government to appropriate none developed agricultural land. During the 18 months it was in operation the state purchased and redistributed over 1.5 million acres of land to over 100,000 families. This included 1700 acres of land given up by Arbnez himself. They immediately ran into trouble with the American owned United Fruit Company. The UFCO had been stockpiling the valuable banana growing land in order to maintain a relative monopoly on the global banana market and wasnt willing to give it up easily. But how did the US government become so involved in a land deal involving a private corporation operating in a foreign country? Well, the current Sec. of State John Dulles and CIA director (his brother) Allen Dulles both came from a law firm which represented United Fruit. The UFCO Washington lobbyist Thomas Corcoran had a close personal relationship with Eisenhower and Under-Secretary of State General Walter Bedell Smith once had a management position with the UFCO. The United States then utalized the Monroe Doctrine declaring that Guatemala (due to its policy of buying land and giving it to the indigenous poor) a potential Soviet State. Paranoid that if Guatemala fell to the Soviets the US would be in a compromising position regarding the security of the Panama Canal. The US appealed to the OAS (Organization of American States) which deemed the US' evidence insufficient and refused to act, and so Eisenhower was forced to rely on covert action. The US organized a guerilla faction lead by exiled Guatemalian Carlos Castillo Armas. Equipped and directed by the CIA and with air support from the US Air-Force they quickly took the capital and installed Armas as President. Castillas was highly corrupt and was soon assassinated. Over the next 20 years corrupt regime followed by corrupt regime was installed, undoing Arbnez's reforms and resulting in the murder of over 80,000 people, and the displacement of over 200,000. Ironically this act was what convinced Ernesto "Che" Guevera to become politically active and he immediatly sought out Castro in Mexico to help plan the Cuban Revolution.

Wow, that is long and that is just the beginning. This is two of many examples of US intervention over paranoid political and business fears. If you are at all interested in hearing more of this let me know and I can post more, or better yet - dont trust me and read up on it yourself. Much of it is truly shocking.

Future Oppurtunities

2009-03-13T09:23:00.003-04:00

So there are alot of major possible changes coming up in my life over the next year or two, and hopefully i can enlighten you all on them.

Firstly, Shary and I are having a baby! Which is friggen awesome by the way. We are super excited and super stoked to have this new addition in our family...not to mention we have the bejebus scared out of us too, but we are fairly confident in our ability to raise a child...after all we are both wickedly cool people!

The other major thing coming up is that I am in the process of applying to law school...in New Zealand. Why the land down underer you ask? Well its apparently a really cool place to hang out in for a couple of years, and with the exchange rate it is actually significantly cheaper for me to attend a University there as an international student than it is for me to go to law school here (which runs anywhere from 12-15k)

So yeah, that's whats new for me - ill post more on the developments of both of these as they happen.

Oh and if your interested I'm applying to the University of Canterbury, Victoria University and Auckland University, but not Otago because it sounds like a B-grade community college - well not because of that, but its true none-the-less.

Internet Comics

2009-03-02T19:15:00.010-05:00

I am slowly becoming addicted to Internet comics...these two are my favourites

www.xkcd.com

and www.drmcninja.com

Be sure to check them out as they are both brimming with awesomeness

Its gonna be a long night

2009-02-28T22:51:00.001-05:00

Computers whirring

Clickaty Clacking

TV Blaring

Old men snoring

creepy latino staring

internet lagging

i just wish i could sleep

Wow...two posts...lucky you

2009-02-27T22:01:00.003-05:00

My wife is a wonderful photographer, she doesnt update often which is a shame, but feel free to peruse her stuff here

The Life of a Student

2009-02-27T21:35:00.000-05:00

I like drugs...people pay me to take them....yummm

Falicious Super Bowl Halftime shows?

2009-02-02T08:01:00.000-05:00

Before anyone (and im playing the word 'anyone' fast and loose here) comments on the word "falicious" let me say that despite that it isnt a word in the dictionary doesnt mean it is not a real word. The beatiful thing about the english language is its ability to create words as long as they follow the proper grammatical parameters...which this does...to be precise it means to be of penis...so there

anyways, super bowl halftime shows have become very penile in nature of late...which i think is hilarious...slipping sexual refrences and inneundo past censors has been a great activity of television and cinema prior to the 1980s, and it is a lost art that is sorely missed. If you missed last nights show, or the one of Prince a few years back, be sure to check out the pics to see what i mean

Prince

Boss
- apparently no pictures actually exist so i had to screen capture this from a youtube video - interesting commentary btw that Prince, the grundgy dirty singer from the 70's has pictures of this flooded on the internet and covered by all the news anchors, but Boss pulls this and not a single person mentions it, but thats more for later...heres the picture

The Portrait of Dorian Gray

2009-01-30T08:03:00.001-05:00

I found this to be quite interesing, its the preface to the novel. Thankfully I dont want to ruin it with my terrible writing so my comments end here...enjoy!

