Thursday

She said, A good day ain't got no rain.
She said, A bad day's when I lie in bed
and think of things that might have been.

— Paul Simon, "Slip Slidin' Away"

Whoops!

Forgot the Sarah Slean concert last night at Myer Horowitz. Oops!

Am looking forward to hearing the new Tori Amos. So far, others' reviews are really mixed. Also just received the new Joan Baez (and an old JB as well); looking forward to hearing it, too.

And a kind friend has just sent me a copy of his latest book. Wow! Inscribed and everything! How sweet! Looking forward to reading it ... as soon as I get through the pages and pages and pages of directed reading I still need to finish.

Do you think I can finish my diss in six months? This is the challenge I have set for myself. Well, that and passing my candidacy. The clock is ticking... go!

L

Not en vacances

Feeling comme un poulpe!

Walking in the Super Cities Walk on Sunday. Wish me luck -- and thanks to all who pledged.

L

PS: Happy birthday, Dave!

Maybe I should be tweeting?

Smoking with the ghosts. Back soon.

L

Can't fight the moonlight

Gone to the moon ... back soon!

Little bits

“Robur gregi in lupo, robur lupo in grege.” (The strength of the wolf is in the pack, the strength of the pack is in the wolf.)

Seems right, doesn't it?

In the same batch of e-mail I also learned about preterition (synonyms paralepsis and apophasis): the rhetorical tactic of omitting a topic to emphasize it.

Also very appropriate.

Must read now. Be well!

It's not in the cards

This was an important question that produced an important answer: pay attention.

Traditional Celtic Cross

Significator = Queen of Swords

1. The immediate situation: 4 of Swords: Standing guard: solitude, exile, repose

2. Obstacles: 8 of Cups: Desertion, turning away

3. Aspirations: Strength: The power or courage to act

4. Foundations: 8 of Swords: Bad news: crisis, sickness, conflict

5. The past: 3 of Swords: A pierced heart: absence, delay, division

6. The future: 9 of Wands: Preparation for attack: will, strength in conflict

7. Attitude of the questioner: The Empress: The hidden and unknown: long days, doubt, difficulty

8. Environmental influences: Ace of Wands: The source: origins, creation, invention

9. Hopes and fears: The Sun: Contentment

10. The outcome: The Hermit: Treason, deception, prudence and roguery


Hmm.

The value of poetry in the modern world

According to Publishers Lunch, "Carol Ann Duffy was named the UK's poet laureate, the first woman to hold the position in 341 years. Along with a small stipend, the honor comes with a "butt of sack" -- 600 bottles of sherry to stoke the muse." Avast! A pirate's life for her!

The house I want to buy

Next in my ongoing rant against realtors who insist on working without editors... the home fit for a pirate!

"[This home] is one of the largest at 1,242 sq.ft. has a downtown view with a 27 ft. balcony with duel access."

Whom shall I invite to duel? Jack Sparrow? Zorro? Captain Farrell? Oh, the possibilities are endless. I'll certainly enjoy my 27 ft. balcony. NOT.

And seriously, what's up with the insistence on an initial capital on "Realtor"? Even the spelling checker in my web browser wants the capital! I don't believe "Doctors", "Lawyers", or "Teachers" enjoy that privilege. Perhaps realtors, as para-professionals, have a self-esteem problem and need to compensate by breaking the conventions of English grammar?

Still marking,
L

April 29

Happy birthday, Bruce!

Here's hoping that your day is super-fantastic and that the year ahead brings you everything you want.

love,
Leslie and Zak

A matter of faith

From The Princess Bride

Westley: Hear this now: I will always come for you.
Buttercup: But how can you be sure?
Westley: This is true love. You think this happens every day?

Is it still this week?

A song for the week that won't end...

"The Fly" - U2

It's no secret that a friend is someone who lets you help
It's no secret that a liar won't believe anyone else
They say a secret is something you tell one other person
So I'm telling you...

Overheard at a publishing conference

"Back-end fulfillment" : "Boundary-less delivery of product to buyers in any way they want it, now."

Apparently it's the new way to transact.

Hmmm.

The vault of lost lyrics, chapter 3

Because it's that time of year.

**

"Here's the World" (as recorded by The Payolas)

Here's the world
I can only help you go so far
Try to teach you wrong from right
How to take each day like a brand new day

Don't worry about me
Because who could ever ask for more?
Listen to these words that I write
There will be no tears in my eyes tonight

Don't let them fool you
Don't let them tell you that you'll never go far

Here's the world for you
Here's the world for you
Go tell them who you are
Here's the world for you
Here's the world for you
Go be a shining star

Take all my love
And carry it inside of you
Know that I will always be there
Know that I will always care

Don't let them fool you
Don't let them tell you that you'll never go far

(chorus)

And if I ever did wrong
Please forgive me now
Before I am gone
And if I ever did right
Tell me with a smile
That will light up this night, light up this night

(chorus)

Thought for Friday night

Sans zzz.

"Methought I heard a voice cry, 'Sleep no more!
Macbeth does murder sleep!' the innocent sleep,
Sleep that knits up the ravelled sleave of care,
The death of each day's life, sore labor's bath,
Balm of hurt minds, great nature's second course,
Chief nourisher in life's feast."

$%@*#$!!!

Song for Tuesday

(I was out for dinner and visiting until far too late last night!)

"If I Am a Stranger" - Ryan Adams and the Cardinals

Today is yesterday when you don't know
How to rebuild the walls that someone has knocked down.

Song for Monday

"You'll Always Be" - Oh Susanna

Now I don’t need no tailor to sew this suit together;
your yarn is a worn-out old tether.

Song for today

"Diamonds and Rust" - Joan Baez

But if you're offering me diamonds and rust,
I've already paid.

Hard at work: meta markup

While correcting an exercise in proper mark a new phenom is unveiled. Meta markup. Or as we designers like to refer to it... a dog's breakfast.

It does beg the question of how much can one learn from that many "corrections"

-- Posted a la iPhone

Leslie's Coming Home

Today. Woot. And there's a Rip n Grip. Double woot!


-- Posted a la iPhone

A LibraryThing review

Many of you know that I'm crazy about LibraryThing , a book-cataloguing website that appeals to the book nerd in me.

One of the most fabulous parts of LibraryThing is the Early Reviewers group, which gives away copies of books at or prior to publication in exchange for reviews. There is no requirement that the reviews be laudatory or even positive, and the range of participating publishers is impressive.

Here is my latest review for LibraryThing (also posted in LibraryThing, of course). If you're interested in seeing my profile or my other reviews, you can go here.


According to Their Deeds
Paul Robertson
Bethany House, 2008


According to Their Deeds is a thoughtfully written mystery that draws together Enlightenment and Christian themes. When one of his long-time clients is murdered, gentleman scholar and rare books dealer Charles Beale is pulled into the investigation. Along the way he pauses to consider what mercy, justice, honesty, and integrity mean in a thoroughly modern, bitterly political world.

There are some weaknesses in this telling. The pacing is maddeningly slow; for a suspense novel, the action is far too strung out to create any real tension. And much of the dialogue is preposterous. Mr Beale speaks as though he dropped out of a Jane Austen novel. His attitudes, too, may prove a little too traditional for many readers.

That said, there is some wonderful word play in the writing, and readers will find few literary mysteries quite so literary in their conceits. Readers may feel clever recognizing the many in-jokes and allusions, and numerous puns will have readers either laughing or groaning — or both.

This novel is an interesting hybrid: an inspirational thriller. It should appeal to a range of reading interests.

3/5 stars

Here's a sentence to parse...

... and it provides some helpful career-planning advice, too!

"A career in popping cherries requires few resources beyond audacity, charisma, and a penis." — Hanne Blank, Virgin: The Untouched History

Dissertation work... Really!

Keep you doped with religion and sex and TV
And you think you're so clever and classless and free
But you're still fucking peasants as far as I can see
A working-class hero is something to be...

— John Lennon

Bureaucracy

As in armies so in corporations: unhappiness with an institution can coexist with strong commitment to it; a person, even if generally unhappy, who is given room to make sense of things on his or her own patch becomes bonded to the organization.

— Richard Sennett, The Culture of the New Capitalism

Awesome Rave Playlist

Lovingly hand-crafted for Rave in the Cave, doncha know.

