Grazing Rites

Jon’s leave has been approved and I had an informal conversation with my boss that made it clear getting time off on my end is fine.

So Vegas is a go.

So my new phone despite claiming to play mp3s as ringtones stubbornly refused to do so. The manual I received reads like Macho Business Donkey Wrestler but the online version for the model says that any mp3 the phone can play can be used as a ringtone. I eventually deduced that the service provider had disabled the feature to force you to buy ringtones and mp3s from them but given that this is a work phone that isn’t an option nor was hacking the phone directly for similar reasons.

As far as I’m concerned I was just restoring an advertised feature of the phone. It’s worth noting I never signed anything at work, no EULA, no service contract, they just handed me the thing. I felt the moral and quasi-legal high ground was mine. It’s also worth mentioning that the mp3s I wanted to use as ringtones came from CDs I had bought. I had the rights to the songs and the website for the phone manufacturer said I should have this functionality - as far as I can tell everything I did was completely legal.

First I tried converting the mp3s to wav files – the files were enormous (25- 30 MB each) and didn’t play even though some old wav files I have from ages ago played fine, even as ringtones.

Clearly this was going to require more than a simple trick.

Harnessing my inner hacker from days of yore I downloaded the SDK from the manufacturer, who provided it completely free. I used the SDK to create my own DRM ringtones and upload them to the phone. Now the phone has been tricked into thinking it has acquired DRM material and the rights to play it. Which I suppose is technically true as I did create the files in question.

Anyways, free mp3 ringtones on my work cell without hacking the cell directly, paying a dime, or breaking the law: mission accomplished.

Almost makes you want to watch Hackers.

Or at least ROFLMAO.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEWgs6YQR9A

And once again my work will provide, this time it’s a new cell phone. Same number, just different phone – the only problem is my old phone wouldn’t let me bring over my old numbers and I didn’t have time to transfer them so I lost all my numbers. So please send me a message with your number so I can add you to my contacts.

Yay new phone.

So yesterday my girlfriend decides to give colouring with the kid another try, he didn’t quite grasp the concept but did better than before. It wasn’t the colouring that was telling, it was something that happened while they were at it.

She drew a picture of a dog and a cat and said “Where’s the dog?”

He pointed at the dog and said, “Dog! Woof!” Saying Dog and Woof wasn’t new, correctly identifying the image on the other hand definitely was new.

Then she asked “Where’s the cat?” He didn’t respond. “The cat says ‘meow’” she said.

“Meow” he said. It was the first time he had heard the word in days, if not weeks, we’d never really made an effort to teach it to him but he picked it up, or at the very least mimicked it, after just hearing it once.

Now granted they could have been covering this stuff at day care but either way it seems to have been a pretty significant cognitive jump. It’s not that he learned/said some new words – it’s that he picked one up after hearing it basically just the once. The speed of it was quite surprising to both of us. And picking out the picture of the dog – that was all new…or perhaps dumb luck but I don’t think so.

I used to joke that he wouldn’t talk much and then one day when we’re talking about something just come up and say “I disagree”. Perhaps in an English accent.

Anyways, I think we may have just moved into the language acquisition fast lane.

So, yea, be advised. Swear jar in full effect y’all.

My anniversary comes on the tail end of a string of holidays, birthdays, and other occasions so when it rolls around we tend to be short on money, ideas, time and not just a little bit tired. So this year that resulted in rather humourous gift exchange.

I gave her the book, The Audacity Of Hope. She gave me the audio book.

It’s Vegas, no real question about it now. Why? Because James Darren is performing 2 shows there during the dates we were already looking at going. He’s only doing 3 live performances all year. It’s like when my mom took us to Europe and the dates they picked put us in London at one of the 12 days a year when you can touch Stonehenge. In simpler language, it was meant to be.

James Darren, Mr. Vic Fontaine himself, in Vegas. How iconic, how perfectly and totally Vegas to see someone from the periphery of the Rat Pack, a close friend of Frank Sinatra, singing in Vegas?

And to get to see him with Jon, the guy at whose house I watched most of the Vic Fontaine episodes when they first aired along with either Pizza Hut or the now-famous ‘Jon Burgers’.

Meant. To. Be.

Hopefully it makes up for him never getting to see The Experience, a crime against man and god.

Dates are starting to firm up; November 1st to 17th was the leave he requested so assuming it gets approved which apparently looks likely than it will be within that timeframe that we go. November 7th and 8th are the dates that Vic, I’m sorry; James will be performing so the trip MUST include at least one of those days.

I’ve been put in charge of choosing the hotel, pending approval from Jon. The more I think about it the more I gravitate back to the Stratosphere – if I’m to play tour guide I want to show these guys a guaranteed good time from a place I’m familiar with. That said if there’s a crazy deal at Tropicana or MGM or Luxor or something I’ll jump on it.

