Mute

Be flipping channels
Phone rings, pick it up
Hit mute on the TV
This comes on:

Confusion, skanks, awful haircut spliced with chaos and half boobies
Miley Cyrus... who dat?
Twerking white girl... what dat?
Turn off TV, burn it
Society be fucked

Beantown

They celebrated in the streets when the second suspect was caught, as if something had been won.

 

It's a curious sentiment from the masses. Scores of people are being obliterated by drone attacks (see  http://drones.pitchinteractive.com/ for a reference on exploding weddings and schoolhood dreams) and almost daily bombings (see http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/04/15/us-iraq-violence-idUSBRE93E07320130415 for bombs that no Americans give a shit about, despite being the finger on the original button) but no manhunts ensue. No flags in the streets when, and if, they catch the perpetrators. 

Now don't get me wrong, I think the bombings were deplorable and cowardly, as all such attacks are. I had friends down there when the bombs went off, but I can't help but look at this situation with a skeptical eye. And unlike the blind patriots and sensationalist media, I think things have to be put into perspective. It might sound cynical, but thankfully these guys were amateurs, otherwise it could've been much much worse.

The first obvious question has to be why didn't these guys run? It took at least 24 hours to release the security footage to the public (which I'll rant about later) but they decided to stick around and... shoot a security guard? Then carjack someone, but let them go? Even the most amateur "terrorist" must have the innate instinct to run the fuck away from the cops ASAP, wouldn't you think?

But then came the takedowns:



Nothing like the old adage of "shoot first, (hope to) ask questions later"
There was an excessive amount of gunfire, if you're assuming the cops wanted to take the suspects alive. That's a concerning "if". After all, Lee Harvey Oswald never got his day in court, did he?
We've all seen the infrared footage of the kid cowering in the boat, but that didn't seem to limit the amount of bullets thrown at him in the end. Enough to severely limit his ability to communicate after the fact, at any rate.

I found a couple of other things unusual about this whole thing too. Apparently the elder brother was made known to the US intelligence community by the Russians, but they subsequently deemed him to be harmless. Either they were flat out wrong (which is concerning), or they turned a blind eye (which is highly concerning). Call me a conspiracy nut, but it's difficult to keep public opinion on your side if you don't remind the masses of the enemy once in awhile.

And the other weird thing - why didn't they treat the younger brother as innocent until proven guilty? 16 hours after questioning began, they finally read the kid his Miranda rights. I know it appears to be pretty cut-and-dried in this case, but laws exist for a reason.

On a lighter note, I kinda had to laugh at the mish-mash of political opinions that came out of this whole thing. Up here in the Great White North, we've got a new leader of the Liberal party. Given that they aren't even the official opposition, I find it quite telling that the Harper supporters so quickly attacked the response of Justin Trudeau:

First of all, it's not unthinkable. 9/11 wasn't even unthinkable, all you really had to do was think and you'd realize it was somewhat inevitable. When people are marginalized and live in conditions where bombings such as this are commonplace (see above), bad sentiments tend to brew. Makes you wonder how shallow we really are in the proverbial rabbit-hole at the moment, doesn't it?

Anyway, when was the last time you heard a Conservative side with Obama?
On top of that, you can pretty much switch the rainbow over to Harper, given the later (quite rational, I do say) quote from Obama saying,

"There are still many unanswered questions. Among them, why did young men who grew up and studied here, as part of our communities and our country, resort to such violence. How did they plan and carry out these attacks, and did they receive any help?"

And last but certainly not least, lost in this whole mess has been this poor kid who "internet detectives" falsely identified as one of the bombing suspects : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-22297568

This innocent kid is dead due to vigilante justice gone awry. All it takes is a bunch of keyboard jockeys and an overzealous nutcase and you've got a recipe for murder.

'Murica. Fuck yeah.

One of the cooler vid's I've seen lately

Don't get hung up on the boobies, it's actually pretty legit:

Ernest goes to Venezuela?

Call me a hater, but when I saw this picture on the BBC's main page...

