Suprised?

Pearl Jam, again, unwillingly abused of their rights.

But it is more than that.
It is more than a political statement, a rock band, a concert, a show, a lyric...it is intellectually more than that.

Totalitarianism lives beyond the constructs of Orwellian prose, it lives beyond the vastness of theoretical governance, and it lives in our homes. It is forced there. It is placed incongruently to our rights, and we bid it hello in the morning, we bid it goodnight in the evening, and we bid it good day...we watch as it converts our lives. But we don't realize.

Whatever your words may be, let them be spoken. Deal with the consequences as they come, but stiffle not your thoughts and your will.

Bring on the snow!

Took the bait. The snow is coming, and I am fearing for the end of biking days. The snow comes and shunts out the freedom of flight, the freedom of adrenaline, and the freedom from the bitch of gasoline. And so, with this in mind, I did what any rational person would do.




I bought studded tires.




Bring on the snow. Bring on the ice.

I am waiting.....



And while I wait, I will have studs to keep my mind at ease.


peace, clear skies...

Speechless...I am.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/09/18/new-view-cohost-sherri_n_64864.html

If you go to the above link, please keep in mind that this is on national television and that this lady was chosen to be here permanently. She is not a guest host or an interviewee, but the real "I'm getting paid to do this" host of a show that purports intelligent conversation. At least the others were a little astounded by her position.

But, who really does think about stuff like this? Rocket scientists, I presume. That's all.

Bold move to the West

Ontario plates rushed to the past.
British Columbia plates filling the void.
Void, filled.



...and it is beautiful.
And this seems to make the move official, even if it is a year after arriving.

Sultry Day of Summer

After a jaunt to the farmers market and dabbling with relaxation via countless cups of coffee on a cafe patio, entranced with the nuanced defence of literature and personal integrity of "Why Orwell Matters" and then taking a significant role in ingesting a loaf of bread in one meal, I now sit and succumb to my innate need to attempt photosynthesis. The sun basks forever, finite forever, and as the sun pounds on my flesh, I pound on the keys.

Work has taken over as the important aspect of days. Planning, studying, writing lessons - the list goes on - has detracted from the veritable grandeur of montane and oceanic freedom that persists in my (new) hometown. I "see" the mountains, I "think" of the oceans, but I for now touch neither. I touch books, pens, stacks of marking and memories. Memories, of course, are the chordate-like structure that binds a life together. May all lives be bound tightly with a ferociously dense memory of happiness.


That is all. Happy days, clear skies.

Denigrating Homeopathy

The Enemies of Reason Part 2 has been uploaded by the Richard Dawkins Foundation. Personally, I feel that he gets to more of a point in this one and does more exposing of pseudoscience and pseudoscientists than in the first, but alas the first part was still amazingly well crafted. In this part, which runs a little over 47 minutes, the content is mostly on the health care system and the tax-funded homeopathic and placebo-based cures. Mention is made, which it is not often unfortunately, of the links between what we see as "old" and "ancient" being given credence for the simple reason that it is aged - aged, that is, to a point where it predated germ theory and in some cases science in totality. Just because Ayurveda and Homeopathic medicine is based on "ancient" processes lends no fraction of truth or reality to it. Quite the opposite.

It is far too often that the science of medicine gets flogged by those who esteem naturality and earth-based righteousness to be higher realms of existence. It is as if we are saying that if we love nature, are environmentalists, are tree-huggers (guilty), are humanitarians or the like, then we must...must...have disdain for reality and existing methodologies. This is highly irrational. Rationality, in its truest sense, must be based on what has proven to work and on what has given the most benefit. I see no reason to accept homeopathic practitioners as reliable or commendable people. I see only honestly ignorant people being captivated by purported efficacy, when in reality they are paying good money for false functions. The dangers are really summoned to fruition when decisions are made for children, on their behalf, that negate real medicine and support fake medicine.

The most provocative point here is that self acclaimed doctors are lying to people and they have no concern with that reality. They accept it. They know it is a placebo effect at best and innocuous (medically innocuous) at worst. They know that a person claiming to have sever medical ailments will have to see a real doctor. They know that they are lying. But they continue.

This placebo effect industry must not be allowed to delude others, even themselves, at the cost of human and environmental health.

Would we support pouring oil on and oil spill in an attempt to clean it up? No, because it goes against chemical foundations, physical foundations and our common sense of reality. Why, then, will we drink poison ivy extract to cure poison ivy? It falsifies even more understood foundations of biology. Then, to take it one step further (as the video does more elegantly), the poison ivy extract isn't even in the medium of medicine you are taking. The water 'remembers' it and is able to work on its behalf. This is utterly absurd and a provocation or crackpottery.

That said, watch the video. The best part, from a comedic point of view, is when the lady near the beginning is changing Richard's DNA from a double helix to a.....watch to find out. He stifles a laugh, but I could not.

The vocal voice of reason

Watch me, and follow up on the surrounding videos. It is worth your while.

"human rights are an insult to god..."

Search around for that quote in periphery videos.

...because reason to religion, is like sunlight to a vampire.

Salt Spring Island

Thumbing our way through the island, trying to find some peace.

We found solitude and friendly people who were happy to drive us along.

...and there were blackberries everywhere...and there was peace everywhere.

From local market goat cheese to evening sips of salt spring wine overlooking the pacific, it resolved clearly the need for solitude.



Happy Days.

Breakfast by the ocean...

The Quad-fecta: salt spring island wine, blackberries and goat cheese ( I presume this one was chili pepper cheese)

ECLIPSE PARTY! This was actually after our trip, on the way home. We landed in Chilliwack on the night of the eclipse and sat down to an authentic west coast party - albeit a subtle and less numerous party as would be expected. Smoked salmon (not Coho salmon, though), garlic goat cheese and wine. What a way to celebrate the shadowing of our moon - local foods in the middle of the mountains. I awoke at 3:00am to go outside and watch the eclipse, but I was destined to failure because of the clouds. I sat out, in the misty chill of a late summer mountainous evening and gazed dearly at the dusty moon over the silhouette of the craggy peaks. I saw only an orange gauzy blotch in the sky - knowing what it actually was made it all worth the while, but it still would have been wonderful to witness it in completion. Next time...

Mom - Elvis lives in the BC interior. Or at least his image does!

Crystal walking, nearing the end of our 4 hour hike from Ganges to Fulford (along the way there were two wine tours to be had, so the time definitely slowed after testing the flavours of the salt spring soil).

Us, actually on the way south (these are so out of order...) with a camera timer set to long shutter speed. I could have suggested that our angles were watching over us, but then I would have so much evidence suggesting otherwise that ... listening up, christians and islamics alike...I would have to conclude that it was a trick of the camera.

Blackberries in excess, to the point that we would succumb to satiety without even working beyond one bush. So many berries, so little time.

View, obviously. The liquid stuff is water, belonging to the Pacific Ocean. The rigid stuff is land, islands in fact, belonging to the gulf island group. And the love in the air was from me. Obviously.

Yes, we made it to Salt Spring. In the frightening heat, we began our exploration alongside berry bushes and artisan workshops.