Holy Crap, it's a PADD!

Apple unviels the new iPad tablet:



Picture of the ubiquitous PADD (Personal Access Display Device) that all Star Trek fans will be familiar with:



Bit ahead of the times, aren't we? We shouldn't have PADDs until the 24th century!

Raw Milk Rocks - Factory Farms Suck

Congratulations to Michael Schmidt on winning his case. For those not in the know, Michael Schmidt is an Ontario dairy farmer who was charged with selling raw milk. Selling raw milk is illegal in Canada, though it is not illegal to consume it. Mr. Schmidt had tried to get around the law by selling shares in his dairy farm and distributing the raw milk that way. Luckily, an Ontario judge agreed with him, and unless the Crown appeals, raw milk can now be distributed using his method. Hallelujah.

I am also a drinker of raw milk, when I can get my hands on it, which isn't often out here. There just aren't that many people willing to break the law, even a law as senseless as this one. You can buy alcohol and cigarettes and processed foods loaded with chemicals and sugar, all known to be detrimental to health, but you can't buy something as healthy and good for you as raw milk?

The thing is, raw milk, coming straight out of the cow's udder, is absolutely fine to drink. The reason pasteurization was started, was because as farms got larger and became more like the factory dairy farms we have today, it became more and more likely that the milk could become contaminated with something on its way from the cow to the store. When you have a large factory dairy or feedlot, you can't pay as much attention to each individual cow or piece of machinery, and therefore contamination becomes more likely. When you have smaller farms, the farmers can spend the time needed to ensure that the products are clean and safe. Tragedies like the listeriosis outbreak at the Maple Leaf plant is much more likely to happen in a big farm or factory. As long as people are aware of what raw milk is and the possible risks in consuming it, it should not be any more illegal than any other food. And if you check out your supplier and make sure they are a small farm with clean facilities, it isn't any more dangerous.

And why do I personally drink raw milk? It isn't just because it tastes better, which is absolutely true. It's because I'm healthier for it. I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis when I was about 20 years old. And the thing about colitis, is they don't really know what causes it. They can only treat the symptoms. So I was put on cortical steroids and another aspirin-like anti-inflammatory. The steroids I went on and off of for short periods of time since they are very, very unhealthy for you. But the other anti-inflammatory I was on continuously - 6 huge tablets a day - until last Fall. When I stopped cold turkey. And I haven't had any medication since, but I'm still symptom-free. How did I do it? Raw milk, and lacto-fermented products like home-made sauerkraut. If I feel symptoms coming on, I just drink some raw milk or eat some sauerkraut, and I'm okay.

Here's my theory. Because of large factory agriculture, in order to keep our food supply safe and to kill all of the bad bacteria, we have had to use methods like pasteurization. Unfortunately, it kills the good bacteria as well as the bad. When I drink raw milk, I am repopulating my digestive system with the good bacteria that we are dependent on to digest our food properly. In fact, by killing all the bacteria in our food, we are making ourselves more unhealthy. Factory farms are killing us.

So that's my theory, and while I can't prove 100% that it was the raw milk that fixed me up, it did seem to work for me, and continues to work today. Hopefully there are some smart, enterprising scientists somewhere that are studying the effects of whole foods like raw milk on people's bodies. I suspect they'll find I'm right. In the meantime, if you have ulcerative colitis, or other similar disorders, find a supplier and try some raw milk. And hey, if you live in Ontario, you won't even have to break the law to do it.

Snow Time!

Whew, is that ever a lot of snow! The library was actually closed this morning, because not enough staff could get out of their driveways. I went anyway, cuz I had stuff to do, but I walked. Luckily, most people and businesses had been out early shoveling away, so there was only about a quarter block where I had to trudge through thigh-high drifts. And I'm sure the people in Eastern Canada would just laugh at us, cuz I've been there, and I know the kind of snow they get, but here on the prairies, we're not used to having streets and sidewalks that are just little tunnels with waist high snow on either side. It gets damn cold here, but we usually don't get huge amounts of the white stuff. Sorry, no pics, I was just too damn lazy to get my camera out. Right now, Mexico seems very far away.

So what have I been up to? I've started the third season of Dexter, a big mistake since it seems when I start with that show, I become completely addicted and cannot stop until I've watched the entire season, and I do NOT have time for that right now. I went to Sherlock Holmes on Friday with N and her buddy J. I thought it was pretty good, and they defs left the door open for future sequels. Holmes and Watson were well done, lots of quirk and funny banter. Holmes is actually portrayed as possibly bi-polar which is interesting. Also, N had told me that she had heard that there were homosexual undertones to the relationship between Holmes and Watson as portrayed in the movie, but honestly, I don't see it. That would imply that two men can't have a close friendship without being sexually attracted to each other, and I don't think that's true. It kind of reminded me of the relationship between Miles and Julian on DS9. I've also started reading the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan. I'm doing a program at the library for it in anticipation of the upcoming movie. And I have to say, I'm liking it. It's fairly well-written, and if you're a fan of Greek mythology you'll probably enjoy it. So I'm actually kind of looking forward to the movie for that one.

And now for some Simon's Cat Cartoons:



This one reminds me of Avery, although as far as I know, she has never dropped a dead bug in my mouth. She usually eats them herself.

The Return of M. Squirrel

M. Squirrel has been making an appearance at my bird feeder every morning between 8:30 and 9:00 am. I usually get to sit and watch him fill his face as I'm brushing my teeth. Here's a photo of the greedy little bugger as he pilfers some more sunflower seeds.



Now my cats have pretty much gotten used to M. Squirrel. There will be minor interest when he first shows up, but after about 30 seconds, the kittehs are like, "Oh, it's just that stupid squirrel again," and then they just roll over and go back to sleep.

But, a few weeks after M. Squirrel started his raids, finally some actual birds clued in, and I now have a chickadee and two nuthatches that are regulars at the feeder. Like I said, my cats are pretty apathetic about the squirrel these days, but, as you can see, the birds are another story:




The birds are, for some reason, infinitely more entertaining than the squirrel. I guess cause they're small and make quick darting flights. They say "prey" to my kittehs more than a fat squirrel.

Littermate best cat litter ever

So I started a little journey a while back, a journey into the world of cat litters. I had been using regular clay non-clumping cat litter for my two kitties. But when I moved to my new apartment, I decided I needed to switch. The cat litter is in my sunroom, which is just off my bedroom, and the clay stuff, even when you dump half a box of baking soda in it, kind of smelled. Also, my male cat, George, is very fussy about his litter box, and with the clay stuff, unless you changed it once a week - and I mean throw all the old litter out, wash the box out, replace with new litter - then he would decide not to use it. And I did not want him doing that in my new apartment. So I did some research and decided to try this new litter.

It's called Littermate, and it is awesome. Basically, it's made from barley, it is also clumping, and - here's where it gets awesome - the clumps are flushable. What other litter can you flush down the toilet? So you fill up the litter box with it, scoop it daily, flushing the clumps and the poops down the toilet and I have never had my toilet clog on me, (and I live in a 100-year-old house don't forget, with plumbing that's probably almost as old) although I should mention that while I was in Mexico, my friend who was taking care of my kitties did temporarily clog my toilet once with a particularly large clump, so just make sure the clumps are small enough to go down. So you just keep scooping, and replace the litter as it goes down, and then after a month they recommend you replace the entire box with new litter. The old litter can be composted or mulched. And, the stuff has baking soda in it already, and it doesn't smell. It just has that faint dusty grain scent that anyone who's ever ridden in a grain truck will recognize. But if you keep it scooped, no other odour at all.

And did I mention that it's made in Saskatoon? So let's summarize: awesome litter that is scoopable, flushable, doesn't smell, and is safe and totally non-toxic for kitties. Plus it is good for environment because it is biodegradable AND it's made from barley, a locally grown product, and it's also manufactured locally for all us SK people. So please check it out. Really, they didn't pay me to promote their product, I just love it that much. It can, unfortunately be a bit hard to find though. I know for a fact that you can get it in Critters pet shops in S'toon. I personally order it through my vet to get it here in MJ. You can go to their website and give them a call, and they will be able to tell you where to find it in your area. Although if they tell you that you can get it at Sobey's, they lie. Because that's what they told me at first, and I have checked the Sobey's in MJ, Regina, and S'toon, and never found it. I'm not sure where else in Canada it may be available, but give them a call and see. I think they said that their wholesaler was based out of Calgary, so you can probably get it in AB as well.

It is on the pricey side, about $45 for a 20 kg bag, but it is worth it. Did I mention that fussy George made the switch immediately, and has been happily using the litter box ever since? Seriously, if you love your kitties, give this stuff a try.

No Prorogue!