Apparently the length of the trip is still TBD. I guess I just naturally fell into the one week trap but there’s really no compelling reason to be slavish to that format. Maybe a little shorter and save money – cut out the Hoover Dam or something. Or maybe go longer and make a road trip out of it. Either way it should be a blast. I’ve already been subjecting my staff to James Darren marathons at work. They can suffer.

And if it’s a shorter trip that just leaves a bit more money for a hopefully extended long weekend trip with Mindi once we figure out her vacation day situation. I’m hoping we can make it to San Fran or Edmonton for a couple of days if we’re lucky. Maybe take the train to San Fran or fly to Edmonton. Yes sure, who wants to be in Edmonton in October or November but it’s all about the mall anyways and that’s not weather dependant plus it will probably cut down on crowds and perhaps cost as a result. And the good thing about WEM is you can go for just a couple days and still feel like you had time to really enjoy it.

Not only are things looking up, but they’re beginning to seem like they might actually happen.

Obama’s speech in Berlin to some 200,000 enthusiastic attendees made me wonder, could he form a world government? The realist in me says probably not but the idealist would like to think he could take serious steps towards that goal and inspire a generation to finish the job.

(FYI: The so-called ‘Million Man March’ had about 400,000 people, so Obama’s halfway to that)

The images of the sheer size of that crowd are awe-inspiring and the hope for the future that represents has an undeniable emotional impact…at least on me.

It’s funny how trying to save the world gets strong applause. I guess people all over the world are in favour of continuing to live – good for them.

I don’t want to get my hopes up just yet but its beginning to look like I may yet get a vacation this year and not by myself or with a relative stranger. Mindi dropped out due to economic reasons and using up her sick and vacation days at work – we’ll probably just see about doing a long weekend road trip or something now that we have some wheels. Burton, sadly, is unreliable in such things. So I sent out an SOS to the navy and it looks like reinforcements may yet arrive. November is the month, the first week is currently the frontrunner but these things could change. It seems like Jon has submitted his vacation request so hopefully once that gets approved and we have some dates and we can start booking.

Jon was initially pushing for the UK (~$1,400) but there was 4 problems with that. Firstly it would cost double of many North American destinations. Secondly we would lose 2 days in air travel. Thirdly driving isn’t really an option so we’d be limited to London. Finally Stonehenge isn’t available in November. And as a bonus given the cost and time of the flight I think it’d be more economical to go for more than a week or less. Not that I don’t love London and Jon would likely fall in love with it too; I just don’t think this is the time. It wouldn’t be fair to him not to see Stonehenge if we’re making that kind of money and time investment.

So I suggested Orlando or Vegas (~$700), Anaheim (~$800), Cancun (~$1,000), or Toronto (~1,100). He seemed most interested in Vegas; my bank account appreciates that choice.

Vegas isn’t perfect either as The Experience will be closed by then and Second City sucks bum but it could still be a lot of fun – I haven’t done any of the rides after all.

Where to stay is an interesting question. Much as I love the Strat it might be nice to try somewhere else. It’s a bit of a walk to the monorail and with The Experience gone the motivation to stay near that end of the strip is gone. It really was my anchor attraction in Vegas. Given that we’re going the cheaper route for destination we might not have to go for the absolutely cheapest accommodations. So what would our options be?

Tropicana (TripAdvisor score: 3 stars)
I didn’t go into this hotel in my previous visit. The TripAdvisor pictures show a pretty decent pool and no real problems. The rooms seem to have lots of mirrors – I ain’t saying nothing. Much more centrally located than any of the other properties mentioned here.

Stratosphere (TripAdvisor score: 3.5 stars)
Of all the hotels I entered this had the least amount of ambient smoke – that along could well be worth the walk to the monorail. The TripAdvisor pictures would seem to indicate that it hasn’t really changed since I was there in 2006 (http://las-vegas-hotels.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g45963-d114898-r7956805-Stratosphere_Hotel_Casino_and_Tower-Las_Vegas_Nevada.html) but the pool was a bit of a disappointment as I recall.

Circus Circus (TripAdvisor Score: 3 stars)
I didn’t go into this hotel in my previous visit. The TripAdvisor pictures show some slight problems with rooms and an unimpressive pool although the indoor rides look cool. The location and price are slightly more compelling than the Strat but it seems the Strat wins in every other category.

Sahara (TripAdvisor score: 3 stars)
I went through this hotel a couple of times during my stay in 2006 to get to the monorail and I was not impressed, it was smoky, run down, and fill of depressed people few under the age of 40 – although a friend from work said it was actually pretty good to stay at. The TripAdvisor pictures show no real problems and an unimpressive pool.

So looking at those options I’m leaning more towards Tropicana and Stratosphere.