"Crazy" (single mix) - Brooklyn Bounce
"Gimme Freaks" - DJ Earworm (boot)
"She Wants Him" (vocal mix) - Moussa Clark & Terrafunka
"Hung Up" (radio edit) - Madonna
"Maniac" (remix) - Michael Sembello
"Flashdance" - Deep Dish
"Adagio for Strings" - DJ Tiësto
"Blue Monday" - New Order
"Call on Me" (radio edit) - Eric Prydz
"Dance Your Pain Away" - The Moon Whispers
"Boo in Love" - DJ Tripp (boot)
"Barbie Girl" - Rob Mayth (Candy Boyz vs Klubbstylerz Remix)
"Spin Me Harder" - DJ Tripp (boot)
"Brand New Lover" - Dead or Alive
"Zombie" - Andrew Spencer and the Vamprockerz (Ray Knox Hands Up Extended Club Remix)
"Blue (Da Ba Dee)" - Eiffel 65
"Caramelldansen" - Caramell
"God Is a DJ" - Dutch Trance Force (DJ Cobra Mix)
"Chase" - Giorgio Moroder
"Sweet Dreams" - Overdub featuring Sophia (Doug Laurent Bonzai Mix)
"I'm Too Sexy for Sex" - DJ Roy Batty (boot)
"What Is Love" - Haddaway
"You Keep Me Hangin' On" - Kim Wilde
"Flashdance ... What a Feeling" - Irene Cara (Adam Van House Mix)
"Enjoy What You Do" - Mac Murphy (Disco Filter House Radio Edit)
"Hyperactive!" (12-inch mix) - Thomas Dolby
"Dragostea Din Tei" - O-Zone (DJ Rosse Extended Remix)
"Precious" - Depeche Mode
"Born to be Alive" - DJ Team
"Situation" (US 12-inch mix) - Yaz
"I Kissed a Girl" - The Real Booty Babes (Club Radio Edit)
"Billie Jean Is a Spy" - DJ Tripp (boot)
"Don't Stop the Music" - Rihanna
"Sandstorm" - Tunnel Alliance

As mixed, this playlist runs to approximately 150 minutes of aural goodness.

My new year's tarot

Based on a modified Celtic cross spread

1. The significator: Queen of Swords
2. The problem, antagonist, or obstacles: The Empress
3. The foundation: King of Pentacles
4. The crown: 4 Pentacles
5. The near past: 6 Pentacles
6. The near future: Page of Wands
7. Attitude toward question: 3 Pentacles
8. Environment or influences: Page of Swords
9. Hopes and fears: 10 Swords
10. Outcome of the reading: Knight of Swords

I feel this spread represents triumph after considerable struggle (look at all those swords!). I have ample material resources for the task; my major struggle will be with the contradictory qualities of my own character. But note that the outcome card signals success: bravery, strength, a skillful and clever person, arrival. I'm reading this as an encouraging sign for the year ahead — if nothing else, it's much more positive than last year's spread!

Bad poems for sale

Because I could not stop the puck
It kindly stopped for me:
The crease held but just ourselves
And immortality.

Ha ha.

L

Stand by Me

Marcy sent this to me on Facebook. I love the concept and its a great rendition of this song...

Embedded Video

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Does Any One Know Any Thing?

Today's title is in honour of editors, one of whom would likely change my titling to "Does Anyone Know Anything?" — sadly, quite different in intent than my original.

Apparently today, on the eve of the solstice, we are enjoying the halcyon days. Michael Quinion provides an explanation:

The story goes back to a Greek legend that the kingfisher nested in
the sea at the time of the winter solstice and that its floating
nest brought calm to wind and water, what we now call the halcyon
days, "halcyon" being from the Greek name for the kingfisher,
alkuon. A romantic version of the legend was told by the Roman poet
Ovid about Ceyx and Alcyone. She was the daughter of Aeolus, the
god of the winds, and he was the son of the morning star. Ceyx was
lost at sea and Alcyone was inconsolable. The gods took pity on
them, turning them into kingfishers so that they might continue to
live together. When they mated each year at the winter solstice the
gods calmed the winds and seas so Alcyone might brood her eggs
safely. Alcyone's name became "halcyon" in Latin, because of a mistaken
belief that its real source was two Greek words meaning "conceiving
on the sea."

It's difficult to imagine a seascape populated with kingfishers this morning, with the air temperature at -29 and the wind chill equivalent to -33. Still halcyon, meaning peaceful, calm, carefree, is an emotional tone we should all strive for this weekend. The sun is about to begin its return journey: the light is coming back.

Too bad there are only five more shopping days until Christmas. Perhaps that's why truly halcyon days seem so remote and fantastic.

Soon to emerge from under a pile of marking...

L

Shakespeare was a Wild Thing

My online grammar students are required to do a style analysis exercise in which they must recast a piece of contemporary writing in an older idiom. Their choices are Middle English, Renaissance English, Enlightenment English, and Victorian English. The students protested that they had no idea what I was asking them to do — did I really expect them to learn Middle English in a week? — and could I please post a sample of the task.

Normally I am reluctant to provide well-developed models of assignments in class because students tend to do what I've shown them rather than developing their own, likely much more creative, solutions. However, I decided that because we are meeting in an online environment and they have much less contact with me than they would in a face-to-face setting, I would relent. Hence the following excerpt from Maurice Sendak's classic children's book Where the Wild Things Are, recast in Renaissance-style English. Enjoy! — L


***


The night Max wore his wolf suit and made mischief of one kind
and another
his mother called him "WILD THING!" and Max said "I'LL EAT YOU UP!" so he was sent to bed without eating anything.
That very night in Max's room a forest grew
and grew ——
and grew until his ceiling hung with vines and the walls became the world all around
and an ocean tumbled by with a private boat for Max and he sailed off through night and day
and in and out of weeks and almost over a year to where the wild things are.
And when he came to the place where the wild things are they roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible teeth
and rolled their terrible eyes and showed their terrible claws
till Max said "BE STILL!" and tamed them with the magic trick of staring into all their yellow eyes without blinking once and they were frightened and called him the most wild thing of all
and made him king of all wild things.



Lo, upon that eve, when upon his person did Max array the suit in the likeness of the Wolf, and did make mischief of such a kind and of another such;
his Mother, the very Hera of his being, him appelled "WILD THING!"; the while sayeth Max, "I'LL EAT YOU UP!" and so, thus was he returned to his chamber lacking entirely in victual and sustenance.
Lo upon that same eve'n, in that fast foreboding chamber, did grow a wood and a wild, the which unfurled
and increased ——
and expanded vitally until the firmament was wreathed with tendrils and tenerumen, and the ramparts gave way to a Universe new-emerged;
and there upon the waves of fair Okeanos did tumble a sailing vessel bold, for the express conveyance of Max alone; and so he did voyage, tracing the pathways of fair Diana and bright Apollo both,
through the reckoning of a seven-day and beyond a fortnight, nigh upon one turning of the stars, to discover the place of the Wilde Things.
Whereupon encountering the horde of these Creatures Beastly, did they bellow, their shouts a clatter upon the Heavens; and did they grind their beastly dentures, a boisterous and disorderly shewing;
They did roll their eyen frightful upon themselves, and did brandish their talons and their pincers set to maul and mangle;
And then, of a sudden did Max proclaim "BE STILL!" and brought these beasts of wildest mantle under his own sway and suasion, using that charm magick, the enchantment of staring but fierce into their orbs aureal and not to break the thread he had made with those fearsome orisons; and they were afeared and did cower and quake, and unto him did apply the title of that one most wild of any,
And so did they make him Ruler and King of all their kind.

Why proofreading matters

How different life can be plus or minus a consonant:

timelines or timeliness?

deadlines or deadliness?

This week I can't tell the difference.

L

Thursday: Not the end of the week

Here are my thoughts for today.

1) Est virgo hec penna, meretrix eat stompificata. (The pen is a virgin, the printing press a whore.)

2) "The red penis your friend." (From my favourite slam poet, Taylor Mali.)

L

I Dream of France

-- Post From My iPod

Tuesday: Back to work

... I run off where the drifts get deeper
Sleeping Beauty trips me with a frown
I hear a voice: "You must learn to stand up for yourself
'cause I can't always be around."

When are you going to make up your mind?

— Tori Amos, "Winter"

For Thanksgiving

My political compass outcome: no surprises here.

We shall overcome — as arranged by Pete Seeger

We shall overcome,
We shall overcome,
We shall overcome, some day.

Oh, deep in my heart,
I do believe
We shall overcome, some day.

We’ll walk hand in hand,
We’ll walk hand in hand,
We’ll walk hand in hand, some day.

Oh, deep in my heart,

We shall live in peace,
We shall live in peace,
We shall live in peace, some day.

Oh, deep in my heart,

We shall all be free,
We shall all be free,
We shall all be free, some day.

