16 May 2003 : 14.48 An interesting topic on True Meaning Of Life: a supplicant says: "Simply "not being evil" does not make one a good person. By what standards should a person be considered good?" For once, I think that the games have it right. There are varying degrees of evil, just as there are varying degrees of good. Surprisingly, the AD&D model seems pretty accurate here with the concepts of alignment. Most people can be categorised, inasmuch as you can categorise morality, through some combination of Lawful, Neutral, and Chaotic, and Good, Neutral, and Evil, I believe. That is, unless you subscribe to some ridiculous idea that there are universal constants of the idealised "good" and "evil." For those unfamiliar with the alignment concept in AD&D, it consists of three interests: Good, Neutral, and Evil, each of which is modified by three qualifiers: Lawful, Neutral, and Chaotic. So Neutral Good, Chaotic Evil, and so on. The idea is that rather than being a black and white view of good and bad, it presents a range between selflessness and selfishness. So Evil isn't necessarily bad, it's just a different set of priorities. Lawful represents respect for law and government, while Chaotic is more anarchist. Again, being Chaotic is not bad in and of itself, but rather because the person in question believes that society would be better off without rules and government. And so you get alignment combinations like Chaotic Good, which is someone who feels that people would be genuinely better off without governments controlling every aspect of their lives. They use words like "freedom" a lot. So yes, it's a game, but it seems that through these alignment combinations everyone can be adequately categorised. You can find a CGI quiz that determines your alignment. It's as accurate as such things ever are. My result: Raw Data You have 5 points towards Lawful. You have 1 points towards Evil. Analysis You are True Neutral. Yeah, I suppose that that's pretty accurate. Wow.. it's really time to start a new page here. This one is really slow. Even just editing it is a problem. 16 May 2003 : 12.51 Ok, so, I was sitting in this diner and this man walked up to me and he said "Hey buddy, I haven't had any I didn't have anything to eat in a long time" so I bit him! Ah hahahaha! Oh! Oh boy! I don't know if I told that one right... And now, experience 15 May 2003 : 12.36 I had dinner with my parents the other night. Chinese food. It's funny.. things that they think nothing of picking up are too hot for me to even touch. The foil containers.. nope. I yelp and drop them, they pick them up and look at me like I'm crazy. It's interesting how different people have different pain sensitivity. According to the 2001 census just released, religion is fading in BC. The number of people declaring that they have no religion is up to 1.3 million, or about a third of the population, which is up from less than a million in 1991. Check this out: religion 1991 1991% 2001 2001% +/- # +/- % No religion 974 350 30.0% 1 356 600 35.1% +382 250 +5.1% Protestant 1 359 805 41.9% 1 213 295 31.4% -146 510 -10.5% Roman Catholic 595 315 18.3% 666 905 17.2% +71 590 -1.1% Other Christian 86 670 2.7% 200 340 5.2% +113670 +2.5% Sikh 74 545 2.3% 135 310 3.5% +60 765 +1.2% Buddhist 36 435 1.1% 85 540 2.2% +49 105 +1.1% Muslim 24 930 0.8% 56 220 1.5% +31 290 +0.7% Christian Orthodox 23 540 0.7% 35 655 0.9% +12 115 +0.2% Hindu 18 156 0.6% 31 495 0.8% +13 339 +0.2% Jewish 16 640 0.5% 21 230 0.5% +4 590 - Canadians as a whole are taking religion less seriously, though. According to the census, 20 000 people gave their religion as "Jedi." And more than 75% of Canadian Jedi are from BC, Ontario, and Alberta. Yay BC! In other words, we're winning! Other news: if this is the formula for a popular movie, why does porn do so well? Actually, that's an interesting thought. Suppose that explicit sex were suddenly allowed in mainstream movies.. how would that affect the sex scenes that are included? But suppose that, in your movie, you could have complete hardcore porn. These days, in a death scene, you expect to see blood, extensive wounds, etc. You expect it to be explicit. So would explicit visuals become something that people expect in movie sex scenes? Suppose that the scenes in Basic Instinct had been hardcore. How would that have affected the popularity of the movie? After all, the major draw of that movie was the almost-explicit sex, and the Sharon Stone nudity. It certainly wasn't Michael Douglas or the plot. Funny to think that that movie caused such a fuss not too long ago, and it's pretty tame by today's standards. Compare that to Showgirls, for example. Not that I've seen Showgirls, you understand. I'm just saying. Personally, I don't know what all of the fuss is about. It's not like anyone doesn't know what any of the people on screen look like without their clothes. They're all basically equipped the same way as the rest of their gender. These days, on screen nudity isn't such a big deal, even if it's a body double instead of the actual star that you see. Is that where we're heading with sex scenes? That might be good. There's still such a hang-up about sex.. putting it that out in the open might help make it more comfortable. [shrug] 14 May 2003 : 13.35 Added a new post. Haven't had time to make graphics yet. Livid. Give me ten minutes alone with that guy. And his blender. Ok. Calm. Going to pick up my bike tomorrow morning. Well, probably. I have to sign the papers to take possession, but they might not have one actually in stock yet. They should have, though, she says. Also have to order the helmet and jacket. I was reading a story about a rider who got a plastic bag wrapped around his head. Million to one chance that it could happen to me. Pratchet says "million to one chances crop up nine times out of ten." It only has to crop up once for me to be thoroughly buggered by it, though. So I get this, just in case. Would have turned a near disaster into about a second of inconvenience while he flipped the chin-bar up, clearing his vision and probably letting the bag blow off. The lack of ventilation on that helmet bothers me a little, but I don't think that it will be an issue. I treat the visor with anti-fog, and if it still fogs up, I just open it until it clears. Or open the chinbar to get some ventilation. I'll get a starter helmet in the mean time, though. That can be for my passenger when I upgrade, if I ever have one. Hungry. In the mood for Chinese food. Ph34r teh 1337 /\/\4nC|-|U \/\/0|< !!!!1 Shaking. Could be the dexedrine. Could be hunger. Could be fury at reading that article. Not many things make me actually angry, but that.. that's beyond words. Re-established regular contact with a friend of mine after far too long. She's always been one of my favourite friends because she's so cool, and so odd. I've missed her peculiar outlook on life. I'm saddened that I let us lose contact. Now, let's talk about need... 09 May 2003 : 14.29 It's been a few days, and I just haven't had time to update this page. I'm falling behind on my mail, too. However, I had to say this: Sombody get that fucking imbecile out of office! I thought that this whole sonar thing had all been settled shortly after I mentioned it, since the damage was so obvious, both to the environment and to the creatures who reside therein. Surely no one could possibly condone the use of this terrible device, given the harm it does. But apparently, they can condone it. And worse. Now, moronic george is trying to pass exemptions from environmental protection acts for the military. That means that the american military would no longer have to abide by "the Clean Air Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act and two laws governing cleanup of toxic waste." What kind of monster is running that country that they feel that their military is more important than anything else on Earth? Because that's what it comes down to. They're using sonar that causes whales' and dolphins' brains to hemorrhage. And that's just the damage about which they know. Who knows how much more damage they could be doing? All that should matter is that the sonar is dangerous. That should make it unusable. So how could any remotely responsible government let its military go on using it? This isn't necessary to maintain american military dominance. So stop it. The worst part is that, because they hold most of the power on this little planet, there's nothing that we can do to stop them using it so irresponsibly. If you're going to hold that kind of power, you need to use it to protect the world, not destroy it. Wars come and go. Superpowers rise and fall. These are human issues, and they should be settled without harming non-human inhabitants of this planet. For one government of one country to authorise the use of weapons that will torture and destroy countless creatures.. Put it this way. The sonar that they're using is painful enough to the whales and dolphins that they're willing to throw themselves out of the water to escape it. They know that they'll die if they do that, but they'd rather die than suffer the sonar. Shouldn't this be illegal under all kinds of humane laws in america? Can't anyone talk any sense into these people? 