News outlets are reporting that the McCain campaign is frustrated with Obama’s overseas trip. Yea, I’d be frustrated too if I was getting beaten from all sides. Happens to me in BOTF sometimes, and yes, losing is frustrating. And THEY were the ones commenting on how he hadn’t travelled enough so they really haven’t a leg to stand on to criticize the trip. It’s like when you declare war on someone in BOTF and they destroy you – no one to blame but yourself.

The troops are excited and supportive of his candidacy. Leaders in Iraq and Afghanistan agree with his plans for the future. Petraeus wanted a photo op. Europe is energized. Obama’s going to dangerous areas, not just the safe places that don’t see serious combat. European leaders are lining up to meet the next president. The only exception is the German chancellor who I’m told has fallen out of favour of late anyways.

The only negative that anyone can try to point to is that the number of people likely to show up to an Obama speech will rival Hitler’s. So, a fear of large crowds is all they have against him. And last time I checked, freedom of assembly was a cherished right.

It’s a stupid use of the Hitler card too, not that there are many good uses of that card. You could use that argument against anybody. American Idol is popular – you know who else was popular? Hitler. The Pope can draw a crowd – you know who else could draw a crowd? Hitler.

Meanwhile back in the US, McCain can’t read a map to save his life.

Under a pile it sat, waiting. Like a season whose time had passed, yet one day would return. One day soon.

A perfect storm heralded its return. 3 hours of reality TV, a new computer, boredom with a more recent game, a sleeping child.

I thought perhaps a new computer or the third service pack for XP may have resolved the issues the patched version used to have. Unfortunately not but that was no stop to me for this time around I had knowledge of Wikipedia. Wikipedia in turned link me to ArmadaFleetCommand, a website of BOTF enthusiasts and modders. It was there that I found the Joker patch.

It didn’t just fix the critical things like menus; it even restored the cut scenes that haven’t worked in years. It even seems faster. It did crash once on me in combat but the auto save had me covered.

I shared my discovery with my message board and other BOTF addicts began to come forward…and book multiplayer games. I was bombarded with messages. My work schedule became a widely known annoyance. Many of us counted down the hours until we could test it.

And it worked.

Rewatching Doctor Who on my PDA I recently revisited ‘The Army Of Ghosts’ / ‘Doomsday’ two-parter. Thinking about it, I think it may well be my favorite tenth Doctor two-parter. He was utterly fantastic and given plenty to play. After the loss of Rose he became much darker, and rightfully so, but it makes the other two-parters a little less fun I think.

Don’t get me wrong, any chance to see Captain Jack, The Valiant, Sarah Jane Smith, and K-9 I relish but the Canary Wharf duology was much brighter. Daleks and Cybermen trash-talking alone could mark this as the best two-parter perhaps of all time. And frankly the schemes of The Master and Davros became so outlandish that, while fantastic in their own right, seemed to lack the human dimension of the second season ender.

Also the solution was more grounded. It was a flaw in their plan, not some reverse-the-polarity nonsense.

Okay, technically he DID reverse polarity but it made sense.

Waitaminute, speaking of reversing polarity I think I just figured out an in-joke from Transformers: The Movie.

When the autobot shuttle is under attack by Galvatron Kup mentions that it reminded him of another battle. Springer asks how he got out of it.

“I’m trying to remember, there were a lot of casualties that day” said Kup, “oh yea, we inverted polarities“

They try it and it doesn’t work. Could this have been a dig/nod at a certain Doctor who refused to spout technobabble instead always just saying he “reversed the polarity“?

So I got some crappy news at the start of my day, it turns out our child tax benefit had been cut in half; yet another in a long series of us getting screwed by the government. First they give you money, so you adjust for having it, then they take it away…retroactively…and charge you retroactive interest because YOU didn’t catch THEIR mistake even though YOU have no idea how THEY calculate these things, or rather how they’re supposed to.

So like Keanu Reeves in Speed I ask myself “What do you do?”

Get angry? Sure, Done. Check. What’s next?

Do you write your MLA/MP? Think hard about who you plan to support in the municipal election?

Freak out and go on vacation or buy yourself Rock Band on the Wii before the government takes all your money? Go the other way and put every last penny into high interest savings? Start living like a pauper? Well, more like a pauper. Cut your entertainment budget and just re-enjoy the stuff you already have like Birth of the Federation (more on this in an upcoming post) and an awesome mp3 collection? Take a second job, like perhaps the aforementioned municipal election?

What do you do?

You could wait for when you file your taxes and start to get credit for all that money you shell out on daycare and hope you’ll be better positioned afterwards. You could wait for the next election and vote for whoever wants to increase daycare and other social assistance funding to people in your situation and cut taxes for your bracket. You could just tough it out until the kid is old enough to go to public school. You could endure today and live for tomorrow.