Oh, deep in my heart,

We are not afraid,
We are not afraid,
We are not afraid, today

Oh, deep in my heart,

We shall overcome,
We shall overcome,
We shall overcome, some day.

Oh, deep in my heart,
I do believe
We shall overcome, some day.

Staff Meetings et al.

Sitting at work in a staff meeting. Woot. This is the umpteenth meeting this week. I hate meetings. It seems I am not much of a team player.

Why is it that a "democratic" system seems to me synonymous with "having to listen to the idiot"? I have always believed in the benevolent dictator system and this past week just reinforces it for me. I would rather suffer under unfair decision making processes then waste so much time pursuing the unattainable concensus. You never make everyone happy, so why do we try so hard?

So I waffle between "We gotta get out of this place" and "Que sera, sera"

Sigh.

Mobile Blogging from here.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPod]

Thought for Friday

Jennifer Beals was born on December 19, 1963.

Do you think I can finish my dissertation before I turn forty?

L

iBlogger

Yet another blogging pckg for my touch. This one has potential but no images for blogspot and no redirected urls for wordpress.

Kinda leaves me out.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPod]

Test Two

Simultaneous posts to two blogs with pic:



Zak in a kimono whilst in Japan

Posted From My iPod

Testing Technology Takes Time

So here is a new tool to blog with. I am using BlogPress on my Touch to post here and macblaze.hopto.org Let's see what happens when I add a pic..


L and C getting literary in Paris

--Post From My iPhone

Thought for the Day

"All slang is metaphor, and all metaphor is poetry." — G.K. Chesterton

It's a gorgeous September Sunday and there are still raspberries in the garden.

Lots of work to do — I'd better get at it.

L

...later that same day...

Done most of what I'd hoped to accomplish today, although never everything. Tried to post the outline to my online course, resulting in this kind of experience.

Happy New Year

For so long my life has been organized around the academic calendar that Labour Day has come to represent the real new year to me. This is the weekend I make my resolutions for better behaviour, change, improvement, etc. (Already several of my resolutions/changes have been tossed aside, but that's another story.) Wonderfully, this year Labour Day has fallen on September 1, creating a rather polished beginning to the school year ahead.

I did some necessary work at the office yesterday and finished some more earlier today. Another student has been launched as a graduate — hooray! Another is starting her second workplace term, while a few others are just beginning workplace study officially today. And I moved offices over the weekend, too. Can't wait to see what response that elicits tomorrow.

I am teaching second-year grammar again this year — yay! — and my print culture history class is running too. Unfortunately, I may also be teaching a third course, research skills. I was supposed to have course release this term, but it looks like my release is going to be snatched away. But the class doesn't start for another week, so if I can find someone else to teach it before September 8 I'll get to keep my release time and my scheduled Mondays off. I remain hopeful (although there's no reason on record that I should).

Am listening to good music this weekend, thanks to kind friends. Am reading good books, too. Now if only I were doing some good writing. Sigh.

Enjoyed a handful of late raspberries this morning, and may enjoy more over the next few days if we avoid a frost. There are also hundreds and hundreds of apples in the garden — if you want some apples, please let me know!

Oh, and since no-one else has said it, France was amazing and fantastic and marvellous — and I'd love to go back right now. Squamish was also super, especially climbing Dierdre. Wow!

I hope the new year treats you well. Cheers!

L

Looking back to understand the present

According to Naomi S. Baron, "in the medieval English scriptorium, punctuation was generally added not by scribes but by proofreaders, who were the most learned monks in the monastery. Sometimes the abbots themselves filled this role."

Does this historical fact provide a greater understanding of the cast of contemporary editors? Hmm.

From Banff in the rain,
Leslie

Talent or practice?

According to neuroscientist Daniel J. Levitin, "ten thousand hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert — in anything. In study after study, of composers, basketball players, fiction writers, ice skaters, concert pianists, chess players, master criminals, and what have you, this number comes up again and again. Ten thousand hours is equivalent to roughly three hours a day, or twenty hours a week, of practice over ten years."

Hmm. Here I am at the Congress of Learned Societies with some ten thousand other people, most of whom are exceptionally well educated and highly intelligent; and yet of these ten thousand, only a very small number are truly "world-class" in their field. So perhaps the ten-thousand hour thesis does not apply to intellectual pursuits?

It's interesting that ten years is roughly the duration of an undergraduate degree plus graduate studies that typically churns out a PhD — assuming the student studied full time (which would be at least twenty hours per week of reading, writing, researching, discussing, and thinking). Does the diversity of tasks involved in becoming an academic preclude true expertise except rarely? (How many academic writers spend at least twenty hours a week only reading or only writing, for instance?) Because simply getting the PhD, while a great accomplishment, is insufficient to put one on the world stage, as the many, many underemployed graduates here will attest.

But then again, many of you reading this blog are inveterate readers who likely do spend some twenty hours of an average week reading. (I do, on average.) Does that make us world-class readers? (Levitin would argue that it would not, because reading is not a socially valued activity.) How would one evaluate world-class achievement in reading anyway?

Such strange thoughts ... but such is my brain early on a Sunday morning.

L

Live from Vancouver...

... and finally awake, c'est moi!

Here in my favourite city, the temperature is currently lower than it is at home. Seems I'm missing the best weather of the spring in Alberta. Sigh. But the sky is finally clearing here and I am watching the early evening sun from the east tower in the Gage residence. The prediction for tomorrow is not very good, but then again I'm supposed to be in sessions all day so it really shouldn't matter.

But I am very lonely! Would love to have e-mail from any of you -- or find me on Facebook. That's good too.

The room I'm staying is "modest" but not quite as spartan as the U of T residence I stayed in a couple of years ago. No tv (but there is tv in the common room if I want to watch something). No bathroom -- it's down the hall and better organized than the shower situation at St Mary's. (And fortunately, here's one place where my habit of waking up in the night will be valuable -- no need to fight for a shower if you take it at 4 in the morning!) Had no internet until about 6 pm local time -- sigh sigh sigh... -- but I have it now, finally!

I have my session book at last and am now planning my attendance for the next few days. There's a great plenary tomorrow with Severn Cullis-Suzuki that I'm hoping to attend (although it's at one of the more inaccessible locations on campus). There's also a breakfast talk on Monday with a young publisher and professor from SFU -- must try to get to that.

Today I had planned to get out and explore the city, but my body had other ideas. I worked for a few hours on my computer and then fell asleep for several hours. Oh well -- there will be time for sight-seeing, etc., tomorrow and next week.

Breakfast is included with our accommodation fees -- except not today. I hope there's something I can eat...

I hope you're well. See you on Wednesday!

L

Summer days

We're going to France! We're going to France!

That's right: our summer holiday involves a quick trip to France to drive a canal boat through Burgundy.

Then we're headed to Squamish for another week of climbing, hiking, jet-boating, and other miscellaneous fun.

Between now and then, I'm going to spend a week in Vancouver, a week in Banff, and a weekend in Montreal.

Pretty fab, huh? Think I'll go rest now and get ready. Summer begins in just a few days. I can hardly wait.

L

Now reading: Dr Delicious: Memoirs of a Life in CanLit by Robert Lecker; You Know Where to Find Me by Rachel Cohn; and The Female Thing: Dirt, Sex, Envy, Vulnerability by Laura Kipnis

Happy birthday, B!

Here's hoping your day was fabulous. And remember, in the words of the fine folks of Squamish:

Who needs big jugs when you've got a great crack?

love,
L

Because she did it first...

If your life was a movie, what would the soundtrack be?

1. Open your music library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc.)
2. Put your player on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every scene, type in the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new scene, press the "advance" button
6. Don't lie and try to pretend you're cool - first songs only

The Life of Bruce
Opening Credits: "Please Mr Please" by Olivia Newton John

Waking Up: "Breathe" by Collective Soul

First Day of School: "I'll be There in a Minute" by Gowan

Falling in Love: "As Lovers Go" by Dashboard Confessional

Fight Song: "My Girl" by Chilliwack

Breaking Up: "Drive My Car" by The Beatles

Prom: "We are the Champions" by Queen

Life is Good: "The 59th Street Bridge song (Feeling Groovy)" by Simon and Garfunkle

Mental Breakdown: "Smoky Mountain Rain" by Ronnie Milsap

Driving: "Layin' Pipe" by David Wilcox

Flashback: "Hitch A Ride" by Boston

Getting Back Together: "Holding Out For a Hero" by Frou Frou

Wedding: "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" by Charlie Daniels Band

Paying the Dues: "I'm Just a Kid" by Simple Plan

The Night Before the War: "Go Down Gamblin'" by Blood Sweat and Tears

Moment of Triumph: "Good Day Sunshine" by The Beatles

Death Scene: "Making Plans for Nigel" by XTC

Funeral Song: "Knocking On Your Backdoor" by Deep Purple

End Credits: "You Oughta Know" by Alanis Morissette

*****


Hmmmmmmm....

