Have they learned nothing from Dan Quayle?

It's a shocking statement, I know. You're asking yourself, can anything be learned from Dan Quayle? The answer, surprisingly, is yes. You'll recall his statements against Murphy Brown, a fictional TV character in what, the late 80s'/early 90's? Now here's Tom DeLay getting upset over a Law and Order episode.

The real news may be that Tom DeLay watched Law and Order. Despite being a fictionalized account of the legal system, it seems a bit more prone to logic than he is, thus, one would think it might be difficult for him to understand.

But trust me, I'm the sunscreen

The days of convocation are upon us, my own an unbelievable 7 years ago, and I thought I’d give an address to the graduates about some real world information I’ve gained since May 27, 1998.

What you’ve learned during your years in school is a lot less useful in your working life than how you learned it. Your skills in synthesizing information into readable bites is critical in the ‘real world’, not the details of those bites, or bytes, as the case may be. I have never once needed to know that women in Quebec got the vote in 1940 since graduating. I have, on the other hand, had to summarize all the reasons why an office renovation was rejected in the past into a neat list of why it should be done right now. And while we’re on that synthesizing part, while 25 pages is too little in university, more than 1 page is waaaaaaay to much at work. Be brief. Obviously this is a skill I continue to try to master.

Let me summarize what your position is and always will be: “Make boss look good.” There will be a lot of other words in your job description, but this is all that matters.

You will likely end up working in a cubicle. At least at the moment, the style for cubicles is somewhat larger than your average study carrel. This may seem fine at first, but….well, trust me, there’s a lot of politics involved. Your ability to study while listening to loud music will come in handy here, as you trained your mind to focus in the midst of sonic chaos.

Despite the ‘chilly climate’ accusations of many universities, they rank far ahead of the work environment on free speech issues. Work environments can be a bit cult-like in their striving towards 'a culture of excellence'. At first, you will be impressed by the number of motivational speakers you are subjected to, taking in all their advice. Then you will be disillusioned about how nothing ever changes. Then you’ll join the party anyway, because, hell why not, it’s sorta fun. This aspect of your working life isn’t really intrinsically bad or good. You’ll just find that, after awhile, it’s easier to be in a good mood about it and it makes your work experience better.

There really isn’t a lot of logic in work relationships. Or at least that’s the positive spin I like to put to it in order to not completely lose it. But the truth is, this is not such a bad thing. The day will come when you will be the boss and you’ll be better for it, having an exhaustive list of things you know for a fact that your employees will not appreciate. You can only do your best, but by having a great boss that you always get along with, you miss this lesson. However, knowing the value of this lesson does not increase your ability to handle it. You must have good friends that work elsewhere. Hang on to them for dear life to preserve your sanity. No matter how much politics you think you had to endure in school, it’s always much worse at work. At least at school you usually have a basis of rationality that everyone can agree on and those who don’t, for the most part, end up somewhere else.

Having said all that, there will come a time when you leave your first job, and you’ll wonder if it’s the right decision. You’ll wonder if, with all their faults, you’ll end up in a group of people you’ll like as much. There’s always a danger in leaping into the unknown. But the truth is, the only common denominator is you, and it’s you that decides what to make of the experience. Make it your best. You deserve it.

The Street Party

Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun,
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.
The work of hunters is another thing:
I have come after them and made repair
Where they have left not one stone on a stone,
But they would have the rabbit out of hiding,
To please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean,
No one has seen them made or heard them made,
But at spring mending-time we find them there.
I let my neighbor know beyond the hill;
And on a day we meet to walk the line
And set the wall between us once again.
We keep the wall between us as we go.
To each the boulders that have fallen to each.
And some are loaves and some so nearly balls
We have to use a spell to make them balance:
'Stay where you are until our backs are turned!'
We wear our fingers rough with handling them.
Oh, just another kind of out-door game,
One on a side. It comes to little more:
There where it is we do not need the wall:
He is all pine and I am apple orchard.
My apple trees will never get across
And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.
He only says, 'Good fences make good neighbors'.
Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder
If I could put a notion in his head:
'Why do they make good neighbors? Isn't it
Where there are cows?
But here there are no cows.
Before I built a wall I'd ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offence.
Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That wants it down.' I could say 'Elves' to him,
But it's not elves exactly, and I'd rather
He said it for himself. I see him there
Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top
In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed.
He moves in darkness as it seems to me~
Not of woods only and the shade of trees.
He will not go behind his father's saying,
And he likes having thought of it so well
He says again, "Good fences make good neighbors."

"Mending Wall" by Robert Frost

There's nothing more I could add.

artsandentertainment that's a bit more thought provoking

In a stunning departure from the usual "Dog: The Bounty Hunter" and repeats of "Crossing Jordan", A&E showed a fabulous documentary last night about women war correspondents called "Bearing Witness". I wasn't able to catch it all, but the good chunk of it I did catch was fascinating. I guess there is an upside to television the week after the CSI season finale after all.

All the women featured were interesting, from the one with an eye patch covering a war wound to the soon to be first time mother, but I found the story of the American working for Al-Jazeera particularly interesting. She talked about the benefits of being bi-racial working in her business, and I get the sense that what she put up with as a child was helping her deal with the hurtful remarks of colleagues about her motives. I admit, it does seem a bit odd to have an American working for Al-Jazeera, but then again, having a diverse group of people working for a news organization should lend it credibility.