Just a little reminder about the rallies being organized this Saturday, January 23 across Canada. If you think it sucks that Stephen Harper prorogued parliament for a second time for no other reason than to avoid an inquiry into the torture in Afghanistan, then go and make your voice heard. In SK, there are rallies planned for Regina, S'toon, and PA. Go here for the details.

Also a reminder if you haven't already done so, join the over 200,000 people already on the facebook group Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament. If you facebook that is. I don't, but if I did, I would totally join.

And, in case you need a reminder about how much Stephen Harper is an asshole, check out the following video (found in its original context and with insightful commentary at A Creative Revolution):



Or, visit here for a more exhaustive list of Stephen Harper's crimes against democracy.

Abortion IS About Women's Rights

I came across this article over at JJ's Blog about a pregnant woman in Florida who was ORDERED by a court to stay in bed lest she miscarry. The woman is now in court, rightly arguing that the decision created a dangerous precedent.

There sadly have been other cases in the U.S. where women were confined against their will simply because they were pregnant. I have thankfully never heard of this happening in Canada, but I could be wrong. In most of those U.S. cases, unlike the case above where the woman was simply refusing to stay in bed, illegal substance abuse like cocaine was involved. But it is absolutely, without a doubt, 100% wrong to confine a woman or subject her to any procedure or treatment without her consent simply because she is pregnant. I don't care if she is smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol or snorting cocaine. It's wrong.

And yes, it is a tragedy when children are born with fetal alcohol syndrome and other disorders and disabilities caused by the mother. But when you give a fetus the same rights as any other person, then you must automatically take away the rights of the mother, and that is unacceptable. A mother and her unborn child may want/need different things, but because they're both dependent on the same body for survival, you cannot separate them. It is therefore impossible for both the Mother and the baby to hold full rights at the same time, and I am inclined to think that the person who was there first gets priority. While the baby is still dependent on the mother's body for survival, it cannot be considered a person. The rights of the mother therefore come first, full stop, no exceptions. Otherwise, you ARE discriminating against women. You are saying that one half of the population, simply because they have the responsibility of carrying the baby, do not always have the same rights over their own body as the other half of the population.

This is why abortion MUST remain legal and why women need full access to it. It is also why a woman's pregnancy and what she does while she's pregnant is her own damn business.

And if the philosophical argument doesn't convince you, then the practical one should. If there is a chance that a woman seeking prenatal care could be confined against her will because she is doing something that may risk her unborn baby's health, what do you think is going to happen? Women will stop seeking pre-natal care, especially if they engage in risky behaviours like alcohol and drugs, putting both the health of mother and baby at further risk.

Ditto goes for abortion. Abortion rates in countries where abortion is illegal, are not any less than in countries where it is legal, and in some cases, the rate is higher. All it does is drive the practice underground, again further risking the health of women.

If you want fewer abortions to occur, if you want women to not endanger the health of their unborn children, then there are things we can do, things that DO NOT impinge on the rights of women.

Sex-ed and readily available birth control are a good start. And there should be more support for women who are pregnant but have a substance abuse problems. Education about the effects on the child, and free, VOLUNTARY de-tox programs.

And if a woman wants to get up and walk around, even if it means that she loses her baby, then so be it. I can't believe that woman is even in court over that. Oy.

Breaking up is hard to do...

Even if you never really were together in the first place.

Why is it always ME that can see when a relationship is never in a million years going to work out, and never the guy? And it's therefore always up to me to break the news as gently as I can that um, yeah, actually, I never want to see you again. And the poor guy is always clueless as to what's coming.

And this time I'm just honestly sorry I even let it get as far as it did, but my problem is that I do not think well on my feet. I will always be better at post-mortems than at dodging the bullets in the first place.

And now I feel just wretched.

Kelly's fuckin' rad

Hey, it's been awhile because I've been away... in Mexico! So, I will eventually do a post about the trip when I get the time, but for now, here's my favourite Kelly videos to brighten your day, plus another Liam Show clip that I find particularly hilarious for some reason. Seriously, if you're not a Liam fan yet, click on the liamshow.com link to the right and prepare to piss yourself laughing. Betch!

Stephen Harper is a Coward

Well, here we are on the prorogue wagon once again. Twice in one year. Is Harper going to hide behind the GG every time things get a little uncomfortables for his government? Oh Noez! People are asking questions! They want us to be accountable! Quick, to the prorogue-mobile!


(Illustration courtesy of pale.)

As Andrew Coyne (for once making actual sense) says, "In what other democracy is it permissible for the government of the day to hide from the legislature for months at a time?"

Now, just to be clear, there's nothing wrong with proroguing parliament per se. It is, as Conservative cheerleader Stephen Taylor points out perfectly constitutional. And, as a couple of mouth-breathers have pointed out "The Liberals did it too!".

But there is a big difference between what the Harpocrites are doing now and when other governments in the past have prorogued parliament. The only reasons Stephen Harper is proroguing parliament now is 1)to avoid the Afghan Detainee issue (he's really hoping that if he waits a couple of months it will go away) and 2)to stack the senate with Conservative cronies so that when parliament reconvenes, he'll be able to fast-track all his garbage legislation.

To be honest, I don't think this is as obvious a dodge as last year's prorogation was. And I'm not surprised that the GG is going to go along with this one. If she was going to protest, it would have been last year when that weaselly little coward prorogued parliament to avoid a non-confidence vote and the possible take-over by the coalition. Compared with that absolute travesty and perversion of democracy, this latest escapade is only mildly insulting.

It still pisses me off though. Fuck you Stephen Harper, you traitorous wank. And fuck you Michaëlle Jean for not having the guts to stand up for Canada's democracy while you still could. And fuck you to all the opposition parties who are letting Harper get away with this. For God's sake, bring back the coalition - before Harper is dismantles everything that makes this country good.

More Twilight Reviews and Other Fun Stuff

Ha ha. Check out these reviews of Twilight and New Moon. I'm definitely not the only one that found the movies/books lacking. I especially like the part where she describes Bella as "wallpaper".





And finally, this absolutely killed me when I first watched it.

Fossil of the Year

Oh Stephen, you've made Canada so proud. I could just cry.

The Tar Sands Blow

Okay peeps, it's time to get tough with our government who are in Copenhagen as we speak acting like assholes and giving a bad name to all Canadians. Show them that they do not represent Canada. Watch the videos, then go to The Tar Sands Blow and sign the petition.





Also, there will be climate rallies in Regina and Saskatoon on Saturday. I won't be able to attend, but I will be there in spirit. If you can make it, defs go out and get your voice heard:

Demanding Climate JUSTICE in Copenhagen

Saturday December 12

REGINA Rally for Climate JUSTICE!

12:18 pm - 1 pm
Victoria Park, downtown REGINA
Featuring Music – Speakers – Ideas

For more information contact Vicki at 539-7772 or reginaclimatechaos@gmail.com

Saturday December 12

SASKATOON Rally for Climate JUSTICE!

5:30 - 6:30PM

Kiwanis Park – Vimy Memorial Bandshell, Saskatoon

On December 12th, around the world people will gather at strategic locations in their communities, and will light candles of hope to stand in solemn solidarity with the citizens of the nations whose very survival is threatened by the climate crisis. Please join us as we stand in solidarity with those least responsible for climate change and most affected by it.

Please bring a candle if you can as we will light candles and there will be some very fun climate caroling for you all to join in! Come on out and be part of the demand for climate justice! For more information contact Lisa at (306) 242-4097 lisaf@oxfam.ca

For Immediate Release - December 7th 2009

A first day fossil for Canada - Canada wins for an unwillingness to negotiate at negotiations

(Copenhagen, Denmark) Canada has been awarded a Fossil of the Day on the first day of negotiations at the UN climate summit in Copenhagen. This “prize”, given to countries who are blocking progress at the United Nations climate summit, is awarded daily by a coalition of 400 leading international NGOs.

Canada garnered today’s award for its unwavering commitment to stand firm in its inaction throughout these negotiations. At a speech in Montreal on Friday, Environment Minister Jim Prentice said that he “won’t be swayed by the Copenhagen hype.”

But if there’s one country on the face of this planet that desperately needs to be swayed, it’s Canada. Since announcing its emissions target in 2007 of reducing GHG emissions by 20% below the 2006 emission level (equivalent to 3 % below the 1990 level), the Harper government has consistently refused to adopt any regulatory framework to start reducing emissions, namely from the rapidly growing sector of tar sands. “So not only do they have the worst records of all industrialised countries, they’re now saying they are going to stick to it,” said Steven Guilbeault from Equiterre. “Someone needs to remind the Canadian government that at negotiations, it is indeed necessary to negotiate.”

