<3 and h8

First off, let me say that I love me EEE PC.  I positively less-than-three it.  Its so portable and durable, that I can pretty much just toss it into any bag that I’m carrying, and go.  Its light and barely adds anything to the weight on my shoulder.

The downside for me, is the Operating System.  The EEE PC uses a simple linux interface, which is quite easy to use, compared to some other Linux versions.  However, when it comes to installing software that I use all the time on my usual PC, either this software doesn’t have a Linux version, or installing it is just too damned hard.  I regret not getting the version that had Windows XP installed.

I know that I could just install WinXP myself, but all the instructions I’ve found to do so make my brain hurt.  Seems harder than it should be.  Anyone actually know how to do this, who can explain it to me relatively simply?

Then recently, I saw this: the Acer Aspire One, and I drool.  Its price is comparable to what I paid for the EEE PC, and its running WinXP, so I know I can install what I want on it.  Its got more disc space, memory and whathaveyou.  And its just generally downright sexay. Totally want.

The Criminal Mastermind

I would like to introduce you to a nefarious criminal mastermind.  One that has been plaguing me for some time.

The Criminal Mastermind plots her next heist

Yes.  That’s right.  My cat.  The cat burgler, if you will.

What does she steal?  What she can.  Socks mostly.  Yes. Socks.

Its very serious.  Because I don’t have any socks, except the pair I am wearing right now!

How do I know it is her?  She has stolen socks before.  I found her stash once.  But she has since found a new one, that I cannot locate. And so…she waits. Waits until I buy new socks.  And then she will strike again.

Harper’s Tories Afraid to Face the Music?

According to this story in the Toronto Star, Prime Minister Stephen Harper is considering calling an election in early September.

[An] official in Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s office said it appears the opposition parties are not interested in finding the "common ground" the Tories feel is necessary to go ahead with the fall sitting of the House of Commons on Sept. 15.

This is clearly an excuse.  Harper is “leading” a minority government.  All past minority governments have compromised and made deals to keep their government viable.  But Harper refuses to do that.  He won’t compromise. So, if anyone is not interested in finding a “common ground” its him.  Additionally, Harper is facing some tough times.  There’s a couple of scandals brewing (regarding some electoral financial impropriety) and some strong public opposition to his copyright reform, as well as opposition to other policies.

If Harper calls an election before the House sits, its pretty clear that he’s trying to avoid facing the music.  He doesn’t want the scandal brought up in the house.  He doesn’t want to face actually losing a vote in the House.  He’s already starting to fall in Canadian support, so…why not call the election before he falls any lower?  Maybe that way he can fool Canadians into thinking none of these things (scandal, losing votes in the house, etc) were even going to happen.

I snarfed

These two comics almost made me spew coffee out my nose.

Force of Wil
Wil Power

Just thought I’d share.

An adult now

I just found this article that says that some well known people were spies.  One of them is Moe Berg.

I know that they mean the Baseball player.

But I like to imagine that they mean the singer/songwriter from The Pursuit of Happiness.

Can you picture him as a spy?

Censorship through funding cuts.

Hey! Did you hear that Stephen Harper’s Tories have cut another arts program?

Its true!

Recently the entire PromArt prgram was axed.  PromArt was a program via Foreign Affairs that enabled Canadian Artists to travel abroad and give them a world showcase.  Some examples might be a band nearing their breakout point travelling in the UK, or a dance troupe like Les Grand Ballets Canadiens de Montréal being able to travel abroad.

But not any more.

"Certainly we felt some of the groups were not necessarily ones we thought Canadians would agree were the best choices to be representing them internationally," said Anne Howland, a spokesperson for Foreign Affairs Minister David Emerson.

Pressed for an example of those who failed to meet such a requirement, Howland cited a Toronto-based experimental rock band.

"I don’t even want to say [their name] on the phone," she said. "Holy F, that was one that was flagged."

She’s talking about internationally acclaimed Toronto band, Holy Fuck, a band pretty much recognized as one of the best Canadian indie products in a long while.  Sadly, Howland is using them as a scapegoat here.  Holy Fuck is not the reason they are cancelling the program.  They’re giving reasons that some people who received money were partisan or political, or didn’t reside in Canada.  But that’s not a reason to cancel the program.  Clearly the people who received the money, qualified to apply for the program (because its not like you can get this kind of funding without going through a pretty rigorous application process).  That doesn’t mean that you cancel the program.  You take a look at your qualifying criteria.

But the Harper Government doesn’t do that.  And this isn’t about money.  This is the same tactic that was used to justify the tax credit changes under Bill C-10: its censorship of things that Harper and his cronies don’t like.