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Let's try this again...

An iteration of the MP3 game that I was playing earlier this year finally made its way to the Ecto mailing list that I'm still on after ten years. Here's another set of answers — plus instructions for those who were confused the last time around.

What this round tells me is that I listen to way too much pop music — and mostly songs I should be embarrassed to admit having in my library!

***

If your life was a movie, what would the soundtrack be?

1. Open your music library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc.)
2. Put your player on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every scene, type in the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new scene, press the "advance" button
6. Don't lie and try to pretend you're cool - first songs only

Opening Credits: "Dirty Water" by Rock and Hyde

Waking Up: "Dance of the Clowns" by Berlioz

First Day of School: "Fame" by Irene Cara

Falling in Love: "Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is" by Jet

Fight Song: "We Don't Talk Anymore" by Cliff Richard

Breaking Up: "Tainted Love" by Soft Cell

Prom: "Fox on the Run" by Sweet

Life is Good: "The Battle of Evermore" by Led Zeppelin

Mental Breakdown: "Have You Never Been Mellow" by Olivia Newton-John

Driving: "Piece of My Heart" by Janis Joplin

Flashback: "Monster Hospital" by Metric

Getting Back Together: "The Visitors" by ABBA

Wedding: "Take One Away" by Burton Cummings

Paying the Dues: "Mr Tambourine Man" by Bob Dylan

The Night Before the War: "What About Love" by Toronto

Moment of Triumph: "Me and Bobby McGee" by Janis Joplin

Death Scene: "Cocaine" by Eric Clapton

Funeral Song: "China Grove" by The Doobie Brothers

End Credits: "Elegie" by Massenet

Thought for the day

"In hindsight, it seems evident that a guerrilla group started by middle-class men and women who name their group from a Bob Dylan song will likely be their own worst enemies." — Mark Kurlansky, referring to The Weathermen, later the Weather Underground

Turning Japanese!

In honour of Zak's imminent departure. Unfortunately, I still cannot read the kanji, but I can sound my way (badly) through Romaji. Nihongo has a very different linguistic structure from Ego ... I have a lot to learn!

Ichi — ni — san .... ikimasho!

Asa desu.

Haha to chichi.

Aka to kuro to shiro

Hai! Ie! Zenzen!

Sushi o tabemasho.

San-ju-hachi sai desu.

Gomen nasai.

Anti-erotic poems lifted from the NYT

These lines are taken from a review of an anthology of American erotic poetry. The anthology sounds awful, but the review was brilliant!

1) "Their Sex Life" — A.R. Ammons

One failure on
Top of another.


2) "On Reading Poorly Transcribed Erotica" — Jill Alexander Essbaum

She stood before him wearing only pantries
and he groped for her Volvo under the gauze.


Happy Easter!
L

The vault of lost lyrics, chapter 95

Like many of my "Lost" picks, this song didn't chart in Canada's Top 40 (it peaked at #68, according to online sources), but it displays the somewhat paradoxical, subjunctive style of writing that I particularly enjoy in pop music. You probably don't remember it, but if you do, enjoy your synth-enhanced nostalgia trip.

**

"When Time Turns Around" (as recorded by The Spoons)

When all the clocks stop in my heart
Will you still be there to take me
Back to the start?

When time turns around
We'll do it all over again
One more time
When time turns around
We'll take all the chances we missed
The first time around

When the world stops outside my room
I know you'll take me to a place
Where everything comes true

When time turns around
We'll do it all over again
One last time
When all the clocks unwind
We'll take all the chances we missed
The second time around

There's something in this room
Scattered in the airwaves
Bouncing off the ground right to my head
The pictures on the wall
Shadows of a replay
Of things that should have happened long ago
Now no-one else will know

When time turns around
We'll do it all over again
One more time
When time turns around
We'll take all the chances we missed
The first time around

When time turns around
We'll do it all over again
One last time
When all the clocks unwind
We'll take all the chances we missed
And never turn around

The vault of lost lyrics, chapter 34

Technically not "lost" lyrics since you've likely never heard this song, but still a beautiful track.... donne-moi, donne-moi, donne-moi...

**

"Pour ton sourire" (as written and recorded by Jorane, violoncelliste suprême)

Donne-moi tes lèvres
Donne-moi ton coeur
Donne-moi tes yeux
Donne-moi ton sourire

Pour ton sourire, j'veux donner une belle bague
Une belle bague pour ton sourire

Pour t'embrasser, j'veux donner une tasse d'amour
Une tasse d'amour pour t'embrasser
Pour tes yeux et pour tes lèvres
Pour ton sourire

Pour ton sourire, j'veux donner toutes mes nuits
Mes jours et tous mes rêves
Pour tes yeux et pour tes lèvres
Pour ton sourire

"Welcome to Alberta's century!"

This morning I am ashamed to be an Albertan. In the spirit of change, we have elected 72 of 83 Tory MLAs.

Here is the breakdown, pending any recounts, with percentage of popular vote in parentheses:

PC: 72 (52.67%)
LIB: 9 (26.36%)
NDP: 2 (8.53%)
WAP: 0 (6.76%)
GRN: 0 (4.58%)
OTH: 0 (1.1%).

Only 41 percent of eligible Alberta voters bothered to go to the polls.

To friends who ran, congratulations on your efforts to try to change the political landscape for the better. I admire your conviction and dedication.

As for me, I'm hanging my head. Why don't we just save the money and do away with elections in this province? Who needs democracy when you're rich, after all? I am so, so disappointed in Alberta.

For Leslie & Editors Everywhere...

Hmmmmmm, Poofreading...sound slightly 17th century

Embedded Video

Blogged with Flock

Blogging with Flock

This is just a bit of a test of some new software. Flock is what they are calling a Social Browser. It includes links to Facebook, YouTube etc as well as built in RSS and Blogging utilities. I can also upload pictures to Flick'r  but not to Picassa (which is what I have been using).

Theoretically I can link to an image like this:

One of L's favorite Demotivators

Guess that works. As well you can poke people right from the browser without going to Facebook or check status etc. It also supports media streams, but since I don't know what that is  I'm not too thrilled yet. You can post to multiple blogs (see here at MacBlaze) either on standard services like blogger or LiveJournal or self hosted one like mine which is totally bonus. It links to del.icio.us and magnolia. It's cross platform as well.

It also has all the latest browser features like tabbed browsing, search capabilities etc. All in all is seems like a real gem.

Blogged with Flock

The vault of lost lyrics, chapter 85

Such a sweet and wistful little song. And though we may be cynical now, isn't it comforting to remember simpler days?


**


"A Good Heart" (as recorded by Feargal Sharkey)

I hear a lot of stories
I suppose they could be true
All about love and what it can do to you
High is the risk of striking out, the risk of getting hurt
And still I have so much to learn

I know 'cause I think about it all the time
I know that real love is quite a vice

And a good heart these days is hard to find
True love, the lasting kind
A good heart these days is hard to find
So please be gentle with this heart of mine

My expectations may be high
I blame it on my youth
Soon enough I learned the painful truth
I'll face it like a fighter, then boast of how I've grown
Anything is better than being alone

Well I know 'cause I learn a little every day
I know 'cause I listen when the experts say

That a good heart these days is hard to find
True love, the lasting kind
A good heart these days is hard to find
So please be gentle with this heart of mine

As I reflect on all my childhood dreams
My ideas of love weren't as foolish as they seemed
If I don't start looking now, I'll be left behind
And a good heart these days, it's hard to find

I know it's a dream I'm willing to defend
I know it will all be worth it in the end

And a good heart these days is hard to find
True love, the lasting kind
A good heart these days is hard to find
So please be gentle with this heart of mine

I iz aliving noobz

Yeah. I just am.

L

"If I ever lose my faith in you"

The challenge: Set your digital music player to random/shuffle. Use the title of the next song to play to answer each question.

These are the real answers that came up! It's uncanny — and a little unnerving!