05 May 2003 : 13.56 Going to see a man about a bike today. ZOOOOOOoooooom... As soon as my laundry has finished. The big question, of course, is if I buy it today, how do I get it home when I haven't a clue how to ride it, and haven't a license? I'll have to enlist the assistance of a friend, or my father, who used to be a rider. Can't see him on a sportbike, mind you. He likes the cruiser style. 04 May 2003 : 17.46 My head is still killing me. Had a good time at the closing night party last night. It was fun.. loud music, drinks, good food, and people I hadn't seen in a while. I really enjoyed it. And the show was excellent. The party was also about my father's birthday. He's 58. I think. And thus there was cake. And it was good. Greek food and blackforest cake and fresh strawberries and cream.. yummy. So tonight is the family dinner for the father. I just hope that this headache buggers off and leaves me alone so that I can enjoy it. It probably won't turn into a migraine, but it's still a pain. Kind-of-ex showed up last night with her boyfriend. When I glimpsed him, I expected to be all uncomfortable like I was last time. [ shrug ] I barely afforded either them or the matter a second thought, which surprised me. What I mean is, it surprised me that it's just not something that really matters any longer. He still looks like a ferret, though. 03 May 2003 : 15.54 The Riddle of Epicurus Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God? -positiveatheism.org Questions I've been asking for ages. They never get answered, though. It must be hard for people who come from religious families to go on living the lie, going to church, and everything else, if they don't believe. It must be equally hard to tell that family that you're sorry, but god is fiction, and you're not playing that game any longer. Of course, the family is horrified. As far as they're concerned, you're misguided, you're indecent, and you're dooming yourself to hell. So you know that they're going to react very badly to the news indeed. Fortunately, Dave Silverman has written Coming Out - Atheism: The Other Closet I'm an atheist, but I'm fortunate. So are my parents. And my grandparents, while respectably belonging officially to the Church Of England (because they're of that generation), don't actually believe in god. So I didn't have to tell anyone. Oh, I've had to break the news to friends who just assumed that I was religious (because I don't talk about it much in person) but that's infinitely easier than telling your family. I've no idea how I'd do that. I have such respect for the people who take that brave step. Particularly in america, where christianity still runs rampant. I'm amazed at the attitude toward atheists in america, particularly given the country's constitution and constant shouting about personal freedoms, including freedom of religion. 03 May 2003 : 11.35 Yay! It's about time! On a completely unrelated note, there used to be a company that had a 1-800 number that you could call, and the menu sounded something like this: For information regarding current investment opportunities, press 1. To modify your contact information, press 2. To manage your portfolio, press 3. To hear a duck quack, press 7. To inquire about the state of your portfolio, press 5. To speak to a customer service representative, press 6. *7* Quack! Quaaaaaack! For information regarding current investment opportunities... Unfortunately, that option seems to have been removed from the menu. It probably generated the majority of their call volume christ my head hurts. I've a vicious headache.. and I have to go to the closing night of my mother's show tonight. Tylenol it is, then. Added a new series of email messages between myself and a religious guy who felt it necessary to email me to tell me that I was "incuring the wrath of god." Why can't the ranting hatemail writers ever spell? I get so much hatemail, and so little time to answer it. It's a shame, because the quick and easy ones like this one get responses in short order. But the ones who take the time to write something intelligent, using real facts and logical arguments, who deserve to have their messages taken seriously, have to wait until I can devote the time that their message deserves. Those are the messages that I enjoy, and the ones I have too little time to answer. I almost always do answer them, though. It just takes a while. After all, if I'm going to make a decent argument, I can't do it between when I get home, get changed, and head back out, can I? 02 May 2003 : 13.30 Story here about male body image issues. We have them. Well, we as a gender. Personally, I don't really care. I'd like to be less chubby, but not because I care what people think of my appearance. Oh, everyone is dissatisfied about something about their appearance, but for all of the self-deprecating comments I make, I'm pretty content. What I care about is how healthy I am. That's about it. I'm genetically pre-disposed to diabetes.. my father has it. I'm not likely to develop it unless I induce it by not looking after myself, though. So I want to avoid that. That's what the exercise bike is about. And yes, I'm working toward more muscle definition, but again, it's not really because of what others think of me. It's because I would like certain clothes to sit certain ways, partially because it's more comfortable. And also, the more I keep my muscles developed, the less likely I am to pull things, tear things, etc. And part of it is that I would like to be a better shape, yes. But I'm not freaky about it. There's a difference between wanting to improve yourself, and having body image issues. Having said that, males do suffer from body image as much as females. Consider that one of the things that really drives a man is sex. That's instinct. The attractive guy gets the girls. Consider also that males are very competition oriented. Also a hard-wired trait. The result is that males very often compare themselves to other males. Then consider what the images are that you see of men, held up as the object of female desire. These are the ideals against which the average guy measures himself. Your typical gorgeous guy consists, from what I have seen, of broad shoulders, a narrow-ish waist, the typical handsome face that you see in Hollywood all the time. He's tall, tanned, with perfect hair on his head, and nowhere else, according to the current fashion. He has low fat, and usually muscles that are at least defined, if not well developed. He usually has a square jaw, and perfect teeth. This is your typical media guy. You see a movie, a commercial, a print ad, whatever else, this is him. There are others who manage to be sexy even though they're skinny, with no muscles, and there are guys who manage to be attractive even though they're chubby, though I can't think of one at the moment. But generally, these are the rules. Those are all of the things that your typical guy in Hollywood is, and your typical guy outside Hollywood isn't. Is it any wonder that guys have body image issues? Because to many males, it's about competing. So when you see that, you have to compete. And that means that some people get obsessed. Just as some women go on desperate crash diets and purges and things in an effort to be thin, some men overexercise and take steroids in an attempt to get that ideal build. And just as some girls get obsessed with the need to be thin, some guys get obsessed with the need to be huge. So you get skeletal girls and massive