I notice that conservative paper the National Post has weighed in on the issue with an opinion piece.  Its a highly partisan justification of the decision to axe the program.  They cover in some detail the “abuses” of the program: people that they feel shouldn’t have gotten money (again…they clearly qualified for the program, so its the qualifications that are the problem not the program itself).  But here’s the thing that really pisses me off in the article:

If Canadian artists produce world-class art, then it will be noticed on the world stage — with or without government assistance.

Written as someone who’s never been an artist.  To get noticed on the “world stage” with “world class art” one needs to take your art onto the “world stage”.  I don’t know any artists that can do that without funding.  Its not possible.  No matter how good the art is.  If you can’t get it in front of an audience…its not art.

Here’s hoping our opposition parties finally find their balls and bring down this government in the fall.

God is…hate?

You know, I don’t usually give lunatics like the Westboro Baptist Church “air time”, because seriously, they get enough publicity, which they absolutely don’t deserve.  But today, I cannot help it.   The WBC…those are the happy people behind sites like godhatesfags, godhatescanada and godhatesamerica (no links because they really don’t deserve the linkage).

They’ve been in Canadian news because of their plan to protest the funeral of Tim McLean, the poor guy who was stabbed and beheaded on a Greyhound bus on the way to Winnipeg.  Why are the protesting this funeral?

From CTV.ca:

Although no member of the group ever met McLean, they claim he lived an immoral and godless life, just like all other Canadians.

And my favourite part:

On Friday, [Shirley] Phelps-Roper [ daughter of the founding member of the Westboro Baptist Church] said her group will not be stopped from getting its message out, even if only one member makes it to McLean’s funeral. “Don’t worry. It won’t matter how many people there are. When they get the signs up, they’ll (get) the same raging, screaming response,” Phelps-Roper said.

Of course.  Because the bible is very clear on how much hate is a part of God’s message.  Oh wait.  It isn’t: You must love another as I have loved you (John 15:12).  Its pretty clear that the WBC is only interested in getting publicity for themselves.  Why else would they be calling the media every time they want to stage one of their hateful protests.  If only the media could bring themselves to just say No thank you.  You aren’t worth the ink.” [I realize saying this that it applies to me as well, since I'm writing about them.  But then, its rage that gets me writing on the topic this morning, so perhaps the journalists who give them press have the same reason].

The article ends with:

They have repeatedly called the U.S. a “fag” nation, a phrase Phelps-Roper told CTV.ca applies well to Canada.

If Canada is a “fag” nation…well, the truth is, I’m ok with that.  At least I’m not a screaming, raging psycho who’s trying to traumatize and already traumatized family at their son’s funeral.

The Goof

The title of this post could refer to me.  Last week, when Jess and I were heading down to watch the screening of Behind Closed Doors, we walked down a really steep hill on our way to the movie theatre.  I commented that if we were to walk up that hill on a regular basis, it wouldn’t be long before we started to get in good shape.

Well, tonight we went up that hill for the first time since we talked about it.  It was as difficult as we first thought it would be.  This particular hill is quite steep, and it was a good workout.  I admit that I was short of breath at the top, but I do think that if we do this on a regular basis, we’ll be in pretty great shape.

The picture above is the sign of one of my favourite restaurants: The Golden Gate - better known as the Goof.  The Goof was one of the first Chinese restaurants in the area, and the food is really great.  The place got its nickname from its sign.  For many years, the neon sign you see above had several letters burned out, so that all that was lit was:  GOO F.  The name stuck.  I’m almost sad that the sign is in good working order these days.

Great.  Now I’m hungry.

Ammends

So, the other day I happened to post a picture of Jess that was not very flattering. It was a very honest moment, but it wasn’t one in which she looked her best.  And she called me a jerk for posting it.

And punched me in the arm.  Not hard.  But that wasn’t the point.

So I wanted to make it up to her, by posting a picture of her that shows her looking quite good.

There.

Junkie of Olympic proportions

I have, in the past, been something of an olympics junkie.  In past years, I have sat up and watched a lot of events, some of which (I admit) I didn’t really care all that much about.  I’ve sat watching equestrian events and who knows what else, into the wee hours of the morning, just because the olympics were on.  I’ll admit: its worse with the winter games.

This year, however, I don’t have a television.  This makes it difficult for me to stay up trying to watch the olympics live…which is probably healthier for me.  It does leave me at a loss, however.

Fortunately, the Wired How-To wiki has a list of ways to watch online, which will allow me to feed my irrantional need to watch the olympics, without having to find places to go to do so.