1. If someone says, "Is this okay?" you say?
"It's All Right with Me" (Tom Waits covering Cole Porter)

2. How would you describe yourself?
"Wrong" (Lindsey Buckingham)

3. What do you like in a guy/girl?
"Sexual Healing" (Kate Bush)

4. How do you feel today?
"You Oughta Know" (Alanis Morissette)

5. What is your motto?
"Love Is Love" (urm ... Culture Club)

6. What do your friends think of you?
"Jump Around" (House of Pain)

7. What do you think of your parents?
"Laying Down the Law" (INXS w/Jimmy Barnes)

8. What do you think about very often?
"And So Is Love" (Kate Bush)

9. What is 2 + 2?
"The Crucifixion" (Jesus Christ Superstar soundtrack)

10. What do you think of your best friend?
"California" (Sarah Slean)

11. What do you think of the person you like/love?
"Give Peace a Chance" (John Lennon)

12. What is your life's purpose?
"Love Will Find a Way" (Pablo Cruise)

13. What is your life story?
"Waterloo" (ABBA)

14. What do you want to be when you grow up?
"Lucky Me" (Sarah Slean)

15. What do you think of when you see the person you like/love?
"Walk like an Egyptian" (The Bangles)

16. What will you dance to at your wedding?
"Spark" (Tori Amos)

17. What will they play at your funeral?
"I Put a Spell on You" (CCR)

18. What is your hobby/interest?
"Don't Go" (Yaz)

19. What is your biggest fear?
"On My Own" (Les Misérables soundtrack)

20. What is your biggest secret?
"Look What You've Done to Me" (Boz Scaggs)

21. What do you think of your friends?
"Fame" (Irene Cara)

22. What will you post this as?
"If I Ever Lose My Faith in You" (Sting)


Try it yourself — and be sure to post the results!

L

The vault of lost lyrics, chapter 132

Probably one of the strangest Christmas singles ever, and likely also one of the most histrionic — and yet it still gets me every time.

**

"The Power of Love" (as recorded by Frankie Goes to Hollywood)

I'll protect you from the hooded claw
Keep the vampires from your door

Feels like fire
I'm so in love with you
Dreams are like angels
They keep bad at bay
Love is the light
Scaring darkness away

I'm so in love with you
Purge the soul
Make love your goal

The power of love
A force from above
Cleaning my soul
Flame on, burn desire
Love with tongues of fire
Purge the soul
Make love your goal

I'll protect you from the hooded claw
Keep the vampires from your door
When the chips are down I'll be around
With my undying, death-defying
Love for you
Envy will hurt itself
Let yourself be beautiful
Sparkling love, flowers
And pearls and pretty girls
Love is like an energy
Rushing inside of me

This time we go sublime
Lovers entwine, divine divine
Love is danger, love is pleasure
Love is pure, the only treasure

I'm so in love with you
Purge the soul
Make love your goal

The power of love
A force from above
Cleaning my soul
The power of love
A force from above
A sky-scraping dove
Flame on, burn desire
Love with tongues of fire
Purge the soul
Make love your goal

I'll protect you from the hooded claw
Keep the vampires from your door

2008

As a post for 2008 (it seems I only get around to one a year or so) I think I will dedicate it to Leslie's teaching, Carmen's studenting and Bruce's stand-around-observingness. The first issue of Enjoy Gardening hit the shelves at Hole's today and will be populating magazine racks across the country in the coming weeks. Not quite a magazine, similar to a book, sort of a journal and not at all a serial, I believe this is a new form of publication that I intend to call a Moosh.

Long live the Moosh and may she fly high and true.

The vault of lost lyrics, chapter 123

Contemplate the unity between la belle et la bête. Who doesn't love a bit of drama in his life?

**

"Beauty and the Beast" (as recorded by Stevie Nicks)

You're not a stranger to me
And you are something to see
You don't even know how to please
You say a lot but you're unaware how to leave

My darling lives in a world that is not mine
An old child misunderstood out of time
Timeless is the creature who is wise
And timeless is the prisoner in disguise

Oh who is the beauty ... who the beast
Would you die of grieving when I leave
Two children too blind to see
I would fall in your shadow, I believe

My love is a man who's not been tamed
Oh my love lives in a world of false pleasure and pain
We come from different worlds ... we are the same
I never doubted your beauty ... I've changed

Wondering...

What does the aspect of this line imply about the speaker's imminent actions?

"You have been the one,
You have been the one for me."

Since I first heard this song (by James Blunt), I've been writing its story in my mind, and I'm really puzzled by the tense. Any ideas?

L

Welcome to 2008

Happy New Year! I hope your entry into 2008 was bright and beautiful. Here's wishing us all a joyous, healthy, and satisfying twelve months. Whee!

L

What would you call...?

Whew, it's been a while, huh? I'll try to get back to blogging more regularly in the new year. They say power has its privileges ... one of which is not an abundance of spare time. : )

In the meantime, here's something to think about: What would the title of your biography be? Here are some suggestions:

For Zak: Stuff I would have blown up ... if I'd gotten around to it ...

For me: Stuff I found on the floor of my office

OK, maybe these aren't titles of biographies so much as archeological dissertations. Speaking of which... Back to cleaning up.

Have a marvellous holiday season!

L

Beautiful passages

"My own father, who had great respect for nature, had dropped each of us into the river soon after we were born, before our ties to the amphibians, so he claimed, were cut completely. ... I'd like to think that I would have done it differently. I would have held my son in my arms. I would have told him, Once upon a time you were a fish. A fish? he'd have asked. That's what I'm telling you, a fish. How do you know? Because I was also a fish. You, too? Sure. A long time ago. How long? Long. Anyway, being a fish, you used to know how to swim. You loved the water. Why? What do you mean, why? Why did I love the water? Because it was your life! And as we talked, I would have let him go one finger at a time, until, without his realizing, he'd be floating without me."

Nicole Krauss, The History of Love

The vault of lost lyrics, chapter 27

July days, July evenings...

**

"Summer Breeze" (as recorded by Seals and Crofts)

See the curtains hanging in the window
In the evening on a Friday night
A little light shining through the window
Lets me know everything's all right

Summer breeze makes me feel fine
Blowing through the jasmine in my mind

See the paper laying on the sidewalk
A little music from the house next door
So I walk on up to the doorstep
Through the screen and across the floor

Summer breeze makes me feel fine
Blowing through the jasmine in my mind

Sweet days of summer, the jasmine's in bloom
July is dressed up and playing her tune
And I come home from a hard day’s work
And you're waiting there
Not a care in the world

See the smile waiting in the kitchen
Food cooking and the plates for two
Feel the arms that reach out to hold me
In the evening when the day is through

Summer breeze makes me feel fine
Blowing through the jasmine in my mind…

The vault of lost lyrics, chapter 38

Simple and sweet, and slightly melancholy. Don't you have those contrary days too?

**

"Hello Goodbye" (as recorded by The Beatles)

You say yes, I say no
You say stop and I say go, go, go
Oh, no
You say goodbye and I say hello
Hello, hello
I don't know why you say goodbye
I say hello
Hello, hello
I don't know why you say goodbye
I say hello

I say high, you say low
You say why, and I say I don't know
Oh, no
You say goodbye and I say hello
Hello, hello
I don't know why you say goodbye
I say hello
Hello, hello
I don't know why you say goodbye
I say hello

Why, why, why, why, why, why
Do you say good bye
Goodbye, bye, bye, bye, bye

Oh, no
You say goodbye and I say hello
Hello, hello
I don't know why you say goodbye
I say hello
Hello, hello
I don't know why you say goodbye
I say hello
hello, hello
I don't know why you say goodbye I say hello
Hello

The vault of lost lyrics, chapter 69

Maybe you remember Streetheart's cover instead of the original. Either way, it makes a fine singalong on those retro days.

**

"Tin Solider" (as recorded by The Small Faces)

I am a little tin soldier
That wants to jump into your fire
You are a look in your eye
A dream passing by in the sky
I don't understand
And all I need is treat me like a man
'Cause I ain't no child
Take me like I am

I got to know that I belong to you
Do anything that you want to do
Sing any song that you want me to sing to you

I don't need no aggravation
I just got to make you
I just got to make you my occupation

I got to know that I belong to you
Do anything that you want to do
Sing any song that you want me to sing to you

All I need is your whispered hello
Smiles melting the snow
Nothing heard
You eyes are deeper than time
Say a love that won't rhyme without words
So now I've lost my way
I need help to show me things to say
Give me your love before mine fades away

I got to know that I belong to you
Do anything that you want to do
Sing any song that you want me to sing to you

I just want some reaction
Someone to give me satisfaction
All I want to do is stick with you
'Cause I love you

The vault of lost lyrics, chapter 94

One of the best songs for remembering sunny summer days.