steroid monkeys. But the cause of the problem is the same. It's a body image issue, and whether the goal is being so thin you're translucent or being six meters wide but only two meters tall, it's a problem with the manner in which you see yourself. Put it this way: many guys I know don't like the girls who are anorexically thin. They're too thin. Girls are supposed to have curves, not angles, they say, and those who don't are less attractive. So the girl who is working really hard to lose all of that weight so that she will be attractive is making herself unattractive. That's not even considering the health issues. Same with the guys. A man works out six hours every day, takes steroids, lifts ridiculous amounts of weights, and ends up being one big mass of muscles, with veins sticking out all over the place, and no neck. They're trying for perfection, largely to be attractive, but most girls I know say "ew" when they see them. Of course, some people jump right in with understanding about the issue: "Some women, like Gwynne Reynolds, a 28-year-old marketing executive, say it's about time. "I think it's only fair that men get a taste of what it's like to be us," she says." -infoplease.com Yes, that makes it ok. As long as everyone's suffering, right? The problem is that it's not a guy thing to admit to it. In matters of this nature, males do often get the short end of the stick. If you're a guy, it seems that you can't admit to many things, like body image problems, or spousal abuse, or sexual harassment because no one takes them seriously. You're a Man. Be a Man. Now you get a taste of what it's like to be female. Feh. It's no less a problem for males than it is for females. It's just more visible in women. And responses like that really annoy me. Why do you think that the guys who aren't professional bodybuilders still spend hours in the gym grunting and sweating and getting as large as they can? Does that seem like normal behaviour? To then belittle the problem by making it sound like it's not as serious as what some women go through can only make it worse. Which goes back to my Tyne Daly post. If we're going to strive for equality, let's realise that men are people too. They can be just as fragile and just as messed up as women. Let's address the situation for both genders, hm? 01 May 2003 : 15.39 Finally. I've been saying this for ages, and now it's documented. Yes, it hurts the fish. So stop it! It's sick that they had to perform experiments to determine this, but at least we know. Some people argue it. One guy says that "the fish brain just hasn't got the hardware to experience pain." Are you a fish? No? Then fuck off. In light of the evidence, your opinion is worthless. White people used to say that black people didn't feel pain the same way, and that that's why they made such good athletes and workers. To make this claim is not just wrong (and I'm not going into the whole morality issue here), it's stupid. If the fish is displaying disturbed behaviour following exposure to pain stimulus, and coupled with the firing of pain-related neurons in the brain, you're hurting him. Stop it. If this were a human today, regardless of race, just the suspicion would be enough to stop the people inflicting the pain. So stop hurting the fish. I don't care whether fishing is fun, and I don't care whether you eat the fish that you catch, or throw them back. You're hurting them. You're inflicting pain upon a creature that has done you no harm at all. And you're doing it for fun. That's all that matters. People justify hunting and fishing by saying that they eat what they kill. Why does eating the victim make it ok? When you look at the same behaviour in humans, someone who kills another human isn't as bad as someone who kills and eats another human. How is that any different? Yes, fish may be part of our diet, but you can buy fish in the shops who have already been killed, and who will just be thrown away if someone doesn't buy and eat them. Why kill more poor fish, just because you want to be the bloody-handed murderer? What kind of vicious barbarian are you that you actually want to kill, particularly when you have a choice? I can't believe that hunting and fishing are even legal. How can that be in any way justified? Easy. Licenses. As usual, money is more important than life. You can justify anything with money. Even the torture of innocent creatures for fun. Where the hell are the humane laws while people are out there shooting holes in deer, and boars, and birds, and even bears, and shoving big nasty spikes into fish? For fun! Why is this allowed? You want a blood sport, leave the neighbours out of it. Turn the hunters loose in the forest, and let the sick fucks kill each other. There's no reason that other creatures should suffer because humans want blood. 30 April 2003 : 19.55 Daytona Cubs general manager Buck Rogers needs to be smashed across the face by the equivalent force of the baseball that hit that poor Osprey. Scaled up so that he knows what it feels like. He says "it was a bird" as if it's not important that an innocent creature has been killed for no good reason. I hate people like that. People who think that no one matters if they aren't human. Birds are not "it," they're "he" and "she" just like humans. Only a-sexual creatures are "it." And lawyers. [smash] "Look, Buck, you're blowing it way out of proportion. It was just a cannonball." Or a crossbow bolt. Or a Buick. 30 April 2003 : 16.58 So I was walking down Robson street last night, and all of the cars were honking, and people were cheering, and I was thinking yes, thankyouverymuch, I'm lookin' good. Then I realised that they were waving Canucks banners. Damned sports, stealing my fans. Having spent yesterday hanging around with bikers (sport, not cruiser), I find myself talking about Gixxers, Kawies, Yammies, and so on. heh.. this from a guy who's never been into all of that kind of thing. But you talk to the sales guys, and they're so enthusiastic when they find out that you're new. It's not just the usual salesguy thing.. it's more like you're the newest member of the club. Yes they want to sell you something, but it's like you've just learnt the secret handshake. My motorcycle experience consists of this. Which is great.. so much fun. But when you're talking 49cc of scooter vs. 600cc of Kawie. I sat on the ZX-R6 yesterday. I want. It's gorgeous. Even the speedometer is sexy. I want. However, 636cc is too much for my first. So I'm probably going to stick with the ZZ-R250, which is still a really nice bike, and then upgrade when I've been riding for a few months. The R250 is small enough and light enough to make it easy to use for learning, but not so small and light that it won't be fun to ride. Yesterday, we went to Robson and sat at the Starbucks where the bikers hang out. And talked to them, and looked at the bikes. It was so much fun. I can't wait to be parking my own bike down there, too, and going for night rides with everyone. It's so cool.. you arrive, and just by virtue of being a biker, you're part of the crowd. Nice. At least, that's the way it seems. Whatever else you are, you're a biker. I have quite a few friends who ride, now. Even my father used to ride. I have a friend with a Yammie R6, one with a Harley Road King, another with a Honda CBR600, and others with bikes I can't even identify yet. But I'm getting there. More hatemail to post. I'll get around to it. 27 April 2003 : 16.35 So I went to get McFood for lunch today, and on my way back, my brother called, just as I was getting to the security door that requires a security key to open. So I'm standing there, food in one hand, phone in the other, no way that I can get the security key into the lock, and people are passing and looking suspiciously at me. It's not like I'm a suspicious looking person, is it? Look at that company photo ID there. Is that a suspicious looking person? Speaking of looks, and I'm going to get all vain here for a moment. Ok, well, kind of. The roundness of my face in that picture got me thinking about my appearance for a moment. Mostly how round I was. That picture was taken, as I recall, about November 2001. I didn't really start to make an effort until this December just passed. Since then, I've become rather a different shape. Yay exercise bike! And other exercise routine things. Look at this for a difference.. in