I instantly thought of ...

On a serious note, whenever I hear about a political leader passing away, I always consider the possibility that "natural causes" aren't natural at all. 

Don't believe everything that you read, kids.

The busy boring times

This year my holiday season started out with a trip to the Christmas show in Barrie, which is a sickening display of the commercialization of a religious event. Then again, Jesus was probably born sometime in the spring, or so I've been told. I always find it amazing how strongly some people cling to the importance of Christmas Day, even though it's probably a few months off. Further proof that religion isn't anything more than an interpretation of an idea., one that men decided upon centuries ago. Better get out and spend a heap of money to honour the savior though.

And what better gift than a nice little bench depicting Winnie the Pooh going all out cowgirl with Tigger, or maybe Eeyore is more your style? I love the grin on Pooh's face.

I also enjoyed this blitzed-out penguin.He's happy now, but wait for the paranoia to set in, I bet it'll be a sight to see. THE FEAR!!!

 

My holidays this year were actually a ton of fun. We kicked it off back home with  an ugly-sweater party followed by a horrendous hangover. The day of the hangover I had to head back to the party house to retrieve my wallet, and while standing on the porch I witnessed a poor little 17 year-old girl round a corner and lose control on ice, eventually smashing into a neighbours car. I was parked right behind that car, and fortunately I didn't take any damage. I was also fortunate that my parents and brother took care of most of the shopping this year, so I only had a few things to run around to find.

Shan and I took a trip down to Cookstown for shopping, but also to visit her dad's grave. It's amazing that he passed away five years ago, seems like just yesterday. En route to the cemetery we got stuck in a dead-stop traffic jam, which prompted a few drivers to pull U-turns and return to the highway. We figure there was an accident due to the massive amount of blowing snow, and after a few minutes the road cleared up and we started rolling again. Not 200 yards down the road we saw one of the U-turners stuck in the opposite ditch, to which I exclaimed "What a douchebag!" Once we reached the cemetary Shan and I had a long laugh that we would rather ridicule someone than, say, stop and help them out of the ditch. We're such pricks...

After gifts and turkey at my mom's place on Christmas eve, we did the same routine (with ham) at my dad's in TO on Christmas day. My big gift this year was a 50-inch flatscreen, which is quite boner-inducing. I got several other cool gifts along with some stuff for the apartment. The most hilarious gift I got was from my mom - it came in a box about the size and weight you'd expect if you were getting a nice 26er of Johnny Walker or something. I eagerly opened my bottle of Scotch only to find 200 metres of tinfoil. No joke. My brother and his wife sat there with blank expressions on their faces, which exploded into laughter after my mom ran down to the kitchen for some coffee. A short while later I opened a slightly larger and heavier box, again hoping for Crown Royal or something, and joked that "this one must be the Saran Wrap!"

I was ever so pleased to received 914 metres of actual fucking Saran Wrap. What screams GIFT like a kilometer of plastic wrap. First world problems, when put into perspective.

Boxing day was the normal routine of heading down to Chatham for the big family gathering, but Ryan and Mangela couldn't come this year because her family was hosting a similar event. My step-sister, her husband, and my two nieces did make the trip down though. I rode down with my dad, step-mom, and Janu the almost-four-year-old. My highlight was Janu singing "Santa Claus is coming... to WIRE!!" I have no idea how she came up with that, since no wires were in her vicinity, but she seemed to enjoy the lyric.

The dinner was good, and a bunch of us headed over to my cousin Eric's place for several burrs. There was a decent gathering of children so they were all preoccupied running around Eric's new and super sweet house. I'm looking forward to seeing the pool and massive deck in the summer. The adults got worked up with some board games and it was alot of fun catching up with some relatives I don't get to see too often.

The following day my old man and I went out to buy the TV at a solid price, and I headed out for beers with a few buddies. Ended up shooting pool for a few hours then killing the video games at my buddy's work - which is a ridiculous place filled with wide open spaces, free beer, and countless flatscreens. It was actually really nice to be free of the femailiens for a night. Them bitches be crazy.