But then something Obama once said came to mind: “What if we are the ones we’re been waiting for?”

Enduring today is no way to live. Waiting for tomorrow is problematic because what you’re waiting for may never come – or more morbidly you may not live to see it. What if it’s up to you? What if YOU are what you’re waiting for? What do you do then?

It’s not a specific plan of action, it doesn’t solve your problem, but it tells you to get off your butt and stop feeling sorry for yourself because you got a raw deal. There are problems out there that are fully within your grasp, situations that you have the power to improve for the better. So are you going to let a setback get you down, make you use less of your power to make the world a better place or are you going to choose to let it get you fired up to do more where you can?

Life is like the environment. At a glance, and even oftentimes upon closer inspection, it seems too daunting a task; too huge for any one person to make better. But if you identify areas where you can be better, where you can make positive change, then that could be your tipping point. Yes it was political will that banned CFCs that lead to the recovery of the ozone layer but that political will came from countless people doing what they could. So can I change the government taking money out of my pockets? No. Can I use that frustration to fuel positive change somewhere else in my life? Can you?

Yes we can.

I received some interesting comments regarding this entry; I’ll post the original line (small font), the comments (italics), and then my reply (normal font).

2. Confidence is a must; you must always know better than others
“Confidence is a must, but you don’t always know better than others.  I don’t think these things have to be connected.  I have all the confidence in the world and if there’s something I don’t know how to do, I don’t approach it meekly.”

3. Violence is the first, best outlet for anger
“This is true for rednecks, although I have to say that when you’re really angry, punching an inanimate object does make you feel better.”
Yea, I was more referring to violence against people, although property damage is a whole other issue.

4. Restraining from physical violence is doing someone else a favor
“Yeah, you’re doing them a favor.  They don’t have to make a court appearance or fill out paperwork, etc.”

5. Women are objects
“I frequently jest about this, especially with my female co-workers.  They find it funny.  Nobody really thinks this.”
You’d be surprised.

6. Choosing to, or not to, have sexual relations with a woman is a favor to them
“This one is touchy, because our society is set up so women hold all the keys to sex and I kind of like the idea that a woman should have to do a little bit of work if she wants some nookie.  I don’t think we’re doing them a favor, but I wouldn’t mind seeing a paradigm shift to where it’s men that “get headaches”.  Know what I mean?”
Absolutely.

7. Authority derives from titles and physical strength
“This is very true in a bar.  It’s a very Cro-Magnon thing that we still do today.  We’re pretty much one step away from beating our chests and dragging our women off by the hair.”
Do titles really make a difference in a bar?

8. Physical appearance is a character strength or flaw
“This is an ideal based entirely on society, but different people find different physical appearances desirable.  For example, white people in Asia are seen as affluent and desirable.  I don’t think that physical appearance can be attributed to strength or weakness of character, except in some cases.  Take me for example.  I’m sure you remember when I had acne in High School, not exactly a character flaw because it was out of my control.  Me being a fatty on the other hand, purely because I’m too lazy to work out; that could be considered a character flaw.”
I wonder if there’s an evolutionary component to this. Also I think having a blemish that’s out of your control could actually be character building rather than a flaw but when it comes to things under your control I think you have a point.

How did we get through the 50s? 
“2 words: Beaver Cleaver”

1. If you can never be wrong, you can never learn unless it’s BEFORE you act
“But if you say “I don’t know”, you’re technically not wrong.”
That requires the self-awareness to admit it though.

2. Its statistically impossible, no matter how awesome you are, to ALWAYS know better
“Have you met James T. Kirk?”
He couldn’t save his son.

I know, it’s a low blow but it’s a valid point.

3. Violence is actually the first, best way to end up in jail and anger management classes
“True and true, but also understand that if someone is threatening you and you threaten back, 90% of the time, they’ll back down.  You almost never want to be the guy that backs down.  Maybe it’s just me, but like I mentioned earlier, it’s one of those Cro-Magnon things.”
You contradict yourself though – you say stand up for yourself and 90% of the people will back down but then you say never back down. If everyone followed your advice no one would back down and fights would break out all over. I think one of the flaws of the macho mindset is they tend to only see things from their perspective but if everyone were like them the system wouldn’t work yet they look down at people who aren’t like them. I prefer the Veil of Ignorance myself.

4. Not assaulting someone is not a favor, its obeying the law
“Again, True”

5. Not only are women people, you’re bound to find one with more authority than you
“And those chicks are HOT and should be owned by me!”
Like A Few Good Men, eh? “There’s nothing sexier than a woman you have to salute in the morning” and all that?

6. Men aren’t the gatekeepers of sex that some think we are, particularly at work
“As far as I know, we’ve never been the gatekeepers of sex.”
Generally, yes.