just a couple of months, I've gone from a round, heavy face to something much nicer. And the rest of me is improving, too. Definition is happening where it should, building this, trimming that. Happy happy. But mostly, the difference is visible around my cheeks, as you can see below. December April Not bad, hey? Not me, I mean the difference. I'm still a Gorgon, but at least I'm a somewhat more fit Gorgon. Compare that to the photo ID there. I'm doing something right. Try my new miracle diet! I call it "excercise." It involves burning off more calories than you're consuming. Try it.. it's easy. 27 April 2003 : 15.16 Events of today: Park my car. Walk along the sidewalk to work. Get stopped by some older lady who steps in front of me and asks whether I want the copy of Awake magazine that she's shoving into my face. I've had enough of these people. Politely take magazine. Drop on ground. Stomp on, several times. Pick up. Hand back to lady with a smile. Say politely "No, thank you." Walk away as if nothing has happened. Childish? Perhaps. Fun? Oh, yes. But it comes back to what I was saying about how religion is constantly being thrust upon us, all of us, and why I'm such a vocal atheist. Normally, they don't irritate me so much. Normally I either ignore them or do something that amuses me. Once, some woman tried to hand me a copy of the jehovah's witness magazine. Watchtower, I think it's called. I took it, clicked out my pen, and said "Ok, who do I make this out to? [reading aloud what I'm writing] To my biggest fan. Love, heyzoos kristos. Who loves ya?" [fingerpistol, and strut away] Stupid bloody cultists. And speaking of cults, this is very frightening. To think that these people, this "church" has an office in Vancouver. It turns my stomach. 26 April 2003 : 19.47 heh hehe "The 2002 is a little masochist of a car: "Punish me! Punish meeee! I've been a baaad coupe, I need to be punished!" Accelerate hard, brake hard, corner hard. The 2002 loves this treatment, and makes it clear." It's true.. it's still a little racer, even though it's as old as I am. Handles the corners (however sharp), accelerates much better than you'd expect, and does it all with a quirky style that really draws attention. Every other time I left it parked somewhere, I'd come out to find a card or note tucked under a wiperblade saying "Would you sell this? Call me." 26 April 2003 : 17.05 Still looking at bike bits, but more fun and fancy. And I'm getting an alarm, of some sort, too. I'm not having some miserable bugger stealing my bike. I'm not going to over-do the lights, decals, etc. Just have enough to look seriously cool with my paint, etc. Probably a headlight cover in the colour of the body, a couple of decals, a little neon and some LED highlights. With the lighting run to a kill switch on the dash so that they're only on when I want 'em. LED brake lights and turn signals, if the bike doesn't come with them, too. Yeah, I'm enthusiastic about my new toy. And I haven't even got it yet. 25 April 2003 : 13.38 Looking at bike gear. It's getting to summer, and I want my bike. And with the bike, I need the appropriate safety gear. I'm not going to be one of those guys who rushes about with a helmet, jeans and a t-shirt. Hell no. You get thrown off that, and you never know when you will, and your jeans won't save you from the impact, your runners won't protect you from ankle injuries, you need gloves, and your t-shirt won't save your bones or your skin. If you don't want them cleaning you up with a mop, you need the right gear. I've looked about, and it comes down to a balance between price and reliability. Ideally, I'll never have an accident. But then, I don't have absolute control over that. That's why it's called "an accident" rather than "an on-purpose." Having looked at prices and safety ratings, user reviews, and so on, I've come to the conclusion that for my first, mostly Joe Rocket is where I want to go. And rather than the basic black, I think I might go with blue, both for the safety gear and the bike itself. Not completely decided yet, though. So, shopping list: jacket, pants (though I'm going to keep looking to see whether I can find other pants in colours that match the jacket), boots (in blue if I can find blue/black/white pants), gloves, and spine guard. The helmet is a different story. This Wolf looks good, but I really like these, too. These look like they escaped from Sentai. Or maybe the Knight Sabers hardsuit helmet. Mind you, that's not a bad thing. I think I most like the Roof Boxer. Rotating chinbar, matt, scratch resistent visor.. and possibly the coolest looking helmet ever. I think it's too much to spend on my first helmet.. who knows? I might really not enjoy the whole motorcycle thing once I try it. But I'll keep it in mind for my second, if I get that far. :) This will be my first bike, and I've done my research, but if anyone has any recommendations regarding riding gear, etc, please feel free to contact me. In other news, looks like Professor Chomsky was right. Trust bush to be right in there, though, with a diplomatic solution.. soothing words to tame the North Korean beast and make certain that a peaceful solution can be reached. 24 April 2003 : 19.20 Yay.. corrections to the errors that most people make when speaking English. Which is good. They're really annoying. 24 April 2003 : 12.56 This is good. ZNet interview with Noam Chomsky. Excellent insight into what's going on. You read this, you see how the population of the US and Great Britain are being led. Chomsky talks about terrorism and dictators and popularising war, and where he thinks the american government is next going to point its guns. He's a well-informed and thoughtful person. As he says, the concern here is the development of "weapons of mass destruction" by foreign powers, and this is why america invades. What does this tell us? That conventional warfare doesn't work against america, but nuclear cold war does. Compare the US/USSR cold war to the US/Iraq conventional war. So what we can see from this is that america is, through its aggression, forcing other nations to develop nuclear weapons in self defence. (I always thought that matter could neither be created nor destroyed. ha. Physics humour.) 23 April 2003 : 16.22 I was reading the "You know you have ADD when..." list, and I found this: You know you have ADD when...Your old neighbour for the third time this week rings on the door, and reminds you of the keys sitting in the door lock outside, because you forgot to take them out once you’d opened the door when you got home. For some reason, that reminds me of my townhouse in Prince George, when I was there for university. There was an old couple who lived across the road from us, also in the little townhouse complex, who had an old dog named Luke. I'm not certain what he was.. he was small and white, just tall enough stand on the road and rest his chin on the curb. The old chap who lived with him was retired, and on sunny days he and Luke would sit on the front steps in the sun and read the paper. Well, he'd read the paper. Luke didn't seem terribly interested, so he'd just sleep. Reading that quote from the list just made me think of all of the times I looked out through my kitchen window and saw the old guy and his dog just enjoying the day. This SARS thing is a bit of a worry, since so many people come here from China. Particularly Hong Kong. Mainland China has reported 97 deaths and more than 2,000 cases as of Tuesday. 23 April 2003 : 14.29 Wandering through a friend's LiveJournal, and I came across a link to a site that allows you to calculate your AD&D character stats. I came out pretty freaking well: Str: 18/50 Int: 16 Wis: 13 Dex: 19 Con: 14 Chr: 17 Woo. Now if only I could find the class for which I'm best suited. My experience with AD&D is limited to playing it in grade 9, and the Baldur's Gate/Icewind Dale/Neverwinter series, which uses the same rules. But I believe that, according to those stats, I'd be a good fighter, or mage, or thief. Or I could multiclass and do it all. You can test your alignment here. Popped into #callahans last night on IRC. Good timing, too.. people I hadn't seen in ages showed up. Many of whom I've missed, and had nothing whatever to do with why I stopped going. I've missed them. And now, this, also found on my friend's LiveJournal. Scary, scary stuff: We also remember that the Germans developed a new form of highly violent warfare they named "lightning war" or blitzkrieg, which, while generating devastating civilian losses, also produced a highly desirable "shock and awe" among the nation's leadership according to the authors of the 1996 book "Shock And Awe" published by the National Defense University Press. 