“This is a day that I would not have seen coming, the day that South Africa has a more ambitious target than the province of Alberta, whose emissions continue to rise thanks to dirty oil,” says Richard Worthington from WWF South Africa. South Africa just adopted a target of reducing its emissions intensity by 34% below business-as-usual levels in 2020; Alberta’s target for 2020 is equivalent to a cut of about 15-20% below business-as-usual.

Canada has swept these awards, winning Fossil of the Year both in 2007 and 2008.

...

Fossil of the Day will be presented daily in Copenhagen from a network of over 400 leading international non-governmental organizations following a vote to determine which country had done the most over the course of the day to delay, stall, and otherwise disrupt this crucial negotiating sessions in Copenhagen in December.

Fossil of the Day

Do you hear that Harper? Get your head out of your fucking ass and actually try to lead the country for once in your miserable life you asshole.

Snow and M. Squirrel

Holy Winter Batman! November was so warm and dry (relatively speaking), and now it looks like Winter has finally hit. The first of December on the dot. We've gone from no snow, to a good few inches. I got to try out my new winter boots this morning, and although they certainly kept my feet warm and dry, the traction is not as good as I had hoped as I wiped out and fell flat on my ass, much to the amusement of the breakfast crowd in Mr. Sub I'm sure.

I put my birdfeeder out this weekend, and I woke up Monday morning to see that we had a visitor, but not quite who I was expecting. Instead of a group of chubby chickadees, a large furry red rodent was clinging to the branch next to the feeder. That's right, it was M. Squirrel. M. Squirrel has always been around, although that's the first I've seen him at that window. He was formerly spotted sitting on the tree outside the sun room scolding my cats through the window. But yesterday morning he was sitting in front of the bird feeder in a very possessive manner, and judging from the pile of sunflower seed shells under the feeder, he'd already helped himself. He did eventually leave and I haven't seen him since, so I hope the birds will eventually discover the feeder and not be intimidated by the squirrel. Although I suppose M. Squirrel will be as much entertainment for my kitties as the birds would be, so I won't resent him too much.

New Moon Movie Review

Well, New Moon was about what I was expecting. I went with my sis and a friend, and we ended up laughing through quite a bit of the movie, even though most of it wasn't meant to be funny. The whole thing is just one big cliche. And I seriously weep for any teen girls who think Bella is a wonderful role model. She's just... nothing. She keeps saying that she can't believe Edward would fall for her, because he's so hot and has all his mad vampire skillz and she doesn't have anything. And frankly I can't believe it either. What on earth does he see in her? She has no defining characteristics other than that she's supposed to be a bit of a klutz and kind of beautiful, but other than that she's not really funny, smart, or athletic. She doesn't even seem like she's that fun to be around. There's this one part in the movie where one of the Volturi tries to read her mind and he says, "I sense nothing", and I leaned over to my sister and said "That's cuz there's nothing there!". Bella just sits there and lets her life and the men in it take her wherever. At one point sis leaned over to me and whispered, "Can't she even fucking drive her own truck?" Because either Edward or Jake was usually chauffeuring her around in her own vehicle. And the guys seemed to spend the majority of their time with their shirts off. At the end we decided that the best worst part (cuz there is no "good" part in this movie) was when it showed the vision Alice has of when Bella will become a vampire, and it showed her and Edward running gaily through the woods, and Edward was wearing this weird pants and vest with a white shirt that looked somewhat effeminate, and it was soooo bad. Just about everyone in the theatre laughed at that point. So, did anyone else watch this movie? What was the best worst part for you?

Buy Nothing... Ooops

I was reminded this morning by Saskboy that today is Buy Nothing Day.

So I promptly went out and spent over $500.00.

Eeeee. Ha ha. Whoops. I have to say that I definitely did not honour Buy Nothing Day this year. Friday is my only day off work, and I had things to get. But there are many other days of the year that are Buy Nothing for me. I try very hard not to buy stuff that I don't need or don't really like. And, in addition to my wild spending spree, I also took a bunch of stuff to the Sally Ann, which included a vacuum cleaner (which came with my new apartment, but I already own an awesome one), some clothes I don't wear, and some VHS. (I got rid of my TV and VCR when I moved into my new apartment.)

So what did I spend the $500.00 on? Well, I got me some warm snow boots for about $110.00. I don't own a pair currently, and now that I'm close enough to walk to work, I'm going to need some warmer footwear this winter. I also dropped about $320.00 at amazon, purchasing various books, CDs and DVDs, mostly for Christmas presents. And I bought a birdfeeder and some sunflower seed to put in it. The feeder also has suet cages on either side where I can put the home-made suet cakes that I made last weekend. According to my friend KE, once the birds taste the home-made stuff, they'll turn up their beaks at the store-bought stuff. I plan to hang the feeder somewhere outside my living room window where the birds will provide hours of entertainment for my housebound kitties. So, even though I was naughty and consumed a bunch today, I think it's all stuff that I needed and I will use for a long time.

In other news, I got my H1N1 shot tonight. I was thinking about going to the gym afterwards, but my left arm started to ache where I got the shot. So I decided to skip the gym. It is still hurting a little bit now. I hope it won't get any worse.

I have found a new fantasy series, recommended to me by one of the teens at the library (she has excellent taste in books) which I am devouring hungrily. The Codex Alera by Jim Butcher. It's really, really good, if you're a fan of epic fantasy. Lots of battles, cool magic, and great characters. I've just finished the second one. There's been six written, the newest one out in hardcover on Dec. 1. So defs check it out if you're into fantasy.

Later tonight I am heading out to see New Moon. I think the books are awful, and the previous movie was so bad it was funny, but I just have to go and see if it's any better than the book was.

And my kitties are both asleep. My apartment is in a very old house, and the heat comes in through those old fashioned radiators that sit against the walls, and the one in the living room is right in front of the window, and is the same height as the window sill. So Avery lies on the window sill and drapes her arms and legs over the radiator to soak up some heat. And George is curled up on my lap. Which doesn't sound very funny at all, but if you'd known him a few years ago, you would laugh and laugh and laugh.

Accidental Blonde

Standing in front of the bathroom mirror the other day as I pulled back my hair to put it into a ponytail, I noticed that some of the hair around my face was lighter than the rest of my normally dark brown hair. A lot lighter. Almost, in fact, blonde. And I was quite upset because I like my natural hair colour, and I think that blonde streaks look tacky anyway. And since I had not been to the hair salon in quite awhile, I was racking my brain trying to think of how I had acquired these streaks in my hair. The sun, of course, has been known to lighten hair, and I had been walking to work lately (thanks to my beautiful new apartment!) but I really thought I wasn't out long enough for the sun to make a difference, and why would it be just the hair around my face? Then I finally figured it out. I picked up the container of Clearasil Ultra Deep Pore Cleansing Pads that I'd been using on my face for the past two months, and sure enough, right on the label: 1.5% Hydrogen Peroxide.

Oops. I have now gone back to my regular face wash. So let that be a lesson to anyone with dark hair who is using that product: use it very carefully and DO NOT let it touch your hair!! Or like me you will be stuck with tacky looking streaks around your face. I'm not fond of hair dye, so I'm just going to have to live with them until they grow out. :(

Rainbow Brite Makeover

Does anyone remember Rainbow Brite? She's an icon of the 80's, and she was a huge part of my childhood. I used to play Rainbow Brite for hours and hours with my friends or my sister and my cousins. I had a short blue skirt (actually, the skirt was made for a doll, but I managed to squeeze into it) and a rainbow belt that I would put on and run around and have adventures in as Rainbow Brite. I still have a Rainbow Brite doll.

Anyway, she's apparently making a comeback and has had a whole new makeover to appeal to the kids of today. She definitely looks like she's grown a few years older, and also lost some of her clothes. It's kind of disturbing that they had to sex her up to appeal to the kids of today.

Original Rainbow Brite vs. New Rainbow Brite

Brisingr Review

I just finished Brisingr by Christopher Paolini. It's the third book in what was originally supposed to be the Inheritance Trilogy but what is now the "Inheritance Cycle" since the story has spilled over into a fourth, yet-to-be-published volume. Not the first time that's happened to a series, but I really do think that it's symptomatic of some of the problems with this book.

The funny thing is, that in the acknowledgments, he talks about how long the first draft was and thanks his editor for helping him pare it down. Sheesh! The finished book is 750 pages long. I can only imagine how monstrous the original manuscript must have been. I know that it's supposed to be epic fantasy, and I'm sure Paolini was inspired by Tolkien... perhaps too inspired? One of the beefs I have about the Lord of the Rings is that while it is certainly beautifully written, Tolkien describes everything in excruciating detail. And he "tells" rather than shows. Same with Paolini. I found that there were many, many parts of the book where nothing much happened and it just seemed to drag and drag on forever. There were also several scenes where two characters had long and awkward conversations about certain plot points, just so Paolini could get the information across to the readers. A lot of it was unecessary.

