Archive for the 'General' Category
Off Screen Action
The action on the weekend wasn’t restricted to the screens of the theatres. I came across this scene on my walk home today. Commentary provided by some local slack-jawed bystander.
I have no idea what instigated this but the police swarmed in seconds. Pretty quick response time if you ask me. Later, walking through the scene I notice a considerable pool of blood on the sidewalk. And yes, the cop does kick the dude when he’s stuffed into the backseat of their car…
63 billion billion
The best part of this “63 billion billion” dollar lawsuit isn’t the attached hand written filing [pdf] (due to restrictions on typewriters
), though that’s good. The best part is the separate 57 page list of defendants [pdf] (for another case?) that, apart from all the top officials of the US government, names James Hoffa, Hugo Chavez, Steven Spielberg, Tony Danza, the Magna Carta, the Roman Empire, Plato, the Ming Dynasty, Mount Rushmore, WKRP In Cincinnati, the Garden of Eden, the Holy Grail, Tara Reid, J.K. Rowling and the entirety of the Hubble Space Telescope.
OMG Spoilers
I had to return a bunch of movies to my favourite rental place tonight, Bay Street Video, which just happened to be right smack in the middle of Harry Potter book launch central for Canada. Holy hell, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a larger congregation of nerds in my life and I say this having been to E3. The eight year olds I was expecting; the fully grown men and women in full wizard attire I was not. I think that every single cloak that’s been bought in the city over the last year could be found in that one block tonight.
The thought of screaming out the spoilers for the book, which I’ve seen online, crossed my mind but I’m not an asshole. Still, the attacks and defenses against these spoilers, by the fans and the publishers, are a little ridiculous. Some act as though those spoiling a book are nazi cannibals denying them their one earthly pleasure. It’s a book, people. Get over yourselves. I’m sure you want to be surprised, and that’s fine, but one or two sentence plot points shouldn’t affect your enjoyment of the whole story. When I hear the complaints that a spoiler ruins everything I wonder whether those same people are enjoying the book for its actual literary merits.
One of the movies that I returned to Bay St. Video tonight was Grave of the Fireflies. That is a movie that I knew the end to years before I finally saw it. It didn’t matter. The film was still highly enjoyable and deeply moving. It’s not the what that counts, it’s the how and why. That is why books are written. Otherwise, we would only bother reading single page summaries.
Roadtrip 2 Summary
- car driven: Toyota Matrix (rental)
- provinces hit: 3 (Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan)
- distance driven: 5843.5km (3631 miles)
- trip duration: almost exactly 6 days (144 hours)
- average speed at any given moment: 40.58 kph (25.2 mph)
- motel stays: 3
- nights slept in the car: 3
- highest gas price: 1.22 CAD per litre (4.33 USD per gallon)
- number of fuel stops: 11, give or take one or two
- farthest point: Langenburg, Saskatchewan
- number of Moose seen: 5, including a young calf
- number of Black Bears seen: 3 bear cubs
- number of deer: between 9 and 12
- photos taken with Sony Cybershot: 484 (1.43 GB)
- photos taken with Pentax K-10D: 674 (2.08 GB)
- CDs taken: 25
- CDs played in full: 23 (not counting repeats)
- pages written in journal: 18
- mosquito bites: likely over 60
- insects killed by the car: uncountable masses!
- mammals killed by the car: 1 :(
Roadtrip 2
I’m going on vacation tomorrow. I don’t know where. There’s a rental car waiting for me at noon and that’s the full extent of my planning. My belief is that the cost of excess planning and preparation is the loss of any sense of discovery and, for me, the fun part of a trip is the exploration. A road trip is pretty much entirely that and I find that extremely appealing to my soul.
While I definitely have no plans as to where I’m going or how I’m getting there, I do still need to pack and anticipate my needs and wants. The necessary provisions and changes of clothes are coming. Numerous bottles of water and granola bars and other such nourishments. My cameras, especially the new toy. Around two dozen CDs, including several mix CDs like this one (grab it before it’s gone). A couple books and, naturally, my DS (now with the awesome Planet Puzzle League.) I might not use it much, but it’s great to have in case I ever find myself on a boring ferry crossing, as I did last time.
And much like the last roadtrip, I am taking along a journal to document the trip. During that maritime excursion I wrote some twenty five pages of observations and logs. I hope to better that this time. Not so that I have a useful travelogue but, rather, so that I have a means of expressing my thoughts and observations in a timely manner. Driving on roads where you’re the only human for miles, enclosed in the tight confines of an automobile, will be a lonely venture.
But it will be great to get off the grid for a while, even if my refurbished XBox 360 is sitting and waiting for me to pick it up.
Week in Review
Monday was moving day. The movers I hired were pretty great. The cable guy came at 2:10pm during his 2 to 5 window (that’s a first!) Everything was going smooth until… that new sofa didn’t fit into my new place. sigh. SOFA FOR SALE.
Tuesday I was sick. Sick of unpacking, but also physically sick. Welcome to your new home.
Wednesday was a continuation of the flu. I did go to work because, despite being sick, it was now an eight minute commute. On foot. After work, picked up Guitar Hero II for the 360. Went home and rocked out while hitting the sauce (aka. NyQuil).
Thursday was feeling better. After work and after a brief stopover at the company spring party (free booze), I went home to watch the Leafs blow their fucking chance (again!) against the Islanders. Tried to watch a bit of the Rangers/Habs game but, for reasons of idiocy, my Centre Ice package was canceled despite the fact that I paid the one time fee to get the entire season. What I did request to be canceled before the move, RaptorsTV and LeafsTV, I still had. After nearly 40 minutes of back and forth on the phone — including several transfers and disconnections (thank you Rogers, you fucks) — I finally was able to have what I paid for.
Friday was a day of rest and of ROCK. I was supposed to see “Small Town” at Cinematheque Ontario as a part of their “films of Nuri Bilge Ceylan” programme, but early in the day I received a call informing me that the print they received had no English translation, but if I wanted to I could still watch the movie in its original Turkish. Yeah, no. More time to rock.
Then one of the staff members from the bar below my new pad came up to my place. Not to greet me but to inform me that there was a leak! Yes.
Saturday, I finally set up the computer. The plumber came and patched up the broken radiator pipe as we watched the end of the Islanders/Flyers game. The Islanders won and we were in agreement that even if, by some chance, the Leafs won their big game against the Habs that evening, the Islanders were going to knock them out anyway. Went to see Clouds of May and got home in time for the third period. Perfect timing as that was when the Leafs mounted their comeback and won the game in dramatic fashion. Leaf fans could be heard on the streets. It didn’t matter.
Sunday, went to the suburbs for Easter to watch the Islanders beat the Devils as expected (in a cliched Hollywood script, supremely dramatic way), thereby knocking the Leafs out of the post-season. As I wrote elsewhere:
Before the start of the season, I wasn’t a fan of three things: the shootout, Raycroft, and Ferguson. The last few days didn’t assuage me one bit.
Overall, a lousy week! I think I am going through a sort of renters postpartum.