22 April 2003 : 19.41 I will not get a PS2. I will not get a PS2. I will.. not... get.... a... o.0 I must get a PS2. I must get a PS2. I must get a PS2. I must get a PS2... 22 April 2003 : 17.37 Went to Tim Horton's last night for, of all things, coffee and a doughnut. Of course, it's infuriating that they spell it in the simplified american way: "donut" but they are now an american company masquerading as a Canadian one, so that's to be expected (http://www.timhortons.com/english/1995.html). Still, a shame to see yet another Canadian company fall under the obese american corporate bulldozers. Anyway, I had me a Canadian Maple and an English Toffee Capuccino, yes I did, and mmm mmm. Canadian Maple doughnuts are totally the best. Bavarian cream wrapped in doughnut and covered with maple icing. I rarely eat doughnuts, so I thoroughly enjoy them when I do. And the coffee! Oh, the coffee! English Toffee.. sweet, but not too sweet. It was so good that I needed a cigarette afterwards. I had to ask the Tim girl at the counter "was that good for you, too?" it was that good. Or maybe it was because I was really tired at the time. Anyway, go, wigglies, and try these things. Fish and loaves and wine? Feh. The masses would have been better with Timmy Ho's gift certificates. But now, on a completely unrelated note (no, really) I go to work out. 22 April 2003 : 16.36 So I rant, and I rave, and I get really down on both americans and religious people. It suddenly occurs to me that I should point out that it's not all of them. Just the ones that affect me. But just as, say, the rabid religious right says things like "atheists are satanists" or servants of the devil, etc etc (all of which have been said to me), I generalise when it comes to religious people and americans. As I see it, you have your religion, that's cool. You're american, that's cool. But when you give someone a hard time in the name of one of those things, it reflects upon all such people. One Jehovah's Witness tells me that I'm a bad person, and I instantly think less of all of them. Which I shouldn't automatically do, but we all generalise to some extent. (heh, that was subtle humour there, that was.) Anyway, the people who hold certain beliefs about religion, patriotism, etc, and don't give me a hard time are fine, and I have no problem with them. So my ranting on here isn't directed at them, even though I generalise. Just so we're clear. :) I'm sure I offend.. well, you only have to look at the hatemail to see that. And I'm sure that various friends of mine don't care for my opinions. But you know what? At least I'm honest. At least there's no possibility that some day I'm going to mention something and shock them silly because they thought that I was someone I'm not. Better to be honest, I think, and have them like me for who I am, opinions and all, than to keep everything to myself, and lie by omission. I respect people's opinions, and they respect mine, or they bugger off. Seems pretty fair. Always open to discussion, though. Talking specifically about religion now, you've got to realise that most of this backlash comes from a) being told that I'm a bad person, immoral, evil, etc etc etc (which happens a lot), and b) being constantly forced to respect other people's beliefs, when my lack of a belief isn't respected. I can't wear a Darwin pin, if I want to, without someone giving me a hard time. But if you wear a crucifix, I'd better not say anything about it because that's your right. Yes, as a country we have freedom of religion, and that's great. But unfortunately, the rule that freedom of religion must include freedom from religion seems to have been missed. I don't just not believe in a god. I deny the existence of a god. My beliefs therefore conflict with those of someone who wears a crucifix to work. By wearing a crucifix, they're saying that god exists. So why are they allowed to assert their beliefs while I'm not? I don't make a fuss about it, of course. That would be silly. But it's just one of the many ways that religion is pushed on me, and other atheists. Religious people think that morality comes from religion, so that makes me immoral. They think that spirituality makes people deep, so I'm shallow. They assert that people need to believe in something, and that I don't makes them uncomfortable. I was out with a religious friend once. Yes, I have religious friends. And she had brought along some of her other religious friends. They were talking about their religion, of course, and I kind of zoned out. I tuned back in in time to hear "I don't think that non-christians can really understand what 'secular' means. Do you?" Irritating. me: "It means 'not based upon faith. Worldly, not spiritual.'" him: "yes, but I don't think that non-christians can know what it means." me: "I just defined it for you. I know what it means." [ uncomfortable silence. ] I suppose he didn't know that I was an atheist. And why should he? But he assumed that I wasn't, and that's what I'm on about. I can't put a Darwin fish on my car without having someone try to rip it off, or do something else unpleasant to my car. My mother's Darwin was removed. Who gives them that right? I don't go around removing "jesus saves" and "know jesus, know peace. no jesus, no peace" stickers and truth fish plaques from people's cars, do I? There's a difference. The Darwin fish, like my anti-religious ranting, is a backlash. It's a response to the religion that is constantly being pushed on us. It's just a little way of saying "hey, what about us?" 20 April 2003 : 22.39 Just saw.. well, not all of it, but a large part of Shallow Hal. 'scuse me while I get all preachy for a moment. I can't stand Jack Black, but it's still a good movie. Here's how I see the matter: appearance does matter. Most people who tell you that it doesn't are lying. No matter how much you like their personality, the outside is a part of the package. That sounds terribly shallow, but it's true. The question, then, isn't whether it matters, but how all of the factors are weighted. Is someone who looks good but is kind of vacant better than someone who looks average but has a wonderful personality? That depends upon what you want. To me, and this is going to sound terribly "oh, aren't I a wonderful guy, then?" but it's true, personality and intelligence are more important than looks. Looks are a factor, but an intelligent girl of average looks with a great personality beats a vacant or unpleasant but gorgeous girl every time. Because though you do look at the person, and no matter how much sex you have, what you're going to do most is talk. And if you can't talk, things aren't going to last. But again, that depends upon what you want. Girls too, not just guys. If you want someone who is pretty to look at but not much else, that's a question of priorities. And there's nothing wrong with that. It's easy to say "Oh, that person's so shallow" but really, that's not fair then to the people with great looks and no personality. If it's not shallow to prize personality/intelligence over appearance, why is it shallow to prize appearance over personality/intelligence? I suppose that what it comes down to is mutual needs. Do you, as someone with a great personality but average looks, want someone who only cares about appearances? And if not, then why try to change them? Why not just find someone more to your taste? Does someone who knows that their only real attraction is their appearance want someone who will not care about it? Probably not. So maybe it's shallow to go only on looks. Maybe it's shallow to go only on personality. Maybe it's just a question of personal taste. Then you have people like me, with no looks or personality. :) 20 April 2003 : 19.58 I've said before, and I'll likely say again, that I support Chretien in his opposition to the war. People.. the loud but ignorant ones who criticise him, say that he's a coward for not going to war. Hello? How is not going to war cowardly? Would he be in any danger if Canada