7. Authority can derive from being correct, a strong argument, experience, or intelligence
“I think this can be situation dependant.  I think this is true in a world I would like to live in, but not one that Jeff Foxworthy wants to live in.”
Hence me saying “can” and not “always”

8. Many people have very limited control over their appearance such as facial blemishes
“Agreed.”

This is the time of year when the misogynists come out of the woodwork and working in a team almost completely made up of women makes for quite the tap dance at times. I would happily confront some of these individuals but when I’ve done so in the past it wasn’t always viewed as appropriate, so sensitivity becomes the path of least resistance…except for the whole draining thing.
“You mention having to tap-dance around your team of mostly women, and this I find disconcerting.  You’re the dude in charge.  You have the authority, no tap-dancing should be required.  Yes, you have to stay sensitive to your co-workers needs and welfare, but only to a point.  They’re there to work, not attend a pot-luck with their friends.  I wish I was in charge of your section for like a week.  They would welcome you back with the largest party ever.”
I think you misunderstand, I don’t have to tap dance around my team – I have to tap dance around the misogynists who say only vaguely inappropriate things that don’t quite cross the line. I don’t want to pick a fight or start an argument but I don’t want to let the slight against members of my team go unaddressed and I sure as hell don’t want to agree with them or say something I don’t believe in just to get the interaction over with. So I have to say non-confrontational things when that’s what I want to do and not lie or compromise my morals in the process. Basically it boils down to carefully choosing your battles, like the guy who crossed the line last year and ended up crying while begging for forgiveness after I was done with him.

I was listening to talk radio today when this crazy wing nut author of “The Conservative Resistance” was arguing that Canada will be destroyed because of evil “socialists” who want to subsidize daycare. He claimed that “forcing women to work like men and even earn as much as men will take them away from their more important role of having children and as a result they will have less children all just to go to work to pay taxes to fund socialist programs”.

Earlier he had argued that the four pillars of Canadian marriage were:
1. Between a man and a woman
2. Who are not related
3. Who are of a certain age
4. Can only be between two people
He went on to say that allowing gay marriage removed one of those pillars and now the other pillars were starting to crumble due to efforts to recognize polygamy and what he called “inter-generational marriage”.

So to summarize, women working and gay marriage are wrong in William D. Gairdner’s eyes. He seems inordinately concerned with a declining birth rate. In a world on the brink of environmental collapse due solely to the consequences of human behaviour he thinks not adding as many more humans to the mix as possible is a bad thing.

He had one positive thing to say about Canada, that we tolerate opinions such as his even if we don’t agree but I can’t help but notice that every person who called in was in support of his positions. They were clearly screening the calls to eliminate anyone with a dissenting view. It was big anti-gay anti-empowered-women love-in; I refuse to believe that all the callers agreed with him. This was made further ironic when he went on a rant claiming that the only media that would give his viewpoint any attention was public radio because television and print media had “caved in to the politically correct socialist agenda just like backwards parts of Europe”.

Isn’t it more likely that he isn’t getting mainstream attention because the vast majority of people think he’s crazy? Or perhaps they simply don’t see the efficacy in supporting the global suicide of overpopulation? His argument doesn’t even have internal logic. If you turn all women into baby factories and force gay people somehow not to be gay all with the goal of more and more people in mind how will you feel when everyone dies due to environmental collapse? A goal of limitless population growth has an inevitable outcome of population collapse.

*snaps fingers*

Oh, I get it.

He’s a human lemming.

I find it more of an effort to build a consensus with guys who conform to an outdated idea of masculinity. The former “conventional wisdom” contained things like…
1. You must always be right
2. Confidence is a must; you must always know better than others
3. Violence is the first, best outlet for anger
4. Restraining from physical violence is doing someone else a favor
5. Women are objects
6. Choosing to, or not to, have sexual relations with a woman is a favor to them
7. Authority derives from titles and physical strength
8. Physical appearance is a character strength or flaw
9. Everyone knows everything about every sport, thus sports are the ultimate metaphor

I could go on but I think you get the idea. Do you have any idea how hard it is to build a consensus with a mindset like that? EVERYTHING becomes a confrontation. How did we get through the 50s? I mean, just think about the implications of some of those points…
1. If you can never be wrong, you can never learn unless it’s BEFORE you act
2. It’s statistically impossible, no matter how awesome you are, to ALWAYS know better
3. Violence is actually the first, best way to end up in jail and anger management classes
4. Not assaulting someone is not a favor, it’s obeying the law
5. Not only are women people, you’re bound to find one with more authority than you
6. Men aren’t the gatekeepers of sex that some think we are, particularly at work
7. Authority can derive from being correct, a strong argument, experience, or intelligence
8. Many people have very limited control over their appearance such as facial blemishes
9. There are some people who don’t watch sports; some of them are men even

So in order to reach a consensus with these people without things becoming violent or a power struggle you need to inform them of everything before they act, make criticism sound like it was their idea, not be a woman, have an important-sounding title, not be ugly, and be able to fake your way through a sports metaphor.