Speking of, I ended up being the 21st wheel at the NYE party this year, since my date ditched me. I was happy to hear that she was the odd one out at her party too! Yay!

We've since patched that whole thing up, but it's becoming quite apparent that everyone is coupled-up and becoming very middle aged. Methinks ol' Mintvis needs to move back to the big city to be with like-minded folk who still enjoy a solid embarrassing night on the town as singles.

I did teach my middle-aged brother how to bet on sports over the break. He's become accustomed to making $1 wagers and earning a few quarters for his victories. I, on the other hand, do very little research and say"throw $10 on this, $5 on that" etc etc. I think he caught the fever. Unfortunately he pretty much breaks even, since he regularly disregards my stellar advice.

Alas, I've grown tired of this boring post. I need to get back to my novels, which I have actually started... damn this mind-consuming master's degree. Gotta get this shit outta the way and start living again kids!

Finally 28

For the better part of the last year I've been telling people that I'm 28. Now it's finally true. Sometimes life gets confusing, what can I say? Faves of the year:

Top 5 Albums

5.

4.

 

 3.

 

2.

1.

Top 5 Songs

5. John Doe & Kathleen Edwards - The Golden State

4. Pickwick - Blackout

3. Ted Leo &The Pharmacists - My Vien Ilin

2. John K. Samson - When I Write My Masters Thesis

1. Patrick Stump - Bad Side of 25

Top 5 Movies

5.

 

4.

 

3.

2.

 

1.

Open Letter

Dear OC Transpo,

Have you ever heard of the horror movie “The Human Centipede”?

To summarize, a demented surgeon kidnaps and incapacitates unsuspecting victims. He then surgically grafts the mouth of one victim to the anus of another. He does this procedure twice, linking three people together in a chain, and the human centipede is born.

A short while ago I was waiting for the 101 in morning rush hour. This is a bus that’s supposed to come every 10 minutes. After 30 minutes of waiting (something that happens regularly), I finally saw my bus roll around the bend. I then noticed that another 101 was right on its tail. As the first bus pulled up to my stop, I noticed a third bus following the first two. All were showing the same route – 101. And there wasn’t a single car separating the buses, they were just sucking on each other’s exhaust pipes. It was an angering sight for every passenger on that route, let me tell you.

The look of this ridiculous string of buses reminded me of The Human Centipede, and I came up with the following analogy: The buses are the human bodies from the movie, with the drivers being the brains of the people trapped in the terrible situation. OC Transpo as a whole is obviously the demented surgeon. And the passengers? Well, we’re the ones that get on at the front and get off at the back. It’s hardly any wonder everyone hates OC Transpo when you treat us all like feces.

Good day.

Late 20's Now

Top 5 Albums

5. Gaslight Anthem - American Slang
4. Dan Mangan - Nice Nice Very Nice
3. Serena Ryder - Is It O.K.
2. Joel Plaskett Emergency - Ashtray Rock
1. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

Top 5 Songs

5. Lady Gaga - Born This Way
4. Ray Lamontagne - Empty
3. Arcade Fire - Mountains Beyond Mountains
2. Joel Plaskett - Soundtrack for the Night
1. Queen feat. Bowie - Under Pressure

Top 5 Movies

5.
4.
3.
2.
1.

Hats off, flags down

Dear Friends,

Tens of thousands of Canadians have written to me in recent weeks to wish me well. I want to thank each and every one of you for your thoughtful, inspiring and often beautiful notes, cards and gifts. Your spirit and love have lit up my home, my spirit, and my determination.

Unfortunately my treatment has not worked out as I hoped. So I am giving this letter to my partner Olivia to share with you in the circumstance in which I cannot continue.

I recommend that Hull-Aylmer MP Nycole Turmel continue her work as our interim leader until a permanent successor is elected.

I recommend the party hold a leadership vote as early as possible in the New Year, on approximately the same timelines as in 2003, so that our new leader has ample time to reconsolidate our team, renew our party and our program, and move forward towards the next election.