went to war? Is bushy boy in any danger? No. No, he'd be caving in and giving the americans what they want. And he knows, as well as most of Canada knows, that that was an unjustified war. That there was no way it should have happened without UN approval. And he knew that by opposing america, he would bring the american wrath down on us. Oh, the yankees won't invade, but the tourists won't come as freely as they did, trade will probably suffer, and diplomatic relations will be a bit hurt. But in spite of all of that, he did the right thing, and refused to be bullied into going. That would have been the coward's way out. But instead, he, and the rest of the Canadian government, stood up and told the americans, just for once, that we're not going to be told what to do by some loudmouthed cowboy of a president just because his country has more money than ours. Jean Chretien isn't a coward. He's a brave man, an excellent example, and a real Prime Minister. In other news, Nicole Kidman isn't a scientologist any longer. Woo! 20 April 2003 : 13.07 This is going to sound a bit silly.. it does whenever I try to explain it to anyone in person. But screw you hippies. When we first came to Canada, my family was really poor. Like, seriously, we had nothing. It's expensive to move from one country to another, and it was more so back then. Particularly if you're bringing a dog with you, which we were. We sold as much as we could back home, gave a lot of it away, and shipped the rest over here. It was murderously expensive. But my parents wanted my brother and I to have the best life we could, and the best place for that was not in worn out old England. It was here, in beautiful British Columbia. Anyway, when we had been here for a couple of years, the Transformers came out. You remember them? They were the toy. Everyone was into them. My parents spent money that they didn't have to get me one.. Thundercracker, the Decepticon jet. My brother was given Skywarp, also a jet, but of a different colour. (The rabid fans tell me that the jets are called Seekers.) Thundercracker was so cool.. he transformed from a jet into a robot, he had missiles that mounted on his wings, and lasers that mounted on his arms. His cockpit opened, he had removable landing gear, and he was one of the coolest characters on the cartoon (which everyone watched religiously). Over the years, I got more toys, of course, and Thundercracker had pieces lost, bits broken, stickers peeled, and so on. But he was always my favourite because, even at that age, I realised how much my parents had sacrificed to get him for me. (I let them think I believed in Father Christmas.. it made them happy. :) So anyway, eventually, as with most of the Decepticon jet toys, the wings, the hands, the weapons and rudders and stickers and everything were lost, and all that was left was the body part. And like all children, I eventually grew out of my toys, discovered the joys (ha) of the social side of school life, and there was no more room for Thundercracker. On Thursday, I was out with my good friend Elaine, and we went to Toys R Us, just to see what kinds of toys there are these days. There were nifty things like Star Trek Enterprise figures and bridge components and vehicles that make noise and everything. There were Big Green Hulk Hands that you wear like boxing gloves, that shout "Hulk Smash!" when you hit things with them. And there was Thundercracker. Technically, "an exclusive Toys R Us reissue of G1 Thundercracker," who is very slightly different from the original, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that my favourite toy ever, the one that I always think of when I look back on on my childhood, is out again in brand new condition, and I have a chance to have him back. Just for the memories. Complete with wings and arms and weapons. Naturally, I had to buy him. I'll probably never even take him out of the box. This time, he's not for playing with. He's a reminder of my childhood, and a reminder of all of the things my parents did for me, and gave up for me because, frankly, I have the best parents in the world. 20 April 2003 : 11.30 Oh yeah, it's easter. The jesus reunion tour. I completely forgot. I'm not religious (obviously) but easter does represent one of the most important events in the year. And that, of course, is the easter chocolate clearance sale immediately following easter. Creative uses for the Leatherman Supertool, volume 4. When your company believes that no one needs airconditioning on the weekend, when you're the only person in, and the entire floor is like a sauna, and the manual override lives behind a plastic box that you need a key to open, use the Leatherman can-opener tool to pry the glue out of one of the narrow vents in the plastic lid. Then use one of the knife blades to whittle one of the chopsticks that you have in your bag (and don't we all?) so that it's narrow enough to fit through one of the little vents, and press the manual override. Ah, sweet a/c. Yep, I'm just like MacGyver. Without the mullet. Thank god. I don't know how long the manual override lasts, so I'll keep this tool, just in case. Heat is the one thing I can't handle, even though I'm somewhat less insulated than before. Particularly given that dexedrine boosts my body temperature. 19 April 2003 : 18.04 Sushi last night was a lot of fun. I don't know how many of us there were.. between twelve and sixteen, I think. It was good.. we were loud. We laughed a lot. One of the best sushi events ever, I think. Rather than being my usual shy self, I went over the top in the opposite direction, and that combined with the other people at my end of the table meant that one end was loud and obnoxious, and the other was much more tame by comparison. Right in the middle of the chaos again, where I should be. Yay :) It was good. There was Elizabeth, who is mean and hits me a lot. Actually, she's stopped with the hitting, and now just says nasty things about rabbits. There was Jen, who is cute and has pink hair. Or maybe she's cute because she has pink hair. There was Teri, who doesn't make any sense. There was Sarah, who does make sense most of the time, but not exclusively. There was Travis, who gets all of the obscure references, and so when I say "May I say that's a smashing blouse you have on, you raven-haired temptress from below stairs!" is likely to be the only one to laugh. There were many others, too. 19 April 2003 : 13.19 Call me judgemental, but I still want to know: what kind of a moron do you have to be to believe that your loving, compassionate god wants you to nail yourself to a tree before he'll grant your prayers? Yay.. just saw someone I haven't seen in a couple of years, and she said "wow, you've lost a lot of weight, Daaaamn right. Who's the black private dick who's a sex machine for all the chicks? 17 April 2003 : 13.08 Why are Sandler songs swimming through my head? Particularly "Ode To My Car." Megatokyo seems to be winding up. I hope not. It takes forever to get anywhere with the story, but it's nice. And Piro reminds me of me. Except that I can't draw. And I'm not an obsessive anime fanboy. I downloaded the Explorers soundtrack. I love that movie.. it's everything I wanted when I was little.. adventure, science, computers (they were still very uncommon when I was young, even though I had one), science fiction.. it's probably my single favourite movie. You should definitely see it. But don't read the box, and don't read any reviews or anything before you do. That would ruin it. There's talk around me of who's the most desirable woman in Hollywood, from a shallow, surface-only point of view. One person says she likes Angelina Jolie. Um. No. She's repugnant. She always looks like she needs about fifteen hours of sleep. Another says Britney Spears. Maybe, in a trailer trash kind of way. A girl of negotiable virtue, is the impression you get. Jennifer Aniston? If she weren't a star, no one would notice her. I find her quite plain. Give me a Kidman, or a Carrere, or a Ricci. Just found out that Smallville is shot here. Smallville is apparently Cloverdale. :) Canadian Idol is holding auditions around here on Saturday. That means that there won't be parking anywhere from here to Alberta. [ sigh ] Just getting into the building will be an adventure. 