Ahh science! What would we be without you.

I have this ongoing fascination with reading science articles. I often understand little about the subject  and retain even less of the material than I started with. Up to 10 minutes after reading an article I am fairly certain that I will retain about -1% of the content; not 1% of the words, like ‘the’ and ‘a’, but 1% less than I started with; hence the negative (-).

Wha?? Where am I?

Who are you people and what am I doing in this box? Why is it dark in here? It smells like socks!

What do you mean open your…

…ah! The light! It burns! It burns us!

Please tell me that the snow is finally gone. I might cry if it snows again.

Whose Kid is Messin’ With the Lights?

Come on. Some parent has apparently left their spawn unattended again except this time the child in question is flicking the switch between summer and winter.

You know the routine – we have all, at one point or another, tormented a room full of people by flashing the lights on and off. It gets real fun when you wait to see what they are going to do and then strategically turn the lights off when one of the adults gets bold enough to try walking towards you in a room full of toe-stubbing accidents waiting to happen.

Yesterday and the day before? Bitterly, soul crushing cold. Today: 11 degrees and rain. Tomorrow: -3 and snow. The next day? 13 degrees again.

It is not a big jump in temperature but it keeps flashing past the freezing point and leaving me wondering if I really need to shovel or just wait. Unfortunately if I just wait .. I’ll be shoveling chunks of ice.

The Canadian Election Choice: ABC(H)

Originally coined by Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams, the ABC Campaign (which suggests that Canadians vote for Anybody But Conservative) has, in my world, become more refined into voting ABH (Anybody But Harper). I have been avoiding talking about politics, a topic that borders on religious belief and zeal, but my current perception of the Conservative campaign is increasingly drawn to their leader and how much I do not what him to win. Incidentally that was the unintended result of a voter-marketing strategy keyed to the leader and not the party; and I think that they have shone a light on the most critical weak point that they could have.

CBC Political Panel and Afghanistan: Revisited

So I get in the car this morning and I hear the same political panel discussion being replayed on CBC. I roll my eyes and think that maybe the morning show hosts have taken a well deserved break and are replaying yesterdays show.

Nope. After the clip, which was aired to apparently refresh the memory of the audience, they read my email…

Woooo!

CBC Information Morning Polictical Panel: Afghanistan

Note: In case anyone is wondering – I was listening to CBC this morning and there was a political panel discussion regarding our Canadian Afghanistan commitment. I was a little annoyed so I wrote the following and sent it in to the show. I realize that the contents are going to seem out of sorts  with lots of assumed information; you had to listen to the show to understand

Wow. I am utterly dismayed at this mornings political panel and their absolute lack of respect for our military. Both members of the panel did nothing but use the military as a political sounding board for their particular colour of the spectrum without any knowledge of or respect for the job that they are performing.

Ninety-nine soldiers have paid the price to bring stability and peace to Afghanistan by hunting and suppressing Taliban and Al-Queda extremists in a country that has seen nothing but war for decades. We are building schools, infrastructure and, most importantly, a sense of community in an area where killing and the rule of the strongest has been the norm for most of history.

I am not sure who educated the members of the panel on the role of a military but it is not as peacekeepers. That is a common delusion that Canadians have designed to keep the instrument of blood and death all happy, gay and full of flowers. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate and respect the thought that we as Canadians are willing to put ourselves and our troops into harms way for the good of others. Peacekeeping is a noble role but our troops are trained to close with the enemy and kill them. That is combat. That is war. That is what they are trained to do. And they are the best in the world – even if they are short in number and short of cash.

I am Canadian and I am tired of the shallow arguments that our political masters weave. We are smarter than that. We are better than that.

One last comment: I think both political panel members need to pay closer attention to the American election platforms before jumping on the bandwagon making fun of them. The recent banking problems have re-focused the campaign in a way beyond putting lipstick on a pig. Sure we can pick the fruit from the lowest branch and use that to prove a point but it shows out ignorance when we pick that from a tree we do not understand or, better yet, the wrong tree.

We are better than that.

The Loss of a Great Musician

It is a sad day for me. Richard Wright, one of the founding members of Pink Floyd, died of cancer today. He was the keyboardist, and arguably the key member of the group. Through  his creative spirit and musical direction he provided an valuable contribution and influenced the music more than most people realize. Sure, you could point to the lyrics of Roger Waters, the moving guitar of David Gilmour, the solid drumming of Nick Mason or the creative flow of early member Syd Barret, but Richard brought a strong character to the music, something most people miss. Something I will miss…

Related Stories: Wikipedia, NPR and Entertainment Weekly.

Us and Them
And after all we’re only ordinary men
Me, and you
God only knows it’s not what we would choose to do

Dear Diary

Dear Diary:

- Day 4 -

I think I am insane.

I arose at 8 AM and lazed around in my underpants until 9. I went to have breakfast, collected all the necessary bits and displayed them proudly to myself in front of the computer. Unfortunately, the voices in my attic convinced me that I needed to fork to eat my cereal with. I will need to make another trip downstairs for a proper spoon while listening for their chuckles echoing along the eerily quiet hall.

To fight for my sanity today I intend to clean the house. Top to bottom. It is one of the few tasks that my besieged mind can formulate. Obviously my defenses and strategy seem to be slipping. I have been unable to locate my adversary and though I can feel her presence around every corner. I am steadfast. I am not going to tip my hand to early.

Words have begun to lose their meaning. Solitude has become my only companion.

Late in the night while lurking through the kitchen I discovered a jar with dark bean like shapes contained within. I briefly pondered what the grinder and stainless steel mug next to the jar might be for.

Some deep secret hides in the shadows of my thoughts. I can sense it trying to take hold. Is it my adversary? Or is it some repressed reality trying to exert its control? Vaguely I remember hiding this critical part of myself away. Near the start of this ordeal I realized that I might need some key knowledge and in a brief flash of foresight, I squirreled it away.

Is this the dark shape haunting my thoughts?

Alas before me now lies a steaming cup of some dark liquid. The vapors smell of magic. I know not from whence the contents come or how I arrived in the kitchen. Scattered about me are the signs of some brief battle. The grinder is partially full of the crushed bodies of this dark bean and strewn about the table and floor, like a mad scattering, is a rich, dark sand. Small paper bowls lie in groups, communities seeking company against some horrible onslaught. In the corner some devious device gurgles and pops. A glass cylinder contained in the belly of this beast contains the same dark liquid. Some alchemists mad brew.

On impulse I drink deeply….

Woo – First hike of the year

Yeah I am more than a little late on that but hopefully I can turn things around from this point on. Juggling work and play is proving a little one-sided at the moment but hopefully this is the pendulum swinging back the other way.

Dobson Trail – first 7km – in and out

In all the trail is a good workout but I like something with more running water. Something about the grugle and low, light rumble of water seems to recharge my soul.

Hmmm.. legs

So I have already passed last months total and I’ve got half the month to go. I am going to wait until the end of the month before I post any numbers though; I don’t want to get ahead of myself.

I think that today my legs gave up too