And the details! I know that details help to flesh out a fantasy world and make it real, and you can tell that Paolini must've done a LOT of research for the book. But is it really necessary to go through all the steps of how a sword is made? Or all the proper names for Eragon's armour? There were certain points of the book where it was so detailed that I didn't even understand what he was talking about, and I'm sure 99% of Paolini's readers were in the same boat. Though perhaps somewhere there was a blacksmith or an ancient weapons enthusiast that was very pleased.

I'm all for having descriptions and authenticity in books, but a lot of it was over the top. And I thought there were many scenes that did not advance the plot in any way, help us get to know the characters better, or even really help in fleshing out the setting. They were just there, taking up space. I think the book could have been about 150 pages shorter than it was.

Having said that, I think the first part of the book was the worst for this. It picked up about half way through, and I ended up really enjoying the second half of the book. I think Paolini's writing is really coming along, and some day he's going to be great. Just not today. Still, if you like the series, Brisingr won't disappoint (there were a couple of plot twists that I didn't see coming) and I'm sure the fourth book will be the best yet.


P.S. If you're ever bored, go here. Hours and hours of time-wasting fun, I promise.

FAIL blog hits close to home

Hee hee. Someone finally sent in a picture of the Welcome to Tisdale sign to FAIL Blog. The sign has been around for a while. For those not in the know, "Rape" actually refers to "Rape Seed" aka Canola. But I agree that the sign is in poor taste. Rape? Really? Couldn't think of a better way to phrase that? Perhaps change the motto? I think "The Land of Wheat and Honey" sounds pretty good. Reminds me of the "giant hoe" episode of Corner Gas.

In other news, HP6 was good. I wasn't blown away by it, but I enjoyed it. There were a fair number of differences from the book, and I'm talking major scenes that were not in the book at all, but I think it was still okay. As long as the plot and characters are true to the spirit of the book, then changing stuff up so it works better as a film is okay. One thing that someone pointed out to me today was that they really didn't explain the whole Half-Blood Prince thing. Which is kind of dumb, since that's the title of the movie. Anyway, defs worth another watch, and I'm going again with my sister on Saturday.

Also, just had an interview today. It went okay. Not great, not terrible. Just okay. So, we'll see. If I get the job, things will certainly get interesting.

Harry Potter is an Atheist!

Or at least Daniel Radcliffe is. Way to go Dan.

One more reason to love Harry Potter. I'm definitely getting excited about the sixth movie. Goodness knows they've had us wait long enough for it. The trailers are looking pretty good. The director that did the fifth movie, David Yates, also directed this one, and is also currently working on Part 1 and 2 of Deathly Hallows. I really hope he does better with this movie. I enjoyed The Order of the Phoenix, but disagreed with some of the characterization, particularly of Dumbledore.

Eeeee! I can't wait!

Woe Canada

Is it just me, or does Canada kind of suck right now?

I just rented Passchendaele (God I love Paul Gross), and I was watching the documentary on the making of the film that's included in the extra features and they were talking about how World War I really brought Canada together. The Canadian Corps was admired by the allies, and feared by the Germans. They talked about how the Germans had a special name for the Canadians, Stormtroopers, and they knew to expect the worst when the Canadians were on the field of battle.

Not that I'm getting all romantic about war. It's awful and horrible, and I'm not sure that I should feel proud about how good this country was at killing other people. But at least it was something.

Lately, I'm not feeling like Canada has much to be proud of anymore. I used to feel that Canada was a great country and I was so lucky to be living here. We were peacekeepers, we were leaders in human rights, we were something that the international community admired and emulated.

I just look at the news now, and I think "What has Canada got to be proud of now?"

Our military is still floundering around in the quagmire of the Middle East, searching for an impossible victory. We seem to be backsliding in the human rights department left, right and centre (think of the shit the RCMP have been up to lately, and their blatant cover-up attempts, think Abousfian Abdelrazik and the government's attempts to weasel out of bringing him, a CANADIAN CITIZEN (brown skin notwithstanding) home, and this lovely bullshit from my home province).

We are one of the most advanced countries in the world, and instead of using our wealth and knowledge to better ourselves and the planet, our government is actively engaged in obstructing the world's efforts to actually do something about climate change.

In short, I feel like lately this country has not shown leadership in a single area. I am so sick of our little government of Bush-wannabes sneaking around trying to see what little acts of sabotage they can get away with before the public finally clues in and kicks their fat asses out of office. How I wish that Michaëlle Jean had had the ovaries to make Stevie boy face the music back in December last year. Though frankly, I'm not entirely confident that Ignatieff and the Libs would do much better. Same shit, different pile.

We've become a nation of apathetic, arrogant ignoramuses, with nothing better to do than sit on our fat asses and watch the latest lobotomizing reality tv shows. I just don't know what it's going to take to shock us out of this.

Dear Mother Nature, WTF?

I'm sitting in front of my computer dressed in my flannel jammy pants and my cosy slippers, sipping a nice cup of hot tea. In June. This weather has been crazy. And although I'm thankful that we didn't get snow here like they did at my parents', the just above freezing temperatures and relentless rain are not much better. Last night, as the temperature in my apartment dipped below 15 degrees, I finally gave in and turned the heat back on. In June.

To cheer everybody up on this most unsunny of Sundays, here's a little Garfunkel and Oates. Enjoy.

Star Trek!

I just got back from watching Star Trek, and it was awesome! Even if you're not a Trekkie, go see it. I took my sister to it, and although I have force-fed a lot of Star Trek over the years to her, she's not even close to being a Trekkie, and she really liked it as well. Aside from a few quibbles (like the George Lucas-esque small, cutesy alien that accompanies Scotty - think Phantom Menace *shudders in revulsion*), it was a fantastic movie. And they totally nailed the characters.

And I'm so, so glad. Because after the last TNG movie, Nemesis, and that absolute travesty of a TV series, Enterprise, the Trek franchise really needed to pull one out. So congrats to J.J. Abrams, you did a fabulous job.

And since we're on the subject of previous Trek incarnations, because of the movie coming out, there's been a lot of Trek talk on Space channel which I have been watching on and off. They showed all the previous movies, and had various discussion panels and documentaries, etc. And they were being quite critical of the previous TV shows, and not just Enterprise, but there were a few shots directed at DS9 and Voyager, mostly based on the fact that they began losing ratings with those series. But I have to defend those two shows.

Personally, I think Deep Space Nine is the best Star Trek series ever made. It was so well-written. I can't even think of another TV show that had such good writing. It was a huge cast, there were about 10 main characters to keep track of, not to mention many recurring guest stars, but the writers managed to keep all the characters engaged in the series, growing and changing. The characters, all of them, evolved over the series in many respects, and there was also a wonderful balance of character-driven and plot-driven episodes, (most episodes were a good mixture of both). And the series managed to have small story arcs, but also one, main, overarching story arc that continued throughout the series. There were elements in the last episode that had their roots way back in the first season. It was so amazing. I've often wondered if they planned it all from the beginning the way the series so neatly came full circle.

On to Voyager, which I will admit, is not even half as good as DS9. But it was still a good show. Good characters, good plotlines (mostly), and although the final episode felt a little tacked on (like they finally realized in the last episode they had to get them home in a hurry, cuz you couldn't end the series with them still lost in space... Geez, they had a whole season to do something about it) it was still good TV. I'd put Voyager only slightly lower quality than TNG.

But, I have to say, any criticism directed at Enterprise is wholly deserved. What a terrible series. And it has absolutely everything to do with the writing. From the beginning they struggled. It was like they didn't know where they wanted it to go, or what kind of series they wanted it to be. Unlike DS9, which as I mentioned found the perfect balance of plot and character, Enterprise teetered between two extremes. There were episodes that were all plot, nothing but explosions and phaser fights, alternated with episodes that focused on one or two characters, where nothing really interesting happened at all, except some awkward scenes where you were supposed to get to know the characters. It was like they just couldn't combine the two. And the plotlines were hit and miss. It was only in Enterprise's last season that they Finally got some good plotlines going, where they finally used the time period in Trek history to their advantage. But then the show got cancelled, and they ended it with THE WORST SERIES FINALE EVER. I won't go into detail here, but that season finale so traumatized me that I can't even watch reruns of Enterprise anymore. All I can say is, shame on those writers, whoever they were. You suck.

So, once again, I am so happy that the new Trek movie rocks. I'm going to see it again, hopefully with my Dad who is part of the reason that I am a Trekkie today. I remember going to see Star Trek 6 with him in the theatre when I was 11.

Ooh yeah, and my sister thinks the actor who played Kirk was really hot, but I personally liked Spock the best. They're all really fantastic.