16 April 2003 : 22.33 Listening to the Jeff Wayne War Of The Worlds. It's probably my favourite of the radio plays. Better, though less historic, than the Orson Wells version. I can't help but feel sorry for the Martian invaders, though, when they start to die. That sad howling is the worst bit. Imagine.. your own world is dying. You find a chance to save your race, to stay alive, to continue your way of life, your culture. And it goes as you plan because the future of your entire race depends upon it. No mistakes, because you only get one chance. So the new world is under your control. You have that chance. Your species won't die off. You've escaped extinction. And then, you start to die. One by one, but in increasing numbers, dropping like flies, your only hope for survival stolen from you by the bacteria of this suddenly hostile new world. To be so close to ensuring your future, to narrowly escaping extinction, only to have it snatched away from you. It may not be real, but it's still.. sad. So I got home tonight, and Tiffany was on that E True Stories programme. I remember when she first appeared. I was quite fond of her, actually. Yeah, shut up. Partially because she was a redhead, I'm sure. I've always had a particular weakness in that area, even back then. :) But also because I felt terribly sorry for her. Show business is a very difficult world, and a hell of a life for a young girl not much older than I was. I didn't envy her that life. She always struck me as a bit sad. Now, however, she seems way more in control over her life. She's trying to rebuild her career, of course, and she has a lot of hard work to do to get past her 16 year old image. But she's trying. It's good that she's so realistic about what she's having to do, and why she's doing it. With the Playboy spread and the appearances and everything. Having read that interview, she strikes me as a pretty cool. Someone I might like to know. I haven't heard any of her music, but after everything she's done, and the fact that even with the drugs and the teen-star thing, she's got herself together, and she seems really stable and sensible. And she has a sense of humour, and a realistic outlook. 16 April 2003 : 16.47 Best. Car commercial. Ever. War comment for today: the americans have "liberated" Baghdad. Which means that they have toppled the government. Which means that no one is left to enforce the laws. Which means that looting happens. Which means that possibly the single most important museum of human history has been destroyed. And the americans were warned in advance how important the museum was, and how important it was that it be protected. They didn't bother. The loss, not financial, but historical, is staggering. Thousands of years of history of the development of civilisation on this planet lost. In the name of oil. In the name of some insane american government officials' lust for money. The land of the free. The home of the brave. There'd be no such place without all of that history. The very least that they could do is protect it. It wouldn't have taken much. Rather than staging the statue incident, if they'd just put a few guards on the museum, this great loss could have been averted. But I suppose that that's not the american way. All that matters to them is money. Looking for apartments in Vancouver. It will be time to move soon, once the renovations are complete. The renovations are coming along rapidly, too. One end of the basement is fully spackled, sanded, and painted, and the downstairs bathroom has been tiled, the light fixture and mirror changed, and the window trim repainted. The basement also has a new glass and white wood door, and I've repaired the ceiling. The baseboard is ready to install, too, but I'm going to wait until the rest of the basement is finished. Going to also install a huge book case against one wall, and maybe a mini kitchen at the other end, where the bar used to be. 16 April 2003 : 13.19 The show was good. It's darkly funny, and weird but not unwatchably weird. Go and see it. Right now. Go! Go damn you! Three friends of mine were in it, and another friend directed and wrote it, which just made it even better, but it was good in its own right. I laughed. I cried. It became a part of me. I have to get one of the nifty t-shirts that they were selling. Blech. I can still taste the marijuana from last night. The Happy Anarchist was held at The New Amsterdam Cafe. Yeah, New Amsterdam. I should have figured it out before I got there, but I was more concerned with finding the place. Fortunately, I had Elaine, my lovely and talented navigator, along to direct me. So anyway, I arrived, opened the door, took one step inside, and that smell hit me. You know the one.. sort of sweet, slightly bitter at the same time. Not as nasty as cigarette smoke, mind you. It's thinner, not as hard on the lungs, and somehow doesn't taste as much like ash. Maybe the airborne particles are more fine because of what's being burnt.. I don't know. Of course, I'm not about to complain, right? That's what the place is for, it's a public marijuana house, people go there to smoke. I went there, people were smoking. I don't like it, I can leave, right? To complain would be as bad as a smoker lighting up in a non-smoking restaurant, for example, and that's not cool. Having said that, it was interesting to note even the diluted effects of the smoke. I had a seriously sore throat when I left. I noticed dilated air passages, and a corresponding increase in the amount of oxygen in my blood, causing flushed cheeks and a slightly lightheaded feeling. And a mild headache. But then, I usually have a mild headache, so that doesn't count. I couldn't tell whether my judgement had been impaired, since you require judgement to do that, but I think that the level of smoke that I inhaled was probably so low that it didn't seriously compromise me. Fortunately, the effects are short term. Today, no trace of them remains except an echo of the taste at the back of my throat. I drove home very carefully. Just in case. :) For those who are into these things, this is the place: 15 April 2003 : 12.52 A-painting we will go, a-painting we will go. Hi ho the basement oh a-painting we will go. Fifteen coats later... or maybe two. Yeah, I think it was actually two coats. Something like that. Tonight, I go to see "The Happy Anarchist" in which my friend goes up on stage and flails about a bit. I think. Ok, back to the painting. 13 April 2003 : 19.01 Saw this on Fark: Wow, just saw that link of dead children from the war.. can we stop now? I was reading about how the americans have been flying their flag over the cities that they've "liberated" on the way to Baghdad. That sounds a bit like occupation, to me. If you were liberating the people, you'd let them fly their flag. If you fly yours, you're showing that the city is under your rule. That's not liberation. But then, it's never been about liberation. It's an invasion. And the people do so appreciate it. We've seen them pulling down a statue of Saddam Hussein. Haven't we? 13 April 2003 : 16.25 Watched an episode of Buffy last night. I'm not certain that I see what all of the fuss is about. The humour is, to me, rather clumsy and overstated, while the acting consists of a lot of overly dramatic striking of poses, pausing, and talking very low. And an awful lot of teen angst. However, this I find kind of funny. So, I've been watching a lot of 80s cartoons, just to kill time while I'm on the exercise bike. They're mostly dreadful, but they also provide an interesting insight.. kind of a little window into the past. I was watching GI Joe (it's like an army-themed B-movie) the other day, and the american troops were talking about being in the Soviet Union, and about how they never thought that the USSR would be glad to see them. wow.. To think that that was such a huge part of life back then, and now many of us barely remember it. There are people growing up today who probably know nothing about the USSR, or the cold war, or the Berlin Wall. To many of us, it was life. To them, it will be History, of no more personal relevance than the colonisation of North America, the ancient Romans, or the French Revolution. It's funny to think that something so... big should be so quickly forgotten. 