**

"At the Zoo" (as recorded by Simon and Garfunkel)

Someone told me
It's all happening at the zoo
I do believe it
I do believe it's true

It's a light and tumble journey
From the East Side to the park
Just a fine and fancy ramble
To the zoo
But you can take the crosstown bus
If it's raining or it's cold
And the animals will love it
If you do, if you do

Something tells me
It's all happening at the zoo
I do believe it
I do believe it's true

The monkeys stand for honesty
Giraffes are insincere
And the elephants are kindly but they're dumb
Orangutans are skeptical
Of changes in their cages
And the zookeeper is very fond of rum
Zebras are reactionaries
Antelopes are missionaries
Pigeons plot in secrecy
And hamsters turn on frequently
What a gas! You gotta come and see
At the zoo...

Breast cancer versus prostate cancer

October is breast cancer month in Canada. You likely already know this because of the pink ribbons in magazines and newspapers, in stores and businesses, and on various products, or because you're supporting a run to fund breast cancer research.

Did you know September was prostate cancer awareness month?

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among Canadian women, while prostate cancer is the most common cancer among Canadian men. In fact, prostate cancer accounts for almost one in three cancer diagnoses among Alberta men.

In 2007, an estimated 22,300 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer and 4,300 will die of it. In 2007, an estimated 22,300 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and 5,300 will die of it.

These figures mean that, on average, 429 Canadian men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer every week and 83 Canadian men will die of prostate cancer every week. At the same time, an average of 429 Canadian women will be diagnosed with breast cancer every week and 102 Canadian women will die of breast cancer every week. (In the United States, more black women die of breast cancer than white women do.)

At a local level, an estimated 2,400 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer and 430 will die of it in Alberta and the Northwest Territories, while an estimated 2,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and 440 will die of it in Alberta and the Northwest Territories.

Breast cancer tends to be a more lethal cancer and tends to develop earlier in life than prostate cancer. One in eight men will develop prostate cancer during his lifetime, for most after age sixty. One in 27 will die of it. One in nine women is expected to develop breast cancer during her lifetime, and one in twenty-seven will die of it. (An estimated 170 men are diagnosed each year with breast cancer and 50 will die of it.)

However, breast cancer death rates have declined in all ages combined and in every age group since at least the mid 1990s. Incidence and death rates for breast cancer have declined since 1969 in women aged 20 to 39.

So research does make a difference, and your donations to fight cancer are important. But don't be swayed to buy pretty pink products that you wouldn't otherwise buy, and don't be coerced into donating just because it's October. The pink ribbon is appealing, but advances in all areas of cancer research are needed now.

You can make your money make a difference. Donate directly to organizations that fund cancer research rather than buying products that direct a portion of their profits to funding cancer organizations. Support products and organizations that generate funds and awareness year-round rather than just once a year. Cancer organizations are happy to receive your donation throughout the year, whether it's breast cancer, prostate cancer, lung cancer, or general cancer research that you prefer to support, and most donations to registered charitable and nonprofit organizations are tax-creditable.

Cancer is an ugly disease, no matter who gets it. It is tragic when a beautiful woman in her twenties or thirties learns she has cancer, but it is also tragic when a brilliant man in his fifties or sixties learns he has cancer. This month, join the fight to end ALL cancers.

All statistics are from the Canadian Cancer Society, www.cancer.ca.

The vault of lost lyrics, chapter 49

A little-known song from the late eighties: sweet, simple, and a tiny bit sad.

**

"I Wish U Heaven" (as recorded by Prince)

Doubts of our conviction
Follow where we go
And when the world's compassion
Ceases still I know
4 your every touch I
Thank U so much
4 your every kiss I...

I wish U love
I wish U heaven
I wish U heaven

If I say 11
U can say it's 7
Still I wish U heaven

I wish U love
I wish U heaven
I wish U heaven...

The vault of lost lyrics, chapter 46

Someone somewhere is thinking of you right this minute.

**

"Losing My Religion" (as recorded by R.E.M.)

Life is bigger
It's bigger than you
And you are not me
The lengths that I will go to
The distance in your eyes
Oh no, I've said too much
I set it up

That's me in the corner
That's me in the spotlight
Losing my religion
Trying to keep up with you
And I don't know if I can do it
Oh no, I've said too much
I haven't said enough
I thought that I heard you laughing
I thought that I heard you sing
I think I thought I saw you try

Every whisper
Of every waking hour I'm
Choosing my confessions
Trying to keep an eye on you
Like a hurt lost and blinded fool
Oh no, I've said too much
I set it up

Consider this
The hint of the century
Consider this
The slip that brought me
To my knees failed
What if all these fantasies
Come flailing around
Now I've said too much
I thought that I heard you laughing
I thought that I heard you sing
I think I thought I saw you try

But that was just a dream
That was just a dream

The vault of lost lyrics, chapter 97

Ideally, this song is playing while you're flying down the highway, headed for happiness...

**

"Magic Carpet Ride" (as recorded by Steppenwolf, 1968!)

I like to dream yes, yes, right between my sound machine
On a cloud of sound I drift in the night
Any place it goes is right
Goes far, flies near, to the stars away from here

Well, you don't know what we can find
Why don't you come with me, little girl
On a magic carpet ride
You don't know what we can see
Why don't you tell your dreams to me
Fantasy will set you free
Close your eyes, girl
Look inside, girl
Let the sound take you away

Last night I held Aladdin's lamp
And so I wished that I could stay
Before the thing could answer me
Well, someone came and took the lamp away
I looked around
A lousy candle's all I found

Well, you don't know what we can find
Why don't you come with me, little girl
On a magic carpet ride
Well, you don't know what we can see
Why don't you tell your dreams to me
Fantasy will set you free
Close your eyes, girl
Look inside, girl
Let the sound take you away...

The vault of lost lyrics, chapter 89

Always reminds me of the auto-percussion selection on my mother's electronic organ!

**

"Steppin' Out" (as recorded by Joe Jackson)

Now —
The mist across the window hides the lines
But nothing hides the colour of the lights that shine
Electricity so fine
Look and dry your eyes

We —
So tired of all the darkness in our lives
With no more angry words to say
Can come alive
Get into a car and drive
To the other side

Me, babe — steppin' out
Into the night
Into the light
You, babe — steppin' out
Into the night
Into the light

We —
Are young but getting old before our time
We'll leave the TV and the radio behind
Don't you wonder what we'll find
Steppin' out tonight

You —
Can dress in pink and blue just like a child
And in a yellow taxi turn to me and smile
We'll be there in just a while
If you follow me

Me, babe — steppin' out
Into the night
Into the light
You, babe - steppin' out
Into the night
Into the light ...

The vault of lost lyrics, chapter 31

Another great one-off — perfect for your morning commute!

**

"Ah! Leah!" (as recorded by Donnie Iris)

Leah, it's been a long long time
You're such a sight
You're looking better than a body has a right to
Don't you know we're playing with the fire?
But we can't stop this burning desire

Ah! Leah! Here we go again
Ah! Leah! Is it ever going to end?

I see your lips and I wonder who's been kissing them
I never knew how badly I was missing them
We both know we're never going to make it
but when we touch, we never have to fake it

Ah! Leah! Here we go again
Ah! Leah! Is it ever going to end?
We ain't learned our lesson yet

Baby, it's no good
We're just asking for trouble
I can touch you but I don't know how to love you
It ain't no use, we're headed for disaster
Our minds say no but our hearts are talking faster

Ah! Leah! Here we go again
Ah! Leah! Is it ever going to end?

The vault of lost lyrics, chapter 17

Turn up your mental speakers and sing along!

**

"Turning Japanese" (as recorded by The Vapors)

I've got your picture of me and you
You wrote "I love you"
I wrote "Me too"
I sit there staring and there's nothing else to do
Oh it's in color
Your hair is brown
Your eyes are hazel
And soft as clouds
I often kiss you when there's no one else around

I've got your picture, I've got your picture
I'd like a million of you all round my cell
I want a doctor to take your picture
So I can look at you from inside as well
You've got me turning up and turning down
And turning in and turning 'round

Turning Japanese, I think I'm turning Japanese
I really think so...

I've got your picture, I've got your picture
I'd like a million of them all round my cell
I want the doctor to take a picture
So I can look at you from inside as well
You've got me turning up and turning down
and turning in and turning 'round

Turning Japanese, I think I'm turning Japanese
I really think so...

No sex, no drugs, no wine, no women
No fun, no sin, no you, no wonder it's dark
Everyone around me is a total stranger
Everyone avoids me like a cyclone ranger
That's why I'm turning Japanese
I think I'm turning Japanese
I really think so
Turning Japanese
I think I'm turning Japanese
I really think so...

A Book to Avoid

I'm sure few of you would ever be moved to read Ann Brashares' new novel, The Last Summer (of You and Me) . But for those who might be tempted, let me say this: don't bother.