The artist is the creator of beautiful things. To reveal art and conceal the artist is art's aim. The critic is he who can translate into another manner or a new material his impression of beautiful things.
The highest as the lowest form of criticism is a mode of autobiography. Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. This is a fault.

Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated. For these there is hope. They are the elect to whom beautiful things mean only beauty.

There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.

The nineteenth century dislike of realism is the rage of Caliban seeing his own face in a glass.

The nineteenth century dislike of romanticism is the rage of Caliban not seeing his own face in a glass.
The moral life of man forms part of the subject-matter of the artist, but the morality of art consists in the perfect use of an imperfect medium.
No artist desires to prove anything.
Even things that are true can be proved.
No artist has ethical sympathies. An ethical sympathy in an artist is an unpardonable mannerism of style.
No artist is ever morbid.
The artist can express everything.
Thought and language are to the artist instruments of an art. Vice and virtue are to the artist materials for an art.
From the point of view of form, the type of all the arts is the art of the musician.
From the point of view of feeling, the actor's craft is the type.
All art is at once surface and symbol.
Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril.
Those who read the symbol do so at their peril.
It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors.
Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and vital.
When critics disagree, the artist is in accord with himself.
We can forgive a man for making a useful thing as long as he does not admire it.
The only excuse for making a useless thing is that one admires it intensely.

All art is quite useless.

My New Years Resolution

2009-01-01T12:42:00.000-05:00

Normally I'm not a fan of new years resolutions, Ive always said if i want to change my life for the better why not change it now, instead of waiting for a date randomly assigned to more easily calculate linear time. But this is something Ive been thinking about for some time, and frankly conforming to a linear time line in this respect makes it easier.

Ive decided that for 1 year I will by nothing new (there are a few exceptions which will be detailed below). Ive decided to do this for many reasons. The first is plain and simple. We live in a society of excess. People buy brand new cars and get rid of them 3 years later for a new one. We buy new jeans and throw away old ones simply because they have a hole in the knee instead of mending them. Almost everything we can purchase new is also available in a used format in nearly the same quality for far less money. Our societies obsession with "new" is not only horribly excessive, but it is also wasteful. Think of the effect it would have on the environment if everyone bought used bluejeans for 1 month (and yes there are enough used bluejeans out there). Cotton would remain on the ground, the textile factories that expunge toxins into the air would be shut down, less trucks and vans that transport the jeans from factory to warehouse and then from warehouse to store would be off the road. Instead the only change would be the short drive or bus ride (or maybe even bike or walk) to the nearest used clothing store to pick up your jeans. If as a society we could limit this excessive use of constantly creating new products when older but perfectly capable ones exist we could have a profound effect on our environment.

The next reason is our economy is one of exploitation. Money is a finite substance...and like any finite substance (as my physics friend Kent will I'm sure agree with) can only exist in limited quantities. Meaning you cannot simply make more and have it maintain the same value. This means that money can only exist in certain amounts. That means for someone to have too much money means another will have too little. This is how our economy works, and our economy deliberately creates an upper class in order to survive, which means others must be forced into a lower one; otherwise the entire system would fail. I would like to go into full detail regarding this, but i don't really have the time or energy right now - if you wish send me a message or email and i can elaborate further. My point lies in the idea that our system is exploitative by nature and I choose not to support this economy. Now I cannot simply leave the country, nor can I not be entirely absent from the economy, but what I can do is be as little involved as possible, and that is what I intend to do.

So what parameters am I placing on this? Obviously I cannot buy everything used, things such as food and hygenic items shall be purchased new, as well as necessities. For example, I have to buy text-books for school. If i cannot find them used and am unable to find the proper ones at a library I will be forced to buy them new.

So thats my new years resolution. If you wish to...please join me in this. And hopefully we can make an impact, regarldess of how small.

“Never underestimate the ability of a small group of committed individuals to change the world. Indeed, they are the only ones who ever have.”