13 April 2003 : 14.22 I found this on Indiemedia.org: "ashamed to be an American" by born here Sunday April 13, 2003 at 01:34 AM Welcome to the club. To be American is a shameful thing. No wonder the world hates us. We are aggressors. At Nuremberg we hung Germans for doing to Poland what Bush is doing to Iraq. In those days one could take pride in America. But today, we're nothing but war criminals, and the taxpayers who enable them. It's true, but it's a shame. I mean, americans are, at heart, not much different from other people. A little more fanatically patriotic, but that's conditioning in the way they're brought up. A little less educated on average, but again, that's not their fault. Their government tells them that they should be rabidly patriotic, so they are, but not all of them are mindless sheep. And that's the part that is so sad. They don't have to be mindless sheep. They're so proud of their democracy (which many of them think that america invented), which should guarantee that their government and their country do as the majority of people desire. Yet if you look at the way many of them live, and the steady degredation of their culture, such as it is, I can't believe that the government is concerned with the will of the people other than where it affects their votes. america could be a great country. It really could. With the kind of financial power they have, they could end world hunger, promote amazing advances in science, work toward a truly democractic world government that would allow equality for all people and regions, celebration of diversity, no more recessions, no more conflict. If they did these things, the other countries would support them, ally with them, and eventually the world would be at peace. Simplified, but it works. Instead, what happens? They squabble over money. They build the biggest military so that they can push everyone else around. They tell us all how much better than us they are, and thereby generate massive amounts of dislike and resentment. The government leads the people, and the people blindly follow, discarding education in favour of ignorance. Look at america. Just look. The government isn't accountable to the people. And if you think that it is, just look at the vast amount of people that opposed the war one way or another. If the government were accountable, it would settle those matters before proceeding. The people don't want education, they want ignorance. They don't want to know about the rest of us, because it might hurt their image of america as "the greatest country in the world." They don't want to think, or to be critical of what the government does. They want quite the opposite.. many of them even think that the press shouldn't be allowed to criticise the military. For a comparison, look at the religious freaks. They won't read a book on evolution, or by someone who has lost their religion. Not even to find out why so many people have doubts. I would like america to be a great country. I'd like it to be a country that we could all respect and admire, that we weren't ashamed sat south of our border (Canadians, anyway), and that we could count on to do what's best for all of us, the nations of the world. I'd like to be proud that america is next to Canada, not ashamed. And when I see a washington plate on a car here, I'd like to not automatically mutter "bloody yankees" when I think that somewhere, some poor service person is going to have to deal with this visitor. Because most of them who come here are just unpleasant. And they broadcast their yankeeness in two ways. One, they're rude. Do they even know the words "please" and "thank you?" Two, they tell you. They seem to feel that being american accords them some special status. There was a time that I was standing in a line to get an icecream, and a couple of large southern women (they weren't ladies) tried to merge their way into the line. Being polite, I didn't push back. I stepped to the side. The girl at the counter saw, ignored them, and asked me what I would like. So I went to the counter, and heard behind me "Hah the heyal ded he git in fron' o' us? Hah did he git in fron' o' us? Tha's rude as heyal." Seeing that this didn't have any effect, as I was politely ignoring them (yes, politely. I didn't tell them what I thought of them, and their questionable parentage), they reverted to talking between themselves, loudly so that I could hear it. "It was double sweet (whatever the fuck that means) of thayat gah to gimme back money in american, huh." as if that would make a difference. Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realise that you were american. Please feel free to push your enormous backside into the line, then. May I shine your shoes? Thank you for gracing our humble country with your presence. fuck off. So I'd like america to be good, and nice, and someone I'd like to know. Instead, I see a loud, uncouth, reactionist, uneducated, beligerant, selfish, money-obsessed, religious jerk. Not my preference for a neighbour. No, not all of them. Some of them are really nice. Some of them are educated, thoughtful, and critical of their government's actions. But they're the vast minority. 12 April 2003 : 16.28 christ it's hot in here. I keep wandering off to the washroom to run cold water over my forearms and wrists. It cools me substantially. Downloaded Chatterbox radio from Grand Theft Auto III. It's stupid. I like it. Yay Fernando. Pardon my bluntness, but this is very frightening. america has a low enough standard of education as it is.. the influence of the religious wrong is only going to make that worse. As my brother says "When I was a child I had an imaginary friend. What was he called? Oh yeah, jesus." Evolution is scientific fact. Not necessarily human evolution, since we can't see that in action, but you can see evolution happening right now in bacteria, viruum, and so on. Look at the whole superbug crisis. Evolution is change, that's all. Usually prompted by natural selection. So you apply a filter, and those who are fit survive, those who are not die off. The species changes as a result. Like with the superbugs. Bug A is a bacterium who is immune to your antibiotic. Bug B isn't immune. Bug B dies off, leaving space for Bug A to reproduce, generating more bugs that are immune to your antibiotic. The species is now immune to your antibiotic. The species has evolved. That's a bit simplified, but it's essentially correct. To conclude, therefore, that this applies to all life isn't a stretch in the least. Changing conditions cause humans, animals, plants to adapt or die off. The ones who die off leave fossils, which we've found. The ones who survive go on and leave a traceable lineage, which we can also follow through the fossil record. We haven't found everything yet, but there's a hell of a lot to find, so that's going to take a while. Having said that, you can't see god in action. There's nothing that you can point to and say "that's god, that is." So why argue about it? Why not teach that evolution is fact, since you could prove it right there in the classroom (if you had the bacteria and the antibiotics). There's no real doubt about human evolution. It's a question of which route humanity took to evolve, but there's no question that it happened. Except in the minds of people so entrenched in their religion that they refuse to actually look at the facts. Or they just don't understand them. If god created humanity in his own image, why are there black, white, Native american, Indian, Arabian, Asian, Latino.. all of these variants. And within those variants there are more variants. Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Philipino.. they all look different. Why? Was jesus Korean? Was he Celtic? (That's "keltik," not "seltic," for the americans in the audience.) And if not, why not? If god is responsible for creating all of humanity, why didn't he place a son in each area? The Native americans had never heard of jesus until the invading white people told them. You'd think that if it were so important that they know, god would have raped.. sorry, immaculately conceived without consent with.. one of them, as well. And a Chinese girl. And one in South america. And Africa. And so on. I was digging through Usenet.. you'd be amazed at some of the things that are still on there. Anyway, I found this, from when I first posted my one Star Trek fan fiction. Which wasn't really a fan fiction.. just the expression of an idea that I had. I got quite a few responses, but there's only one