Thankfully it’s somewhat rare that I need to work with this sort of person and I think I avoid all of those areas over which I have no control (gender, appearance, etc) by dumb luck. But it’s draining. This is the time of year when the misogynists come out of the woodwork and working in a team almost completely made up of women makes for quite the tap dance at times. I would happily confront some of these individuals but when I’ve done so in the past it wasn’t always viewed as appropriate, so “sensitivity” becomes the path of least resistance…except for the whole draining thing.

So within the first 3 days of the official announcement of the closing of The Experience the contact on the press release received 570 e-mails expressing disappointment over the closing and requesting that efforts be made to find the attraction a new home. I’m proud to say that I was one of those 570 people. I’d like to encourage anyone else saddened or disappointed by the closing to also send in an e-mail expressing your thoughts and feelings on the subject.

That address is: chad.boutte@paramountparks.com

When I first entered Wet N Wild I saw the wave pool with the logo and it seemed very familiar, not quite deja vu but almost. I was so happy to be there I just shrugged it off. I figured I must have seen a picture of it on their website but when I got home I checked and there was no such picture.

The mystery remained unsolved for months - why did a place on the other side of the continent that I had never been to before seemed so familiar?

Yesterday I solved the mystery and made a very pleasant discovery in the process.

The video for Se A Vida É was filmed there. I had visited the site of a Pet Shop Boys Video and didn’t know it.

There was a bit of a line up at Subway today so my mind had time to wander. I found myself thinking about Universal Studios’ Islands Of Adventure in Orlando…

We had picked up some front-of-the-line passes care of my quick reflexes, trivial knowledge, and some dumb luck so we headed straight for the Hulk coaster. There was a misting station outside that cooled us off and then we went through the labyrinth of queuing, most of which was pretty empty. I had already taken to laughing maniacally at all the queuing we bypassed or ran through on the trip, enjoying the fruits of September travel. They were playing clips of the cartoon on monitors; Jon probably would have gotten a kick out of it. The ride itself was pretty fierce, well worthy of a repeat.

The Spiderman ride didn’t work so well for me with the 3-D glasses so I think Mindi enjoyed that ride more than I did. There were comic book characters about, getting their pictures taken and such and I even commented at the time on how much Jon would enjoy it.

Doctor Doom’s was a themed Hellevator, nothing noteworthy really except for their unique loading system.

The Jurassic Park ride in Orlando didn’t get us nearly as wet as the one in California despite it being a near perfect copy.

Bluto’s Barge more than made up for it though, soaking us so thoroughly that a dry spot couldn’t be found even in the deepest reaches of my wallet – thankfully I had planned for that so it wasn’t a concern.

The other log ride, Dudley Do-Right’s, had a very claustrophobic queuing area and was somewhat busy when we got to it so it wasn’t really worth it in the long run despite some cute theming. It simply couldn’t compare to Bluto’s Barge.

The Dueling Dragons was pretty awesome despite our first aid issue which I have previous documented in great detail in this very blog.

I even enjoyed snapping pictures of the Dr Seuss area for Mindi’s mom.

The theming on the food stands was decent but the food itself unremarkable as I recall.

It occurs to me I never blogged about this particular experience before. When we came back from vacation we were staring a garbage strike and a writer’s strike in the face.

Night before last as I was getting ready for bed I suddenly got Round Here by Counting Crows stuck in my head.

7 hours later when I awoke it was still there.

I was singing it in the shower.

I didn’t get a seat on the bus to work so instead of watching Doctor Who I listened to all my Counting Crows songs. Gotta love the PDA and 8 gb SDHC card that puts all these options at my fingertips - there’s nothing like realizing a whim, it’s great. It shows you know exactly what you want and have the power to make it happen, even if it is just a few songs.

So it turns out Counting Crows is a great way to start your day.

That night I spent some time cleaning up the ID tags as, much like the Fairweather Johnson tracks, they were a mess. I had been a little disappointed with my limited selection of Counting Crows songs that morning, only having 6 on mp3 so I also ripped the rest of August And Everything After.

As I put the CD away and got ready for bed I suddenly got Disco 2000 by Pulp stuck in my head.

Here we go again.

I could spend the rest of my life detailing the near-criminal actions of Fox News and sadly most people tend to agree with yet dismiss these claims simply because they’ve been doing it for so long. Yes, everyone knows Fox News is evil, misinformed, and out to distort the truth…but why are we sitting on our butts about it? Everyone knowing about it isn’t enough; it’s certainly no reason to be complacent. Thankfully there are others out there that feel as I do and are making it a little easier to do something about it.