Easter Break and Bad Book Review

Easter weekend was awesome. It was wonderful to be with *almost* all the reindeer cousins in E-Town again. My thumbs are only just now recovering from multiple rounds of Mario Kart and Rock Band. Good times were had sipping margaritas and wine in the hot tub, there was an extreme amount of shopping done, and I got to have lunch with E-Town native RAL who I hadn't seen for a long time. Needless to say I was extremely disappointed to have to come back home and go to work on Tuesday :(

During the long car ride to and from, I got to do a little recreational reading. I had recently purchased Dead is the New Black by Marlene Perez. See it was recommended in January's Cosmo as a good Teen book for adults to check out, sort of in the Twilight/Harry Potter tradition. Well, let me be the first to tell you: Stay far, far away from this book. It really sucked. It was badly written, the plot seemed to jump ahead suddenly in spots, the prose was choppy, etc. Believe me, it's no Harry Potter, and sadly, it's not even as well-written as Twilight. The heroine, who we are told again and again is supposed to be some sort of social outcast, manages to become the girlfriend of the star of the football team, make the cheerleading squad, become best friends with the richest most popular girl in school, and then, with her psychic powers, she squashes the evil vampire lady with a set of bleachers just in time for her to attend the homecoming dance with her football star and become the homecoming queen. Cuz, you know, what else could a girl aspire to? Everything was way too easy. Zero character development. Bleah.

Seriously, what is with all these books with these dumb female protagonists? If you want to read a well-written book with strong women characters, check out anything by Shannon Hale or Tamora Pierce. I also just read Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale, and there is no comparison. Unfortunately there is apparently two sequels to Dead is the New Black. I won't be reading them.

PDAs and other annoyances

Well, this has kind of been the week from hell. I went to visit my parents last weekend and then the nasty snow/freezing rain came causing me to miss work on Monday. Even though I waited to drive home until Monday afternoon, there was still about 50 km straight of pure ice covered in snow-drifts. Everyone on the highway was going about 50 kph but the car in front of me still ended up in the ditch. Then on Wednesday I had another altercation with a patron who's been giving me grief. Luckily my boss is backing me up and everyone I've talked to has told me that she's being completely unreasonable, but it is still very, very stressful for me to have such an ongoing antagonistic relationship with someone. Then the Internet was down on Thursday and part of Friday at work, which for me is like having someone blindfold me or tie my hands behind my back. It's very strange how dependent I've become on having immediate access to the internet. I'd think of something to do, and then it was like, "oh crap, I need the internet for that." For example, I wanted to know the definition of a word and found myself typing "define" into google before I remembered: no internet. I sat there frustrated for an entire minute before I realized HELLO, YOU WORK IN A LIBRARY. I then walked ten feet outside my office door to the dictionary in children's reference where I found my answer in about 30 secs... but Google's still faster.

In other news, I'm really, really starting to dislike PDAs. A couple of months ago, I was working the checkout desk (which I only do for one hour every two weeks, so I don't get a lot of practice). This guy comes up (who looks like he's around thirty-something) and he's got a girl with him. He wants to get a new card for his twelve-year-old daughter and to put it in his name because his ex-wife has lost the daughter's first card and is too busy to come down and get her one herself. I get the impression that he isn't too happy with his ex-wife. So I get everything ready, and I pass the new card to the girl who's standing next to him and ask her to sign the card. And the girl looks really confused for a minute and then says, "Oh. No. I'm not his daughter." And she turns to the dad and says, "Ohmigod, she thought I was your daughter!" Oooops. Obviously the girl is not his daughter but his girlfriend. And it's not like she really looked twelve, but she didn't really look old enough to be the girlfriend of a guy who had a twelve-year-old daughter either. Then, as if to make sure I thoroughly understand the nature of their relationship, they immediately start making out in front of me while I finish up with the registration. Ewww. I really, really don't need to see that. Especially in such close proximity. If I ever behave like that with a guy in public, you all have permission to kick my ass.

Du Hast

Okay, here's a fun new meme that I found on Libba Bray's blog.

My Life in Itunes

RULES:

1. Put your iTunes, Windows Media Player, etc. on shuffle.

2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.

3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS.

4. Tag 15 friends

5. Everyone tagged has to do the same thing.

6. Have Fun!


Here we go...

IF SOMEONE SAYS 'ARE YOU OKAY' YOU SAY?

Runaway Train (Soul Asylum)


HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF

Paralyzer (Finger Eleven)


WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?

My Favourite Mistake (Sheryl Crow) *Sigh*


HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?

Cloud #9 (Bryan Adams) So True!


WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?

Time of Your Life (Green Day) Isn't this everyone's life purpose?


WHAT'S YOUR MOTTO?

I'm Walking on Sunshine (Katrina & the Waves)


WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?

Don't Speak (No Doubt)


WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?

Green Tinted 60's Mind (Mr. Big)


WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?

Shine (Collective Soul)


WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?

Here Comes the Sun (Beatles)


WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?

Saving Grace (Tom Petty)


WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?

Wild Thing (The Troggs) Hee hee!


WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?

Intuition (Feist)


WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?

Spin the Bottle (Juliana Hatfield)


WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR?

Animals (Nickelback)


WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?

Kryptonite (Three Doors Down)


WHAT DO YOU WANT RIGHT NOW?

The Score (Sarah Slean)


WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?

Two Princes (Spin Doctors)


WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?

Du Hast (Rammstein)


I'm tagging librarychik and Ash and anyone else who thinks it looks like fun.

Wake Up!

Wake Up, Freak Out - then Get a Grip from Leo Murray on Vimeo.

Come on peeps. We've got to do something about this NOW. Don't let Stephen Harper get away with ignoring this huge problem! Our lives or the lives of our children could be at stake.

Happy Decemberween

Well, winter has kind of got me down. It's been deathly cold here for two weeks straight. So I've decided to make a list of all the things that I like about winter to cheer me up:

1. The snow evens out the speed bumps in my building's parking lot so that you hardly notice it when you drive over them now.
2. Um... Uh... Huh.

It's going to be a long winter.

So it's a good thing that I'm going someplace very warm on Jan. 7th. Ha ha ha. Jealous yet? Oh I pity all you poor things who have to suffer here in the cold while I'm gone. Of course I'm sure it will warm right up as soon as I get on the plane.

In other news, I read the book Feed by M.T. Anderson. It was like, meg sad and I like cried for the last quarter of the book. It's supposed to by all dystopic and shit, you know? But like, really, it's almost too close to reality to be satire. But still it was pretty brag, and I defs recommend it.

That's all for now, so everyone have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Think warm thoughts!

Finally!

I don't know about you, but I've been in a pretty good mood since Friday. Why? Because finally, finally something good is happening in this country's government. Before Friday, I was feeling pretty depressed about the political climate in Canada. Because of our first-past-the-post electoral system and the vote-splitting on the left, I could only see more Conservative minority governments in the future. I thought there was no way out. No way were the NDP and the Liberals ever going to get it together enough to cooperate against the Cons. And even if they did, they still wouldn't have enough seats. Because surely they'd never get the Bloc on board...

But then, a miracle happened. And we have Stephen Harper to thank for it. Wow, never thought I'd be thanking that twit for anything. But because of his complete inability to set aside partisan politics even in the face of the looming economic crisis, the opposition finally got it together.

Now that the conservatives are running scared, they're spouting all sorts of nonsense about the coalition being "a coup" and "undemocratic". Um, excuse me? How about using the economic crisis as an excuse to ram a bunch of partisan legislation down our throats, legislation which would have effectively made it next to impossible for the opposition parties to run a campaign next election. Wow, that's not undemocratic at all, is it? And then we have all the conservatives whining about how the coalition isn't democratic because it wasn't elected. *Sigh* Do we have to go over the numbers again? The Conservatives have a minority government who received less than 40% of the popular vote in the election two months ago. Over 60% of the population of Canada voted for the NDP, the Liberals, the Bloc or the Greens. I even had to sit here and listen to Brad Wall say that no one in Saskatchewan supported the coalition, a statement that echoes Western conservatives everywhere. But I'd just like to point out to Mr. Wall that although Saskatchewan only got one Liberal seat due to our retarded electoral system, 46% of the people of Saskatchewan voted NDP, Liberal or Green. That's not no one. Dumbass.

A coalition government is NOT the end of the world peeps. Don't listen to the Cons running around screaming that the sky is falling. Coalition governments happen in other countries all the time. In countries like New Zealand, where they have a proportional representation system, they usually have minority governments and so almost always end up forming some sort of coalition government. They can work.

And please don't listen to all the fear mongering about the Bloc. Yes, they're a separatist party, but aside from that, they are a left-leaning party that has a lot in common with the NDP. A lot of what the Bloc thinks is good for Quebec is actually good for all of us. I actually kinda like Gilles. His cold blue eyes don't freak me out quite as much as they used to.