So here it is...

2008-11-29T16:23:00.000-05:00

I've been toying with the idea of starting a blog for some time now, I usually get very close to committing, but then something comes up (the usual sorts of procrastination, TV, video games, the news or the odd productive pursuit of school) which prevents me from actually following through. Infact, I registered this blog nearly two weeks ago and am only typing up the first post now, so is my level of procrastination, but with this first entry I hope to commit to this cause, so...here it goes.

People often ask me why I am "liberal". First I would like to point out I don't consider myself to be liberal or "liberal" (but thats a discussion for another post), but that I get asked this question often makes me wonder. The last time I was asked was during this past summer by an LIT (Leader In Training) at Ontario Pioneer Camp. For many Christians (OPC being a Christian camp) find it interesting, or more appropriatly bizarre, that I am "liberal". I can't remember what I responded to this individual, but I've decided to make this the first topic of my blog. Why am I liberal?

I am not. Yes I have certain views that pertain to the left side of the political spectrum, but I also have views that pertain to the right. I believe in a small government. There are many actions that I believe the state should not play a role in. Drugs, prostitution and homosexual marriage is a small example. If people choose to engage in any of these I honestly believe that is up to them. What I believe on a moral level plays little to no grounds on these decisions. However, the state should be involved in playing a role in preventing many of these from happening (more specifically to drugs, prostitution and abortion). I believe this is something both conservatives and liberals alike can agree on, there should be less drugs and prostitutes on our streets, and less abortions being performed in our hospitals; and likewise I believe the state can play a role in helping ensure the possibility of that (through various social programs and such). But this, as you may have noticed, does not really answer the question "why am I liberal?" Like I said, I am not. I like to think of myself as compassionate. I care about people, it is as simple as that. And I have enough faith in my public representatives (municipal, provincial and national), I have enough faith in the democratic process to give the state control over social matters, not merely those of security. Are there problems in our schools? Yes. Are there problems in our hospitals? Yes. And these are a few of the many questions I hope to address through this in the future. But more importantly, I am a "liberal" because I believe in increasing the betterment of man, and I believe that oppurtunity should be equal, that all should have the chance to "lift themselves up by their bootstraps", because while we are all made equal we are not all born equal. But I cannot say it best, and, as I am sure to frequently do, I will be allowing Aaron Sorkin to explain for me. So please watch the following clip and hopefully you can understand what I am trying to say.

Enjoy

Andrew's Blog of Justice and Learning

Schwarzenegger vs Video Games

Blog Stats

So I have this Cousin...

Time for a change

How is this a good idea?

Just an Update

Great TV show...really bad name.

How a man spends his money - Bienvenu Part 2

Amazing!

I Hate Youth Pastors!

Who knew Vietnam was so relevant today?

A First Exchange - Bienvenu Part 2

Fin - Bienvenue Part 1

The Church

Grace and Justice - A picture of Christ in the unexpected

Wendell Berry: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front

Baptizing Jews you say!!! *Gasp*

Irony and 50! woot

Blog Update

Social Observations About the Earthquake

Wisdom of Victor Hugo pt. 2

Wisdom of Victor Hugo pt. 1

I AM A SPORTS PREDICTION GOD!

HOOVER BOARDS!

Lost...and Found?

3-D TV

Coming to a close...

Would You Let This Man Babysit Your 7-Year-Old Son?

I AM A GENIOUS!

A glorious day!

How the Olympics Should Have Been Scored

So Proud...so very proud

You know Stephen Harper is a Douche-Bag When...

I Hate CTV

Googles Exemplary Example!

The First

Youtube

Shout out!

hmmmm

:(

Philosophy Ruined My Life

Logan!

Shoe free!

Abortion - Morality vs Pragmatism vs Moral Pragmatism

I need to show this to my parents

Oh and one more thing

Deleting Facebook

Hiatus

Mischa Barton is the Best Actress Ever!!

Sometimes I...

Sometimes I...

Beautiful Boy

CrossRoads

What do Twilight and Bush both have in common?

Pac-Man

I hate crappy TA's

The End of a Depression?

Intervención Americana en América Latina

Future Oppurtunities

Internet Comics

Its gonna be a long night

Wow...two posts...lucky you

The Life of a Student

Falicious Super Bowl Halftime shows?

The Portrait of Dorian Gray

My New Years Resolution

So here it is...

Baptizing Jews you say!!! Gasp