But before I get to that I want to specifically call attention to some recent crimes of Fox News…

The Terrorist Fist Jab
Thankfully this seems to be quickly becoming a comedy meme, but when it all started Fox News went out and found one idiot who made one comment on one blog (comment, not a post but someone who anonymously responded to a post on a blog) that got deleted shortly after it was posted and used that as an excuse to say that members of the media are calling a fist bump a “terrorist fist jab”. Head’s up Fox News: an anonymous guy who comments on a blog is not a part of the media but you know who is? Fox News, and since you’re the first member of the media to use the phrase, coined it if you will, that makes you responsible for it getting mainstream attention. Fox News took it from the most obscure to mainstream attention – that’s not reporting the news, that’s making or at the very least manipulating it. You called the Obamas terrorists and in some places in the world where the rule of law means something that kind of thing is a crime, called libel. Here’s a couple definitions of libel for you “anything that is defamatory or that maliciously or damagingly misrepresents” or if you prefer “to misrepresent damagingly”.

Photoshop
Jacques Steinberg of the New York Times wrote a piece analyzing the ratings of Fox News versus other networks and showed that other networks were gaining on Fox News. He simply presented factual numbers, indisputable math. Well Fox News responded by airing photoshopped images of Steinberg and his boss – yellowing their teeth, receding their hairlines, giving them unibrows…basically abusing their images like techno-savvy children would. They presented these images AS IF THEY WERE UNALTERED. See the previous section for a definition of libel.

War On Olbermann
Now Keith Olbermann may just be the left’s answer to Bill O’Reilly but with better fact checking but he doesn’t go out to ruin people. Bill O’Reilly on the other hand has publicly stated that he is making it his mission to get Countdown cancelled. Well, anything that Bill O’Reilly is in favour of definitely merits consideration of opposing. As such I’ve set a reminder on my digital cable box for when Countdown is on; to make sure I never miss it. And my increased viewing has shown me that Olbermann’s far from perfect – he needs to elevate his discourse a little as well, he can start by not doing anymore impressions or funny voices as it really deflates his otherwise brilliant and strong arguments. But hey, he makes you laugh and makes you think and throws in some fact-checked news along the way, where else can you get that? Other than on The Daily Show and The Colbert Report I mean.

War On Obama(s)
You would think a news organization, particularly with a slogan “fair and balanced” would have some interest in remaining neutral regarding presidential contenders but they have systematically attacked Obama and I’m not just talking about the “terrorist fist jab”. They insist on describing Michelle Obama as a “baby mama” which specifically refers to an unmarried woman, despite Michelle being married. That’s neither fair nor balanced nor is it even factual. You’ll want to keep your definitions of libel handy as we continue. Bill O’Reilly said he doesn’t want to go on a lynching party against Michelle Obama unless she happens to say what she feels. So either she must lie or he’s going to throw on a sheet, grab a torch and some buddies, and burn a cross on her lawn because she’s free. I won’t bother providing a definition of the word racist. When Michelle Obama said she felt more proud than ever before in her country NOT because of her husband’s success but what the people who support him have accomplished Fox News reported that she was only proud of her country because of her husband’s success – so they reported that she said the exact opposite of what she said. Read that libel definition again. And there’s the constant banging of the “angry black woman” drum – which part of that is bad? Is it wrong to angry, black, female, or is it just the combination that is wrong to the network that constantly has to remind itself that it’s “fair and balanced”? How can you be “fair and balanced” if you’re against angry people, black people, and women? I guess that means you’re “fair and balanced” towards happy white men only?

Like I said, I could go on forever. But identifying the problem is only the beginning. It’s time to DO SOMETHING and here’s a place to start:
http://foxattacks.com/michelle
Get informed, spread the word, sign the petition, and watch Olbermann. And if you’re an American and the rule of law is ever restored, get a lawyer because these people are lying to you and breaking the law in the process.

So the other day I wake up feeling liquid coming out of my nose. I had been fighting off a cold so I just assumed it was the nasal congestion flaring up…until I saw that it was red. I spent the next 2 hours bleeding from the nose. I was finally admitted to the hospital just as it stopped. 3 hours later I was told I have high blood pressure and good clotting and was sent home.

Definition of a crappy day.

In its widely-known premise it is already a departure from several stereotypes but even within the premise it does some unique, unexpected, and refreshing things. Just when you think you’re about to sit down to some reasonably simple light-hearted Will Smith fare things take an interesting, unexpected, and unique turn that would make M. Night Shyamalan proud. Oh and Shyamalan haters can piss off, Signs was fantastic.

It’s not perfect, it’s not what you’re used to, and it’s not another ID4 or MIB and that’s okay. You keep waiting for it to fall into one of the stereotypes and it just doesn’t so once you let go of that expectation it becomes a pretty fun ride. There are many things I would have done differently but at the end of the day it’s an open mind that makes the film either good or bad in this case.