At this point, there isn't a lot Harper and the Cons can do except make a lot of noise and hope that the opposition backs down. He will undoubtedly ask the Governor General to prorogue parliament, but I'm really hoping that she will not grant this request. Speaking of undemocratic, a government shouldn't be allowed to avoid defeat simply by dismissing parliament. Write Governor General Michaëlle Jean and tell her how you feel.

And if you've agreed with anything I said in this post, go here and sign the petition. Pass it on!

Quiz Time!

Your result for The Which Shakespeare Play Are You? Test...

Problem Plays

You scored 53% = Tragic, 45% = Comic, 20% = Romantic, 29% = Historic

You are the "Problem Plays!" The Problem Plays are a group of Shakespeare's plays that cannot be readily identified as either Tragedies or Comedies because they have an equal amount of both. The Problem Plays often present the protagonist with a situation that must be overcome, but after a toilsome journey, the hero almost always comes out on top! Often called "tragicomedies," the Problem Plays contain elements of dark psychological drama, light-hearted comedy, and a bit of romance. This means you are most likely a well-rounded individual with a perfect balance Tragedy, Romance, and Comedy in your life. While you may experience some hard times along the way, odds are you will fight through them and come out on top!

Take The Which Shakespeare Play Are You? Test at HelloQuizzy

Thanks librarychik!

Some Random Stuff

1. Damn you Firefox! My browser crashed no less than 5 times this morning. And at one point I couldn't access my hotmail. WTF? Please, please someone fix these bugs! Otherwise I'm stuck using IE 6! Gah!

2. The staff at Curves is really annoying. And I understand that they're trying to make you feel all warm and fuzzy and part of a community, etc. That's what they get paid for, but seriously, what makes them think that I want to have a conversation about what I did last weekend with a virtual stranger while sweat drips down my face and I'm panting like a dog? Geez. Take a hint and stop pestering me.

3. Have you seen the trailer for the new Star Trek Movie? It looks pretty good, although with something like Star Trek where there's so much history, it gets really tough. You'll never please everyone.

4. I'm having a Teen Twilight Party on Thursday at the library, and so I was compiling a list of vampire read-alikes, and I came across Sunshine by Robin McKinley. It was an adult book, so I thought I should read it first to make sure it was appropriate. I had to subsequently take it off my list as I decided it was too racy to book talk to thirteen-year-olds, but I really, really enjoyed it. The only thing that bugs me, is that the ending leaves sooooo many loose ends. So many, in fact, that you immediately assume there's going to be a sequel. But alas, there is not. At least not yet. Sunshine was first published in 2003, and they are republishing a new edition this year leading some fans to hope that this may be an indication that McKinley is indeed working on a sequel. I hope so, because it would be sooo awesome. I just don't get why she would write these interesting, complex characters and create this cool world and then just... leave it. So much potential. So, with the warning that you will be disappointed with the end, I heartily recommend this book to anyone who is suffering from post-Twilight depression and needs a solid injection of vampire love. Or lust anyway.

And here's a quick tantalizing morsel to whet your appetite:

"Constantine,"I cried, "are you turning me?"

"No," he said. "I would not. And this is not that."

"Then what-"

"Do not talk. Not now. Later. We can talk later."

"But- but- I am so frightened," I pleaded.

In the moonlight I could see his silhouette clearly. He raised his head away from me, arching his neck backward so our bodies remained touching. I saw him rip, quickly, neatly, his upper lip with his lower teeth, his lower lip and tongue with his upper. He bent his head to me again, and when he stopped my mouth with his, his blood ran across my tongue and down my throat.

An Illiterate Society cannot be a Democracy

An interesting article that I came across via Mike.

The article talks about how fucked up America is, and how most people are so illiterate they are incapable of critical thinking. Specifically, the article discusses this in relation to the recent election.

Political propaganda now masquerades as ideology. Political campaigns have become an experience. They do not require cognitive or self-critical skills. They are designed to ignite pseudo-religious feelings of euphoria, empowerment and collective salvation. Campaigns that succeed are carefully constructed psychological instruments that manipulate fickle public moods, emotions and impulses, many of which are subliminal.
...
Political leaders in our post-literate society no longer need to be competent, sincere or honest. They only need to appear to have these qualities. Most of all they need a story, a narrative. The reality of the narrative is irrelevant. It can be completely at odds with the facts.

The article is American, but I see so much that can apply to our own recent election. How many people actually went on the internet and found out what Stephane Dion's Green Shift was all about? Or did they just let the Conservative propaganda (Stephane Dion is not a leader!) make their decisions for them? And it's not just the Conservative Party. All the parties are guilty of this. Their ads were overwhelmingly negative, attacking the party's leader in personal terms rather than their policies. They attempted to create, as it says above, a narrative about respective party leaders, regardless of whether or not that had any basis in reality.

I don't think we're quite at the level of America yet, but I think we're heading in that direction. It's a really, really, depressing thought.

Okay, okay. I get it.

Here's a dream that I had a couple of nights ago.

I'm walking in a sort of part maze, part garden. The walls of the maze are made of bamboo, and the corridors open up now and then to reveal bonsai and other plants and flowers among bubbling fountains of water. Very zen.

And there is a woman who is walking the maze with me. She's not leading me anywhere, she's just walking with me. Another thing about the maze is that it is vertical as well as horizontal, and we sometimes have to climb bamboo ladders to reach other bamboo platforms higher up.

Often we go through an opening or climb a ladder only to find ourselves back where we started. It is only after we've been through a section several times that I finally see an opening which will allow us to go on to the next section of the maze. The opening has been there all along, but for some reason it was not visible to me the first few times that I passed it.

I have just climbed to the top of one of the bamboo ladders and stepped onto the bamboo platform when there is a sudden rumble, and the entire platform collapses from under me. The other woman and I fall to the ground below, but we are not hurt. The other woman then speaks to me for the first time. She looks at the collapsed platform at our feet and says, "Some things are too broken to be fixed. You can only move on and begin again."

She then moves to stand between two bonsai and is transformed into a stone statue, becoming just another part of the garden. And I am left alone standing on the splintered wreckage of the bamboo platform.

That type of dream is the equivalent of my subconscious hitting me on the head with a very large stick. I'm pretty sure I know what it means with respect to my life.

What would it mean to you?

Election 2008 - You Suck

Well, that was a waste of time and money. And considering the dismal voter turnout, I'm not the only one who thought so.

First of all I would like to congratulate the people who voted conservative in Cypress Hills-Grasslands. You have once again elected a religious nutbag who believes the earth was created 6,000 years ago. That's definitely the person I want representing my interests in Ottawa. You know, someone who can think critically.

I was also extremely disappointed in Palliser riding. In 2006, the combined votes of the NDP and the Liberals were more than the Conservatives, so I was really hoping that people were going to vote strategically, take one for the team, so to speak, as long as it meant keeping Harper out. Alas, it did not work out that way. Geez people. I would've voted Liberal had I been in a riding where the Liberal candidate came in second place in 2006. And I never vote Liberal. Did nobody do their homework?? It takes 30 seconds to look up the results from the last election. Although at least no one in Palliser wasted votes on a non-existent candidate.

I am also very sorry for everyone in Saskatoon-Rosetown-Biggar who missed out on having Nettie Wiebe as their MP by 253 votes. Both the Green Party and the Liberals in that riding got over 1,000 votes each.

On a positive note, I was extremely pleased to see Rahim Jaffer have his ass handed to him by Linda Duncan in my former riding of Edmonton-Strathcona.

But all in all, it was very disappointing, and very frustrating, especially for those of us with left-leaning tendencies. In fact, it has many people talking about proportional representation.

Let's look at the numbers:

Conservatives: 38% vote share, 46% of seats
Liberals: 26% vote share, 25% of seats
NDP: 18% vote share, 12% of seats
Bloc: 10% vote share, 16% of seats
Green: 7% vote shore, 0 seats

It's easy to see why people are upset. Stephen Harper gets to be our Prime Minister when 62% of Canadians didn't vote for him. Even without the Bloc or the Green Party, the Liberal and NDP vote share is more than the conservative, yet because of our first past the post electoral system, we get a crappy conservative government for the second time in a row.

But, keep in mind that if we did go to proportional representation, majority governments would be a thing of the past. To see a working example of this type of electoral system, check out New Zealand. They adopted a Mixed Member Proportional system in 1993, and their next general election is going to be held next month on November 8th.

In the meantime, I'm hoping that the Bloc, NDP and Liberals can pull themselves together and cooperate enough to keep Harper from passing the worst bits of legislation. And for goodness sake, let's not have another election. For at least a little while, ok?