A few additional thoughts:

To other Canadians who are on journeys to defeat cancer and to live their lives, I say this: please don’t be discouraged that my own journey hasn’t gone as well as I had hoped. You must not lose your own hope. Treatments and therapies have never been better in the face of this disease. You have every reason to be optimistic, determined, and focused on the future. My only other advice is to cherish every moment with those you love at every stage of your journey, as I have done this summer.

To the members of my party: we’ve done remarkable things together in the past eight years. It has been a privilege to lead the New Democratic Party and I am most grateful for your confidence, your support, and the endless hours of volunteer commitment you have devoted to our cause. There will be those who will try to persuade you to give up our cause. But that cause is much bigger than any one leader. Answer them by recommitting with energy and determination to our work. Remember our proud history of social justice, universal health care, public pensions and making sure no one is left behind. Let’s continue to move forward. Let’s demonstrate in everything we do in the four years before us that we are ready to serve our beloved Canada as its next government.

To the members of our parliamentary caucus: I have been privileged to work with each and every one of you. Our caucus meetings were always the highlight of my week. It has been my role to ask a great deal from you. And now I am going to do so again. Canadians will be closely watching you in the months to come. Colleagues, I know you will make the tens of thousands of members of our party proud of you by demonstrating the same seamless teamwork and solidarity that has earned us the confidence of millions of Canadians in the recent election.

To my fellow Quebecers: On May 2nd, you made an historic decision. You decided that the way to replace Canada’s Conservative federal government with something better was by working together in partnership with progressive-minded Canadians across the country. You made the right decision then; it is still the right decision today; and it will be the right decision right through to the next election, when we will succeed, together. You have elected a superb team of New Democrats to Parliament. They are going to be doing remarkable things in the years to come to make this country better for us all.

To young Canadians: All my life I have worked to make things better. Hope and optimism have defined my political career, and I continue to be hopeful and optimistic about Canada. Young people have been a great source of inspiration for me. I have met and talked with so many of you about your dreams, your frustrations, and your ideas for change. More and more, you are engaging in politics because you want to change things for the better. Many of you have placed your trust in our party. As my time in political life draws to a close I want to share with you my belief in your power to change this country and this world. There are great challenges before you, from the overwhelming nature of climate change to the unfairness of an economy that excludes so many from our collective wealth, and the changes necessary to build a more inclusive and generous Canada. I believe in you. Your energy, your vision, your passion for justice are exactly what this country needs today. You need to be at the heart of our economy, our political life, and our plans for the present and the future.

And finally, to all Canadians: Canada is a great country, one of the hopes of the world. We can be a better one – a country of greater equality, justice, and opportunity. We can build a prosperous economy and a society that shares its benefits more fairly. We can look after our seniors. We can offer better futures for our children. We can do our part to save the world’s environment. We can restore our good name in the world. We can do all of these things because we finally have a party system at the national level where there are real choices; where your vote matters; where working for change can actually bring about change. In the months and years to come, New Democrats will put a compelling new alternative to you. My colleagues in our party are an impressive, committed team. Give them a careful hearing; consider the alternatives; and consider that we can be a better, fairer, more equal country by working together. Don’t let them tell you it can’t be done.

My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.

All my very best,

Jack Layton

Saccades

Winter was here, went skating. It got mighty cold.

Shannon left, came back, then left again for the heat of Honduras.

Sub-letter moved in, progressively grew weirder and weirder. Boyfriend is cool, but constantly present.

Quit the sign shop.

Finished up my cancer course.

Soccer wrapped up.

Started the Masters at Ottawa U.

Summer came, baseball with it.

Then came the heat, then came the air conditioner, then came the hydro bills.

Black Ops arrived on the scene, heavy pwnage ensued.

Searched forever for a new apartment.

Found a sweet new pad with the wife.

Gradually moving in, waiting for our roomie Shannon to return and party down!

27 next week. Damn I'm getting old.