Brashares, in case you don't know, is the author of the outrageously successful Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants series for young adults. The series is chock-full of annoying, low-grade YA clichés: genre-bound, simplistic, predictable exchanges that follow a high-key Hollywood arc. Nothing truly bad happens, the risks the protagonists face are minor and non-threatening, and the books invariably resolve happily, with renewed commitment to friendship forever (a commitment that strangely ebbs away by the beginning of the next book). Earlier this year Brashares brought all her Travelling Pants heroines to the cusp of adulthood, perhaps thinking her readership would then graduate to the new novel she's written for adults. And while readers might buy the book because they recognize the author's name, I can't imagine any but those who like badly written, formulaic storytelling enjoying it.

The Last Summer tells the story of Alice and Riley, sisters in their early twenties, and their best boy pal, Paul. After several years apart, the trio reunite at their summer homes on Fire Island. Preposterousness then ensues: a secret romance, a fast-moving tragedy, a protracted misunderstanding, and a final tearful resolution. Despite more than 300 pages of plot and exposition, real characters never arrive to flesh out Brashares' sketches. Her prose is bloated and occasionally pedantic — there is no doubt readers will understand the deeper philosophy the writer means to communicate, if only because the writer underlines it in triplicate. Brashares' technique alternates between stilted, extremely formal constructions and vapid, throwaway sentences. When the copyediting started to fall apart, about 100 pages into the novel, I was convinced the editor was having as much trouble taking the book seriously as I was. Not only could I predict the plot from chapter one; at no point did the writer make me care about the story or the characters. Even the sex scenes are coy and cool, as they would be in one of Brashares' YA books, and the serious problems of young adults living in an increasingly complex world are waved away, deferred for contemplation some vague time after Labour Day.

I'd been hoping that Brashares had more promise than her Travelling Pants premise permitted her to express — I was looking forward to a breakout book. Sadly, this is no breakout; it isn't even good summer reading. Clichéd, trite, underdeveloped and overwritten, The Last Summer (of You and Me) is a book to avoid.

Thirty Days in the Summer of 07

I took off 31 days from life to enjoy myself this summer.There are a bunch of pics here and hopefully an ongoing blog of the trip here.

Suffice it to say I was very relaxed upon my return...

Happy Birthday, Zak!

Hi Zak!

Happy Sixteenth! We hope your birthday is fun and wonderful, and wish you a successful and enjoyable year ahead. Oh, and lots of exploding. That too. : )

Lots of love,
Mom and Dad

They say you can publish documents from Google docs staright to your blog. Well if this works I guess it means you can. Thus all your bold or italics are then translated and colours too. Interesting.

In other new, it is 11 days till I and Zak head off on our adventure. I will try and keep a blog going over at macblaze.hopto.org. We are heading off to Canmore to take a climbing course (Intro to Trad) with Leslie and then she's back to work while Zak, Doug and I head to Lake Louise for a couple of days and then off to Waterton for a couple more. After that its catch as catch can until we hit Squamish on the 31st. Doug will take th train back and then Zak and I will meet up with Leslie in Vancouver on the 4th.

Then follows 8 days of sailing on this boat before we meander our way back home via Skaha oand maybe the Ghost Wilderness.

11 days...

Beautiful Sunday

Anyone remember that song?

Hi, hi, hi beautiful Sunday
This is my, my, my beautiful day
When you say, say, say, say that you love me
Oh, my, my, my it's a beautiful day

It's been a while since I've sat down to write. Lots has been happening, too. I remain chair of my program and have a mentor for my "practicum" year of leadership training. And now I must get busy writing my candidacy proposal, with the aim of taking my candidacy exam by Winter Solstice. A little faster than I had expected to do things, but probably in the realm of the possible. Tomorrow I begin a course on the work of Paulo Freire — lots of reading on the horizon!

To that end, here's a quotation from Gadamer:

To participate with the other and to be part of the other is the most and the best that we can strive for and accomplish ... We may perhaps survive as humanity if we would be able to learn that we may not simply exploit our means of power and effective possibilities, but we must stop and respect the other, whether it is nature or the grown culture of people and nations.

And further:

We live in separate realities, but we live with each other.

And from Freire himself:

I have the right to be angry and to express that anger, to hold it as my motivation to fight, just as I have the right to love and to express my love for the world, to hold it as my motivation to fight, because while a historical being, I live history as a time of possibility, not of predetermination. If reality were what it is because it was written so, there would be no reason to be angry.

Must fly — really must clean my office, and other stuff, before the house gets too warm. I hope to talk with you soon!

L

Rock On

Went climbing outside for the first time this year and visited Hogwart's and Waterknot Wall. Everyone did their fair share of leading (even Leslie) although she did comment that she considered coming down her reward for having to go up. Kind of makes her more of a descender than a climber but I guess everyone has their own schtick.




Opening day

Bruce starts the day off with some warmups on the easy Hogwart's Wall. It was a lovely day if a bit windy.


Zak follows up with some moves of his own.


Lelsie shows here moves with a couple of lead climbs of her own. She generally doesn't like to lead and that goes double for outside. She really rocked and pushed through a couple of difficult moments...

All this with an audience! (check out the spot below the wire-like shadow on the road and spot the sheep!)


Moving up the hill to Waterknot and a few tougher climbs, Zak shows off his safety-concious fashion sense. Only a 5.6, but the crux is below the first clip.


Zak moves on to the 5.11b...HARD! He pulls off the first three bolts before his fingers give out and he bails to give Dad a chance.


Bruce takes up the challenge and after a few attempts, finally dials in the next two moves but can't make the clip. After a couple of tries apiece, Zak and Dad bail and slink off to climb easier stuff.


Meanwhile Leslie is content to pummel the 5.8 into submission and work on her style points.


After a long day, we look back up the hill to the small cliff band (indicated) that makes up Waterknot Wall.

Seven big ones

A list compiled many, many years ago: seven phrases for ending (or at least redirecting) discussion, as identified by a master evader.

1. OK.
2. Right.
3. Sure.
4. So...
5. Anyway...
6. Whatever.
7. Never mind.

Of course, intonation is everything. Don't try this at home!

L

My youth...

I got this Corb Lund video off a friend's blog and it really reminds me of being young again...sigh...

Almost makes me a teary as Toby Keith's "I Love this Bar"...

For Mom

A pre- mother's day gift...

Thought for today

I can live for two months on a good compliment. — Mark Twain

Climb on,
L

Bricolage

Found in passing. Work, school, and technology conspire to keep me from resting. No, no, I do that to myself. Anyway, here are some kibbles and bits to keep you entertained and inspired. Stay well!

Leslie

**

They used to photograph Shirley Temple through gauze. They should photograph me through linoleum. — Tallulah Bankhead

I try to take one day at a time, but sometimes several days attack me at once. — Jennifer Yane

The double agent looked up from his lunch of Mahi-Mahi and couscous and realized that he must escape from Walla Walla to Bora Bora to come face-to-face with his arch enemy by taking out his 30-30 and shooting off his nemesis's ear-to-ear grin so he could wave bye-bye to this duplicitous life, but the chances of him pulling this off were only so-so, much less than 50-50. — Source unknown

What the world really needs is more love and less paper work. — Pearl Bailey

A tree is a wonderful living organism which gives shelter, food, warmth and protection to all living things. It even gives shade to those who wield an axe to cut it down. — Buddha

Oh MY F'n GOD!

I have discovered GodTube.com and I am now officially scared...

I thought it was a joke...but nope, he's serious.
More here

Where's Terry Eagleton when you need him?

Just finished flipping through, grazing on, and generally musing about last year's collection 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die (a companion volume to 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die). If you haven't already seen it, you may want to spend some time with this book.

The collection presents an amalgam of high culture and popular titles, beginning with the ancients and continuing right up to 2005. The pre-nineteenth-century sections are quite thin; the twentieth century forms the essence of the book. It was produced in England and betrays some British favoritism alongside a strong American presence; interestingly, there are very few Canadian, Australian, or postcolonial authors included — there is, as we would have said in the 1980s, a clear Anglo-American axis. The bulk of the authors are male and white, and the listings make routine observations about those inclusions who are not male or white.

I truly wonder about the purpose of a collection such as this. It certainly evokes class-based standards for cultural knowledge and participation. Many of the listings use theoretical and formalist explanations for the selections, suggesting that only a reader with a thorough literary education will be able to appreciate the full meaning of the text. Many texts are glossed with information about their adaptation to the stage or screen — an access point for those unable to cope with the literary apparatus, perhaps? There is certainly more than a whiff of canon building in this book — and aren't we through with that yet?