Sarah Palin = Scary Bananas

I'm sure you've all heard about Sarah Palin, republican John McCain's running mate. But she is so very, very scary, that I just had to put my two cents in. The republicans presumably picked her in the hopes that some of the women who were voting for Clinton would then vote for Palin. That is indicative of an extremely dim view of the intelligence of women. For sure, a woman in the white house would be nice for a change, but to assume that American women will just look at Palin and go, "Oooh. She has ovaries! Just like me! I'll vote for her!" is insulting. It assumes that women don't know or care about the actual issues. Sadly, I'm sure that there really are some women who actually think like this. Let's hope they are few and far between, because Sarah Palin is probably the last person you would want to represent the interests of women.

I have noted with particular interest this little tidbit: "[Sarah Palin] has inquired locally [Wasilla] about the possibility of using her position to ban children's books from the public library". A few months after the incident, the city librarian was also told she was going to be fired, although Palin later relented. Whether or not that had anything to do with the rather dim view the librarian took of Palin's attempted book banning is unclear.

In the end it really doesn't matter whether or not any books were actually banned. The very fact that Palin asked about it shows her true colours.

And the really scary thing is that John McCain is 72 years old and has apparently had 4 bouts of cancer. Should he be elected, it is Sarah Palin who will replace him as President if he dies.

Yes, I know I'm Canadian. And we've got our own upcoming election to worry about (Damn you Stephen Harper!). But we all know how close our own fortunes are tied into those of the United States. And a United States with Sarah Palin at the helm is a very frightening prospect.

Breaking Dawn Review

Avery Cat gives Breaking Dawn 4 out of 5 catnip mousies


I finished Breaking Dawn a couple of days ago, and I enjoyed it. Personally, I think it was the most well-written of the series. Now, I have blogged about the previous three books in the series before, and if you read any of those posts, you'll know that although I voraciously consumed all three books in little over a week, I also concluded that they weren't very well-written. I felt the plot was uneven, with nothing happening in the beginning, and all the action at the end. The character of Bella also really, really annoyed me. She was too passive, always letting things happen to her without taking control of her own life. In fact, I was completely mystified as to what Edward saw in her, because to me, she was flat and lacking personality. She just was. It seemed like she was only defined in her relationship to Edward. I'm a big fan of strong female characters in the books that I read, and Bella just really wasn't cutting it.

Now I'll tell you why Breaking Dawn was better.

Spoiler Alert!
I thought the plot in Breaking Dawn was a lot better balanced. There seemed to be a little more action in the beginning of the book and so it sustained my interest a bit better. And Bella getting pregnant? Well, I wouldn't have predicted that for the last book, although once I started reading I figured it out pretty quickly due to the foreshadowing.

And although I know for a fact there were a lot of people hoping that Bella would get together with Jacob instead, I knew that it was going to be Edward. I mean, they've been together since book one, and they consider each other soul mates. It was a done deal long ago.

And I personally think that the character of Bella improved 100% in this book. Even before she gets her cool vampire powers, she takes a stand on keeping the baby, where before, she pretty much has had to go along with whatever Edward has said.

And I enjoyed the ending a lot. The whole stand-off in the woods was good. And of course, although Meyer has said she's done writing from Bella's perspective, the ending leaves plenty of room for a sequel what with the unresolved confrontation with the Volturi. Perhaps she'll continue the storyline with Jacob and Renesmee as the main characters.

I am also excited about the Twilight movie which is coming in December. Check out the trailer. It looks good, but Bella's voice is somehow wrong to me.

And in other news, I just watched Star Wars: The Phantom Menace again last night because it was on TV, and I was just reminded all over again of how horrid parts of that movie were. But it also had some really good parts too. I liked especially all the light saber fights. But if you remember the last fight, after Darth Maul has killed Qui-Gon and then he knocks Obi-Wan off the platform so he's dangling below him. And then Obi-Wan jumps up and does a flip over his head and then slices Darth Maul in half. And it suddenly struck me... is that not exactly what Anakin tries to do in the third movie? So how come Obi-Wan can do it, but when Anakin tries it, he gets sliced in half? Hmmmm?

Harry Potter Obsession

Yay Harry Potter! Check out the trailer for the new movie. It sent chills down my spine. You'd think that maybe a year later my obsession with all things Potter would have faded... but, no.

Harry Potter forever!!!!

Scary, scary, scary

Well, the one good thing about all the annoying security at airports, is that if you end up sitting next to a psychopath on the plane, at least he won't have a large butcher knife hidden on him.


Kind of makes you never want to take public transit again.

Letters

Dear Curves evening-shift girl;

I know that if no one comes in after 7:00 that you can close early at 7:30 pm. I am sorry that I had the nerve to come in at 7:15 and work out for my full half an hour. I am sure you must have been anxious to get home to your leftover pizza and reality tv. But even though I was the only person working out, you are technically supposed to be open until 8:00 pm. Sighing dramatically and looking longingly at the clock will not make me leave any faster. Actually, just for you, I took an extra long time stretching out my hamstrings tonight. And turning off the lights while I was still in the dressing room, well that was just rude. So don't be surprised that I didn't give you my usual cheery post-workout wave. Bitch.


Dear adolescent punk who was walking down ninth tonight;

I'm sure that the two girls you were with thought it was very funny when you pretended to dart out in front of my car, causing me to slam on my brakes. They probably would have been more impressed if I had actually swerved into oncoming traffic and hit another car. So keep practicing. And hopefully someday someone won't be paying attention and you'll become someone's new hood ornament.


Sincerely,
Violette

Kittehs!

Thursday Next Series - Jasper Fforde

First I would like to whine about the fact that I am sick. In July! Goodness knows I get enough colds during the rest of the year, but summer is supposed to be the one season I can count on not to get sick. And I am laying the blame squarely at my sister's feet: K, this is all your fault. Keep you cursed germs to yourself next time.

But I do want to talk about this fabulous new series I'm reading. ypk blogged about it a while ago on Speak Friend, and Enter, but I hadn't gotten around to it. So I finally did, and it's brilliant. It's the kind of novel, that if you're a writer, throws you into the depths of despair, because you know that in a million years you'll never be able to write anything half as good.

The series is a weird kind of melding of science fiction / fantasy / crime novel. The main protagonist is a woman named Thursday Next. She lives in England in the mid-1980s, in a world that is similar to our own, but with a few major differences. For example, the Crimean War is still going on, the Germans actually managed to invade England for a brief time in the Second World War, and Wales is still a separate country from England. Those are just the historical differences though. It gets weirder. The entire country is run by a massive corporation called Goliath, and Thursday Next works as a LiteraTec (Literary Detective) in SpecOps (Special Operations), which is an organization under Goliath that handles investigations that are too much for the regular police force. Among other things, SpecOps is in charge of dispatching vampires, zombies, and other deadly creatures of the night.

In the first book in the series, The Eyre Affair, the original manuscript to Jane Eyre has been stolen, and someone is attempting to alter the manuscript, which would therefore alter all copies of the story for good. Thursday discovers that she has a talent for jumping into books, and so she goes into the story to save it. I actually had to stop in the middle of reading this book and go and read Jane Eyre (which by the way, if you haven't done, do it. It's quite good for one of those 19th century novels), because I was really missing out on all the plot references. Anyway, Thursday discovers that there's a whole other world where the characters from all the novels interact freely. And because of her ability to read herself into books, she gets drafted as a JurisFiction agent, charged with policing the Book World.

Besides being crime thrillers, the books are also very funny. There are numerous allusions to other classic novels (For Example, Miss Havisham from Great Expectations has a penchant for fast cars and often gets together with Mr. Toad from The Wind in the Willows for a race), and the author has a lot of fun with the conventions of plot and grammar, etc. I shall now share a quotation (the same one which ypk originally blogged) which amply demonstrates the sort of clever silliness that I'm talking about. JurisFiction (the organization that polices the Book World) is meeting to discuss several problems on the agenda:

'Good. Item seven. The had had and that that problem. Lady Cavendish, weren't you working on this?'

Lady Cavendish stood up and gathered her thoughts.

'Indeed. The use of had had and that that has to be strictly controlled; they can interrupt the ImaginoTransference quite dramatically, causing readers to go back over the sentence in confusion, something we try to avoid.'

'Go on.'

'It's mostly an unlicensed usage problem. At the last count David Copperfield alone had had had had only thrice. Increased had had usage had had to be overlooked but not if the number exceeds that that that usage.'

'Hmm,' said the Bellman. 'I thought had had had had TGC's approval for use in Dickens? What's the problem?'

'Take the first had had and that that in the book by way of example,' explained Lady Cavendish. 'You would have thought that that first had had had had good occassion to be seen as had, had you not? Had had had approval but had had had not; equally it is true to say that that that that had had approval but that that other that that had not.'

