Observations and Other Delusions

I'm very fond of self-depricating humour.
The trouble is that I don't do it very well.

BloodRayne

It’s not often that a film will come along that is so bad not even I will like it. BloodRayne is one such film.
The plot is derivative, as is most of this movie. Kristianna Loken stars as Rayne, a Damphir, part human-part vampire. She is being pursued by a vampire overlord (played by Ben Kingsley, who must be paying off a lost bet by being in this), and some human vampire hunters led by Michael Madsen. Along the way, she learns secrets about her past, gains special powers, confronts her father blah blah blah yadda yadda yadda.
This film looks like it had a budget equivalent my allowance when I was eleven. The vampire make-up looks like Buffy leftovers. This film is filled with bloody violence that is about as realistic and comical as the Black Knight scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Oh, wait – BloodRayne isn’t a comedy!
Madsen is horribly miscast in this, but so is everyone else, too. Loken has some screen presence, but nothing can save her in this mess, and no-one else brings anything to their parts. Except for Meatloaf, who, in his only brief scene, deliriously chews on the scenery and swallows it whole. (He clearly is the only person who realizes what a piece of frommage he’s in – he’s billed in this film as “Meatloaf Aday.”)
Avoid this film at all costs.
Please.

Blame the Victim

So far, Israeli shelling in Lebanon has killed eight Canadian citizens, including one UN peacekeeper.
And what does our Prime Minister have to say? Not much, other than he's sure it was an accident and that everyone's really really sorry.
Hurling ordnance into cities is never an accident.
Talk about blaming the victims....

I Don't Get It

William Kristol says it again here, and it's a statement that deserves some scrutiny.
(Kristol also says that all the problems in the world are the fault of the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran, sorting of glossing over that the reason for the Islamists' popularity was the American-backed coup of the democratically-elected Iranian government of the early 1950s and the installation and American support of the Shah's 25 years of brutal dictitorial repression. When Bush rambles on about how a democratic Arab nation will change the Middle East, remember that there was one 50 years ago until the West overthrew it. But I digress.)
While talking about the current war in Lebanon, Kristol says, "Better to say that what's under attack is liberal democratic civilization, whose leading representative right now happens to be the United States."
I don't get it. How do you quantify the statement that the US is the leading representative of democracy? They're sure doing a good job -- Be Nice To America or They'll Bring Democracy to Your Country!
What about that other chestnut that America is the "freest nation on earth." Again, how is this determined? Does Time publish some sort of "freedom index"? Is it determined by a straw poll of Fox News correspondents? Don Rumsfeld's tea leaves? Or by reading the pattern of buckshot left in Dick Cheney's hunting victims, er, partners?
It is a strikingly American perception that somehow the USA is rightfully the leader of the democratic world. Only in the US is the President often referred to as "The Leader of the Free World," and it is done as if it was the obvious natural order of things.
I don't recall when this was decided. Did I miss a meeting? Was I on vacation that week? If we're in the free world, and the free world has a leader, shouldn't there be a vote or something like that on who leads us?
I know I didn't vote for him.

Linus Health Update #10

Linus's BP seems to have stabilized, so the vet seems pleased at the moment. So we will continue with the current course of meds. Linus doesn't have to return to the vet for three months.
(Yeah, I know. It's a pretty flimsy update. Actually, it's really nothing more than an excuse to run another picture of Linus.)

Linus Health Update 9

Linus's new blood pressure medicine seems to be working well. His BP is in the 150-160 range, which is still high, but lower than the 220 it was hanging around in earlier.
Linus even had that rarest of treats, a housecall. We've discovered that he really doesn't like visiting the vet and his BP becomes quite elevated during his visits. So last week a tech came by the house to check his BP and catch it (and him) in a relaxed state.
Can't wait to get that bill!

A Crazy Diamond Shining On

It's hard to figure why the death of Syd Barrett has knocked me down a peg or two today. I must admit that I am not a big fan of Pink Floyd's brief Barrett-led period. The Piper at the Gates of Dawn has never been part of my music collection, although Ummagumma did provide some musical reference to the Barrett years.
The story of Syd is what compels, the musician boy-genius who walked the fine edge between genius and insanity and finally fell right over it. Maybe I'm feeling sad now that the story has ended.
Or maybe it's the continued reminder that my childhood idols are becoming old. Becoming mortal. Running over the same old ground.
What have we found? The same old fears....

Efficient: productive of desired effects; especially : productive without waste

So I'm watching the news last night. And some economist comes on (I wish I remembered his name) to comment on the hit the stock markets, particularly the TSE, have been taking the last few days.
First, he says that the markets are a model of efficiency. They are self-correcting and always right.
Okay.
Then he says that markets are always over-correcting. Generally, when prices rise, they rise too far to reflect actual value, and then a drop in price occurs to correct, but the drop is usually too far and the over-correction results in prices that are too low to reflect actual value.
So let me get this straight -- the stock market is extremely efficient because it generally reflects a price that has little or no bearing on reality.