The acting is solid, the special effects do skirt the silly line a bit but given the premise and tendency for superhero media to ignore the laws of physics it does reasonably well – it doesn’t break the fourth wall but it leaves it pretty thin and shaken.

Personally I’d like to see a sequel as there are many potential storylines available.

Last night I had another travel related dream. In this particular unconscious excursion we flew to Las Vegas but multiple delays made the process take ridiculously long such that we were exhausted upon arrival. They had built a Seattle-themed hotel next to the airport with a mock Space Needle and far too many Starbucks.

We got a room without inquiring after the price. After a nap I went to the front desk to ask about the price and it turned out to be nearly $300 for the night. It seemed high to me as the room was nice but nowhere near $300 nice. I decided to bite the bullet since it was my own fault for not asking. It turns out they accepted debit but they kept inputting the price wrong, everything from $700 to $4,000.

I told the desk I’d come back later and returned to the room. I got Mindi to take a back exit and enter the hotel from the front, go up to the desk and ask about a room as if she weren’t staying there yet. The price they quoted was half of what they told me, so she said “excellent, I’d like to pay the bill on room 109” and the guy knew his plot was foiled. Then we continued on with our vacation.

Thanks to the greed of the Hilton Las Vegas, Star Trek: The Experience is set to close it’s doors on September 1st. Both CBS Paramount and Cedar Fairs were willing to continue but the Hilton thinks they can make more money with something else in it’s place. I understand that they are a business and as such are motivated solely by profit but with a big movie on the horizon it seems an odd choice.

I’m thoroughly upset. I bought my first gift for my son there. My friend Jon will likely never get to enjoy it. And the people who worked there clearly loved their jobs.

So on Canada Day we decide to put the kid on a leash and let him lead us around like a divining rod. We end up going for a late lunch at the White Spot at Oakridge Mall, after the lunch rush but well before the dinner crowds we figured it an ideal time to take a toddler to the restaurant – we do like to be considerate of other diners after all. In this case the restaurant wasn’t even half full.

We were seated promptly but then ignored. Another table of people were seated, placed their drink orders, had their drinks delivered, and ordered their meals before we were even spoken to again. After about 10 or 12 minutes of this Mindi flags down a busser and requests that someone take our drink order. A few minutes later, now well over 15 minutes after having been seated, a waiter finally wanders over and mutters something about not seeing us and takes our orders. We were seated at a table in the middle of the restaurant next to the table that was seated after us yet served before us by this same waiter and we had a kid in a highchair who kept saying hi to everyone that would pass by. Frankly he’d have to be impaired somehow not to see us, by this point the kid had said hi to most of the restaurant. We decided to let it go with plans to penalize his tip later.

Then after our food was brought out, at regular speed I might add – you’d think after a service screw-up they’d expedite us, he came out in a t-shirt that read “Do I Look Like A F!#%ING People Person?” and told us he was going on break.

We were beside ourselves. I wanted to grab him by the shirt and ask him what he was trying to say. I wanted to yell at him. I wanted to tell him to go get his manager, in that shirt, to come speak to us. There were so many reactions jockeying for position I found myself speechless in shock. Rather than cause a scene we waited a few minutes, tried to calm down, and quietly asked someone to get a manager for us. The manager came and tried to make nice sounds at the kid so as to disarm us but I wasn’t having any of it.

“We have a serious problem here” I began, much to her surprise “we’ve come here many times before and never had a serious issue but, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, I have never been made to feel as unwelcome in any restaurant as I have here today”. I went on to explain how we were ignored. How when we finally demanded attention we were given what could charitably be called excuses and more rationally labeled lies. Then I spoke of the offensive t-shirt. The manager was shocked, surprised, appalled, and apologetic. She comped our meal and asked if there was anything else we wanted. We were both still quaking with rage at the insult and disrespect we had endured our appetites had long since died. Then the manager made US pile up anything we wanted to go, she said something about not wanting to touch our food.

We couldn’t get out of there fast enough. And now, seeing as they only did the bare minimum to correct the problem, we’re out to tell the world as scorned customers are wont to do. We got a head start on that phase of the operation as several other patrons inquired after what happened – we were only too happy to share our story with them. Another waitress tried to come to the waiter’s defense arguing that he was not trying to offend us despite his inexcusable behaviour. I just wanted to leave so I declined to explain to her how I don’t give a damn what his intentions were. If I stole someone’s wallet but did not intent to offend the person I would still be guilty of a crime and clearly a few people in that restaurant need to learn to take responsibility for actions committed regardless of unseen and unknown intention.

So that restaurant again is the White Spot at Oakridge Mall, for those of you keeping score.