'So the problem with that other that that was that --?

'That that other -other that that had had approval.'

'Okay,' said the Bellman, whose head was in danger of falling apart like a chocolate orange, 'let me get this straight: David Copperfield, unlike Pilgrim's Progress, which had had had, had had had had. Had had had had TGC's approval?'

There was a very long pause.

'Right,' said the Bellman with a sigh. 'That's it for the moment. I'll be giving out assignments in ten minutes. Session's over -- and let's be careful out there.' (p 256-7)

Various

My life has lately been very, very busy, but sadly not very exciting. So here are some reviews of what I've been reading/watching.

Sex and the City
Ummmm. I enjoyed it. But I'm not sure if anyone who hadn't been a follower of the tv series would have. It was pretty much like three or four episodes strung together to make a movie. My favourite part was when a certain character confesses that they've been cheating on another certain character, and the whole audience gasped. Which wouldn't have happened in a regular movie. But because everyone in the theatre was a fan and had been watching and knowing these characters for years, it was like your best friend came up to you and confessed that they'd been cheating. Oh and there were like, four guys in the audience. Including my sister's bf. Hi J!

Bee Movie
Yes it's a kids movie, but I am a Children's Librarian. Not that that's really an excuse. The second most watched channel on my tv is Teletoon. But, anyway, I thought it looked like it could be kind of cute and funny, so I rented it. And after it was over, I just kind of sat staring at the screen going "huh?". It's like, halfway through, the creators just said, "You know what? This movie is not very good, and it's already kind of starting to not make sense. So let's just throw out EVERYTHING we know about plot and character and make the dumbest movie ever. Sound good?" I mean, seriously, the beginning had its moments, but after you get about mid-way through, the whole thing just becomes so random and stupid. You know, just because it's a kids movie shouldn't mean you can just make a steaming pile of crap and get away with it because Jerry Seinfeld will sell it for you. Yuck.

Sweep Series by Cate Tiernan
This is a series about a teen girl who discovers that she's an extremely powerful witch when she joins a Wiccan coven. They're pretty good. Not fabulous, amazing writing, but the plot keeps the pages turning. There's lots of twists and turns, and there are a ton of books in the series. I just finished book 8, and I'm not even sure how many books have been written. They do almost become a bit soap-like though, in that they have to keep changing things around and shocking you to keep you reading, right? So in every book it's like, ohmigod, so that guy, who you thought was bad, is actually good! And that guy you thought was good, is actually bad! And so forth. But they're good for a quick, entertaining read.

Mediator Series by Meg Cabot
This 6-book series is about a girl who can talk to ghosts. And when she moves to California she finds an amazingly sexy boy ghost haunting her bedroom. And it might seem like their relationship can't go anywhere (him being dead and all), but this girl can not only talk to ghosts, she can touch them too, just as if they were real people. So literally kicking ghost butt (or kissing) is not out of the question. Good series. The first three books were okay, and then in the fourth book the plot kicked into high gear. And you know it's got to have a happy ending, but I couldn't figure out HOW she was going to pull it off. So it was pretty good. Again, not especially deep... but who am I kidding? I never read anything deep unless I'm going to have to write an essay on it.

Inkheart
Uh, no. I haven't actually seen this. Because it hasn't been released yet. I just wanted to complain about the fact that it was originally scheduled to be released in March 2008, and I put in my library newsletter that it was going to be released then, and it wasn't, and now it says it's going to be released in January 2009! That's almost a year later! What happened?

And what's up with this cold, rainy weather? I mean, I'm not complaining about the rain, cuz I know the farmers need it (Hi Dad!), but seriously, (if you can believe the weather channel) it's going to be rainy and cold for the next week. This is not nice June weather.

Okay, I'm done bitching. Ciao.

Veronica Mars Rocks

I bought all three seasons of Veronica Mars on DVD exactly one week ago. And I've watched them all. Yes, all three seasons in one week. Needless to say, it's been a week of indulgence. Right now my place looks like a hurricane went through it (Dishes? Laundry? What are those?) and I haven't actually slept in the last 24 hours, but it was worth it. If you haven't yet had the pleasure, please take a look. It's pretty freaking awesome.

For those not in the know, Veronica Mars is kind of like Nancy Drew for the new millennium. The parallels are obvious: teenage girl living with single father attempts to live a normal life while solving mysteries for friends on the side. Veronica and her dad even use the names Carson and Nancy Drew as aliases during an episode (ha ha), but the concept has been updated quite a bit into something much less wholesome than the original Nancy. Unlike Carson Drew, Veronica's father Keith is not a famous, well-to-do lawyer, but a former sheriff turned private detective, who now makes his living taking dirty pictures of cheating spouses and chasing down parole jumpers. Nancy's mother was dead, whereas Veronica's mother just ditched them for reasons that are not entirely clear in the beginning. And while I have always been an admirer of Miss Drew, Veronica basically blows her out of the water, both in sleuthing ability, and personality. Veronica has nerves of steel and she's not satisfied with just catching the crooks, she likes to make them pay. Revenge is a dish best served cold indeed. Not to mention that next to all Veronica's high-tech spy gadgetry, Nancy's trusty old magnifying glass just looks hopelessly inadequate.

The series has, as most of my favourites do, a good balance between "bad guy of the week" episodes and continuing storylines that pop up from time to time. I really think the first season is the best; that storyline is so wickedly convoluted and sordid. But the second and third seasons were also eminently watchable.

It makes me very sad when an awesome show like Veronica Mars gets cancelled after the third season while crap reality shows like American Idol and America's Next Top Model just keep going, and going, and going... Yuck.

And now my thoughts on some characters and how the series ended. Please don't read this if you haven't watched the series. You'll enjoy it more if you don't know what's coming next. Otherwise, feel free to click and drag.

So at the end, Veronica has just gone to vote in the election for sheriff, but considering that her Dad just destroyed some evidence to save Veronica's butt, she may be the only one who voted for him. But in a way, it's a good way to end the show because it's such a good example of how their relationship works. They don't always tell each other everything (and that pisses them both off on occasion), but in the end, they're there for each other, period, no matter what happens. So I think Veronica makes Keith lose the election, and although he would of course make a much better sheriff than his rival, I also got the impression that he was feeling a bit chafed by the official rules and restrictions he was forced to work under. Keith likes being able to just go and do something, never mind the warrant. So I think he would ultimately be okay with not being sheriff anymore.

Some other characters who I loved: Mac, who is awesome, and I'm glad she got to be a recurring character through the whole series. I also liked Eli "Weevil" Navarro, although I thought he lost some of his character's bite in the third season. There was that whole thing where he lied to Veronica about finding that computer that allows you to make fake student ids, suggesting that you can take the boy out of the biker gang, etc. but he just didn't have the same feeling of danger around him. So that's too bad. But he was still a cool character.

Mostly I just want to talk about Logan Echolls, because I love, love, love that character. He's such a bad boy, and yet I wouldn't want Veronica to end up with anyone else. The way the series ended, Veronica was still with Piz, but Logan had broken up with Parker. Then Logan goes up and punches a guy in the food court for harassing Veronica, and you can just see the hint of a smile on her face as she watches him walk away. Cuz, you know, I gotta be honest here. I would consider myself to be a feminist and a believer in the equality of the sexes... and yet there is something incredibly appealing about a boyfriend who would take a baseball bat to a police cruiser just so he could get into the same jail cell as the guys that attempted to rape and kill his girlfriend and then proceed to beat the crap out of them. And how many times does Logan either a) save Veronica's life, or b) beat the snot out of someone for her? The truth is, I think, considering Veronica's line of work, she needs a boyfriend who can handle that. Piz is a really nice guy, and that's the problem. Veronica needs someone who's not going to worry about breaking a few rules, or cracking a few heads when necessary. There's also just so much history between Veronica and Logan. He was there with her, through the whole Lilly Kane thing, through the whole rape thing, and he really understands her, because he's been through the same sort of crap. Although of course, there is the problem that Logan is also very wary about letting himself be open and therefore vulnerable. He has this defensive shell of sarcasm and anger that he keeps wrapped around himself. By season three, it's mostly gone when he's with Veronica, but there are still secrets he keeps, and times when he needs to be alone and away from her. And Veronica, who has had the people she loves keeping secrets from her from day one, just can't handle that. She needs to know, she needs to know now, and she needs to know everything. And that's why they're like the amazing rubber couple: can't stay apart, can't stay together. But, in my mind, (forget that whole Veronica Mars season four first year in FBI crap) they end up together. Cuz I'm a sucker for a happy ending, and those two deserve one.

So just go and watch it already. You won't be sorry.