Bike to Work Week - Dénouement

Now that all the hoopla about Bike to Work Week is over, there's just one last thing to take care of: prizes!
The joke was all last week that we’d win a water bottle. Guess what? Yes, it’s true – we won a water bottle! And a hat, and two passes to various Greater Victoria Recreation Centres.
Ah, but now comes the tricky part. Who gets the prizes? As team captain, I decided that each day that a person rode their bike to work last week would count as an entry in our Prize Winner Determination Draw. I rode five days, so I get five entries. Same with Linda. Paddy rode three times, she gets three entries, and Jocelyn, who rode once, got one entry.
An impartial non-bike rider made the draw. And the winner is ….Jocelyn! Jocelyn who rode only once! Jocelyn who beat the 14-1 odds in our draw! Man, that sucks! I like that hat!

The Rabble are Roused

In light of the arrests of some apparent Muslim extremists who were plotting to bomb targets in Ontario, it shouldn't be surprising that I heard someone on an open line radio show call for summary convictions of alleged terrorists. "Keep the lawyers out of it. And none of this civil liberties crap, either," the caller shouted. "We know they did it. Lock them away!"
I was almost positive that next he would demand that all Muslims in Canada be interred in large camps (not next to his house, of course).
Clearly, the rabble are roused.


(And it seems that the RCMP itself sold the fertilizer to the would-be bombers, at least according to this story that the Canadian media hasn't reported yet.
Addendum: The CBC got around to mentioning the RCMP sting in its coverage on June 7.)

Bike to Work Week - Day Five

Amazingly, no evils befell me. No cars lept out of blind alleys, no strange and sudden meteorological anomalies rained down on me, no part of my bike suddenly disintegrated while I was racing down a steep hill.
How was the turn out? There's 24 people in our branch. 7 signed up to ride all week, only two of us, including myself, did. One person rode three days, one person rode one day, the other three didn't ride at all.

Linus Health Update #8

Linus went for another blood pressure check and blood test. Unlike his last visit a couple of weeks ago where I had to leave him there all day for his urine test, I was with him the whole time and usually he is very calm when I'm there.
His blood test was good, his thyroid medecine is working well at the moment. However his BP was still elevated. So his dosage is getting increased and he gets another BP test in two weeks. Because of this, his dental surgery remains in a holding pattern.

Bike to Work Week - Day Four

What a great week this is turning into. This morning I got "pot holed" by a car. First time ever. The car had me lined up, found a pot hole full of water and splatto - drenched from head to toe.
Thank you very much, Mr. Anonymous Asshole.

Bike to Work Week - Day Three

After yesterday's sunshine, the clouds returned. Cold and misty. But not bad for biking.
Except that my chain fell off again.
Sigh.

Bike to Work Week - Day Two

Tuesday was a much brighter day. Thanks to the nice weather, there were lots of newbie bicyclists on The Galloping Goose trail today. It was crowded!
This is why some experienced riders don't ride during Bike to Work Week -- it's too busy!

Bike to Work Week - Day One

Well, what can I tell you?
It rained in the morning, my chain came off twice and I dropped my digital camera. Not a great start to the week. Out of the seven people at work on my team who were going to ride, only two did. One injured his ankle over the weekend and won't be riding at all this week.

Still, it looked like a lot of people were out, judging by all the amateurs on the trails. And the activites looked well attended, too. Maybe I'll have a better attitude tomorrow!

Bike to Work Week

Hey kids, it's that time of the year again!
Bike To Work Week is May 29 - June 2. Sign up for fun, frolic and prizes. I'm a team leader at my workplace, and I'll bring you all the lowdown during the week.

The D'oh! of Homer

Here's a BBC story about the philisophical underpinnings of The Simpsons. A very smart article. S-M-R-T.

Linus Health Update #7

Linus went for a check-up yesterday. He had a full exam, and blood and urine work-ups.
Things are mostly okay -- his blood pressure is a little high and his meds are being adjusted slightly to compensate. Otherwise, he is fine.
Except... it looks like a tooth has to come out. The root of one of his lower fangs is showing signs of being absorbed into his body, basically turning to bone. This is something that is not uncommon in cats and it will become very painful if left alone. (Interestingly, the vet noted that occurrences of this condition are on the increase. I'm sure it's nothing to do with the poisons we pump into our environment.)
If the condition is farther along, that is if a lot of his root has become bone, the procedure for removing the tooth is fairly simple: lop it off and sew up the wound. If it's still early on, then they're going to have to go digging for the root. Ouch.
So the plan for now is to adjust his BP meds and recheck him again in two weeks. If his pressure goes down back to the normal range, then we'll schedule surgery for his toothectomy.

The New Windows OS