I have an MA in English, the follow-up to an undergrad honours degree in English. While I'm not exceptionally well read, I had believed I have a reasonable literary background and a fair knowledge of major texts in English and world literature. This book has proved me wrong, wrong, wrong. I have read perhaps twenty percent of the "must-read" titles — and appallingly, I read at least half of those after receiving my MA. While I know where my weakness exists (primarily in concentrating on reading books by women and Canadians), I'd be interested to know how others fare when comparing their prior reading history to this prescription.

But this book has got me thinking. Perhaps one of the reasons I am no longer interested in completing my doctorate in English — why I am in fact completing a doctorate involving the deconstruction of English by way of another faculty — is that the class mechanism of English is simply too obvious for me now. The Department of English at the University of Alberta, my alma mater, is so interested in its self-construction as radical that it rarely stops to consider its own site of privilege or its complicity in oppression. Even decades after telling itself that reading literature doesn't really make us better people, the Department continues to chant the liberal motto of better living through literature. (Well, why not? It's the same bill of goods the rest of the schooling enterprise is selling.) And if you don't have access, you're really not one of us after all, are you? Of course, it's not all high modernism and the Leavises today; now the badge of admission is the mindless iteration of post-colonialism, identity feminism, and theoretical Marxism. Yet the song remains the same.

Where are the working-class poets? Somewhere in China, or Africa, or Southeast Asia, assembling your next DVD player, sewing your new lululemon leggings, or answering your calls at an international call centre. They're not here: the North American working class lives elsewhere now — and that whole notion of class is so out of date anyway!

And what has three decades of identity-based literary criticism given us? A powerful belief that individual identity trumps collective needs every time. A liberal embrace of the marketplace of ideas. A vague sense of dread that can be diffused only by consuming faster and faster the digital enhancements of a mediocre age.

So why should we read those 1001 books? There's no need, really. They'll be coming to you soon enough on Google Books, digested into their essential fibres for those with the means to buy them — or for the truly pixellated (and perhaps the pixillated too), on YouTube. Will civilization as we know it come to a lurch if we all don't stop what we're doing and read? We can only hope so...

L

Thought for the day

The people united will never be defeated...

Playing...

Made a few changes using the new template system. I'll have to put some thought into it. I used Adobe Lightrooms flash gallery to upload some Rip & Grip images. Have a peek. They are on the iMac at home so don't expect super fast response. Speaking of which I got the iMac back so be sure to swing by and visit macblaze.hopto.org. I turned the shaw space over to Zak and he's been busily uploading Halo pics. I made him hand code the web pages so they don't have the polish of packaged stuff, but overall pretty darn good...

In other news after viewing this clip, I now suspect EJ Woods has a second career. If ever there was a devious, anti-pet mind that would invent this contraption under guise of being helpful, Mr Woods is such a villian...

All that is old is new again

I still don't have my computer back from the shop and I still don't have my blog up again. In other news, we've updated to the new and improved google blogger... I'm not sure I like change. I think its bout time I look into a domain for myself.

Anyway L is home, only 55 minutes late... I guess that makes her almost early...

Tah!

86 It

A new custom playlist. Those who were there will understand. Those who weren't will simply be puzzled....

Video Killed the Radio Star, The Buggles
Goodbye 70's, Yaz
Relax, Frankie Goes To Hollywood
Kids in America, Kim Wilde
Brand New Lover, Dead or Alive
I Ran (So Far Away), A Flock of Seagulls
Girls Just Want to Have Fun, Cyndi Lauper
Young Guns (Go For It!), Wham
Too Shy, Kajagoogoo
Let's Go Crazy, Prince and the Revolution
Self Control, Laura Branigan
Hyperactive!, Thomas Dolby
So Alive, Love and Rockets
Father Figure, George Michael
The Ecstasy of Flight (I Love the Night), Chris De Burgh
Hungry Like the Wolf, Duran Duran
The Look of Love (Part I), ABC
Gloria, Laura Branigan
If I Had You Back, The Rubinoos
Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God), Kate Bush
Running with the Night, Lionel Richie
Billie Jean, Michael Jackson
Hazy Shade of Winter, The Bangles
Call Me, Blondie
Love Shack, The B-52's
Living in a Box, Living in a Box
You Spin Me Round (Like A Record), Dead Or Alive
I Did It for Love, Harlequin
4 Ever 2 Gether, ABC
Rebel Yell, Billy Idol
Der Kommissar, After The Fire
Geronimo's Cadillac, Modern Talking
I Drove All Night, Cyndi Lauper
Don't Go, Yaz
Steppin' Out, Joe Jackson
I Got You, Split Enz
Too Much Time on My Hands, Styx
It's My Life, Talk Talk
Sunglasses at Night, Corey Hart
Love Becomes Electric, Strange Advance
Faster than the Speed of Night, Bonnie Tyler
Safety Dance, Men Without Hats
Windpower, Thomas Dolby
Dancing with Myself, Billy Idol
Come On Eileen, Dexy's Midnight Runners
(Nothing But) Flowers, Talking Heads
First We Take Manhattan, Jennifer Warnes
Time (Clock Of The Heart), Culture Club
Like a Prayer, Madonna
I'm Your Baby Tonight, Whitney Houston
You Keep Me Hangin' On, Kim Wilde
Hold On, Ian Thomas
Change Of Heart, Cyndi Lauper
This Is the World Calling, Bob Geldof
If You Leave, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
Here Comes the Rain Again, Eurythmics
He's a Dream, Shandi
Open Your Heart, Madonna
Cruel Summer, Bananarama
Walk Like an Egyptian, The Bangles
Part-Time Lover, Stevie Wonder
What Have I Done to Deserve This?, Pet Shop Boys
Sister Christian, Night Ranger
1999, Prince
Wham Rap!, Wham!
Situation, Yaz
On the Loose, Saga
Dancing with Tears in My Eyes, Ultravox
Controversy, Prince
I'll Tumble 4 Ya, Culture Club
Goody Two Shoes, Adam Ant
Venus, Bananarama
The Glamorous Life, Sheila E.
Stand Back, Stevie Nicks
Maniac, Michael Sembello
This Wheel's on Fire, Siouxsie and the Banshees
Like Flames, Berlin
Run Runaway, Slade
Something About You, Level 42
Obsession, Animotion
Our House, Madness
Road to Nowhere, Talking Heads
Walk of Life, Dire Straits
Twist in My Sobriety, Tanita Tikaram
Sign O' the Times, Prince
Don't You (Forget About Me), Simple Minds

Enjoy! - L

**

Q: What do you do if you're attacked by a troupe of circus performers?
A: Go for the juggler.

Are You a Grizzly Bear?

Perhaps you are a grizzly bear and don't know it! Take this simple quiz to find out.

Are you loud?
Are you hairy?
Are you big?
Are you strong?
Are you scary?
Do you like berries?
Do you like salmon?
Do you sleep a lot in the winter time?
Are you irritable when you first awake?
(females only) Are you protective of your offspring?
Do you roar?

If you have answered yes to all of these questions, you are a grizzly bear.

I am.

Eeks!

Happy New Year!

Hello all!

I hope you had a warm and wonderful holiday season and the new year is finding you optimistic. I'm simply procrastinating right now, so I'll keep this short. This year I resolve to write more often. Writing is a good way to achieve many of my goals.

Meanwhile, here's a thought (agreement error notwithstanding), courtesy of the delightful little book The Five Hole Stories by Dave Bidini.

"... once you've found a goalie's five hole, they're yours forever."

Sigh...

Anon,
L

Mad World

This is the kind of week it's been...

Went to school and I was very nervous
No one knew me, no one knew me
Hello teacher tell me what's my lesson
Look right through me, look right through me

— Tears for Fears

See you on the other side!

L

BLAZE

My computer is fried so my website is down so I have no platform for my muse. Thus I present to you...Daily Doggerel The Blogspot Edition

For car(men) wherever you may find them
Toyota, Dodge, Datsun, Ford
A metal machine, a macho overlord,

Insensitive drivers, uncaring, obscene,
Driving us crazy, cursing their genes

Noisy, obnoxious, expensive and careless
Pervasive technology, quintissentialy worthless

Automotive desires are driving our days,
Credit ratings balloon, consuming our pay.

But I want that car, that awesome machine,
Oh and this one as well, and that one I mean,
Off road and on track and highway carousing
With 350 horsepower, I'll do without housing.

I love my cars mercury and subaru,
Such a pity, you know, I can't afford you.

B

From the mouth of Zak

"Hugo A Go Go, leggo my Eggo!"