My feeling about this doc wasn't that is was trying to send a message about who is right in war (specifically in relation to the Israeli-Palestinian situation and the Iraq war) but just to let the viewer in on the experience of the war correspondent, specifically, those who are women. However, I was somewhat disappointed (though perhaps not overly surprised) to see A&E's chatroom on this, with comments about how the doc was promoting propaganda. I think the point was missed.

Hmmm, very interesting...

And of course, after that last post I checked again and Flickr seems to be doing a slyly innocent little "who me?" maneuver... all the ads are now for digital cameras.

Sorry, I'm feeling a little paranoid at the moment. But in a reasonable sort of way. I only think one or two people are out to get me, not the whole world. ;)

Tag, I'm it (so are you if you're reading this)

The sound doesn't seem to be working on this computer, which sucks because I really wanted to hear the Rascal Flatts version of "God Bless the Broken Road". You know how I'm a sucker for good lyrics...

But perhaps more troubling is the new 'rewards program' at PetSmart and the ads on my Flickr photos page. Of course PetSmart just wants to keep track of what I buy so I can be sold to even better than before ("PetPerks" but don't be fooled, there's no coffee involved).

Flickr seems to have noted the tags on my pictures and slotted in some complimentary ads alongside, like "Venetian Hotel Deals" and "Deals on Caesar's Palace". Hmmm. I know, I know, there must be some catch for free hosting, but I feel a bit used. I guess I knew it would happen though.

But now that I think about it, there are ways that one can work this to one's culture jamming advantage, she says as she moves her pinky finger to the side of her mouth and laughs in a Dr. Evil sort of way....

The Truth?

discover what candy you are @ quiz me

Yikes. This one may actually be true, specifically that last part.

Reluctant to find she's stuck in the 90's again...

what decade does your personality live in?

I'm getting a little addicted to these silly quizzes. And again, disappointed to find out the result--I was hoping to be an 80s personality. I was going to put the 100 acre quiz up today, but when I did it, I ended up being Owl. I mean come on. I'l not that self am I? Then again, I do write this supposing that someone will read it, which is kind of owl-ish. I thought for sure my love of sweets would get me into the Pooh category. I guess at least I've passed through that Eeyore phase (but I still love Eeyore!).

And just because this quiz reminded me of Moxy Fruvous (!), here are some lyrics. Okay, so it's kinda more about what's wrong with the 90's compared to the 60's. And God help me, when I first heard it I was no where near 30.... *sigh*

Clem had a daydream, a daydream from heaven

Picked up the headline, his country was made up of singers

And no more right-wingers

He wakes up to "Homeless are stupid, welfare is stupid

Private investment, efficiency, cool fiscal plannin'"

Sounds like more Pat Buchanan

Back in his day job this afternoon

Unlikely he'll move down to Cuba soon

Reluctant to find he's stuck in the '90s again

Clem reads of the old days, twenty years goes a long ways

"Challenge the system!" Relating is easy on a demo

Now they'll send it by memo

'Cause there's no need for the peace sign,
post-republican "Peace time"

Join the parade, wave the flag, tell the world it's your lackey

Abbie Hoffman was wacky

Riding the bike to his foreign car

Burning his mind in his VCR

Reluctant to find he's stuck in the '90s again

Reluctant to find he's stuck in the '90s again

and he's lots...don't you know what it's like to be lost?

and older... "tears on his shoulder" real men are BOLDER!!

Soon I'll be 30, I don't want to be 30

I've got some big plans, Goodwill has some big hands

With each new computer screen, the world tells me I'm more green

Buy a new Game Boy!
For the fun and the fashion... just for the passion

Back in his day job this afternoon

Unlikely he'll move down to Cuba soon

Reluctant to find he's stuck in the '90s again

Reluctant to find he's stuck in the '90s again

White lies, rich guys hoarding a big prize

We've got work to do

Reluctant to find he's stuck in the '90s again

Parental Guidance Suggested

My life is rated PG.
What is your life rated?

Not sure how I feel about that at the moment. I mean, I know I'm a prude, but then again, depending on who falls into the R and NC-17 categories this could be okay.

The First Audioblog: Stuck in Cambridge

He's my little satellite...I'm a slave to this gravity

So if you know me, you know that I cannot possibly wake up in the morning without hearing the dulcet tones of one Andy Barrie, host of CBC Radio's Toronto morning show, Metro Morning. Andy, my days just aren't as good when Jane Hawtin fills in. Kevin, I love how you make sports seem interesting. I miss Natasha's weather. But before I ramble on too much, just refer to my earlier post Aunt Betty and Peter Gzowski: A Case for Public Broadcasting in Canada from way back in January. I love you CBC! *swak* And I'm still in my twenties so *nah,nah* to those of you who think it's only for octogenarians or something.

But back to Andy. So today he was talking about the nifty new thingamabob that is Google Maps. Go ahead, enter your address and click on "satellite". Look! It's your house! Okay, so it's a little big-brotherish, but cool nonetheless.

And one more plug for Metro Morning. Hooray for Errol Nazareth, who, in addition to having a great name, has great taste in music. Broaden your musical horizons.... Listen to the satellites while they keep an eye on you...

New!

I've added a thingy on the right side there, a bit of the way down, that links to my flickr photos. There's some from Vegas, the Grand Canyon and Montreal in there, along with the obligatory Moj photo.

Here's another cutie-patootie dog.

*bloggit* said the little green frog to Ted Turner

Arianna Huffington now has a blog. Or rather her and her nearest and dearest famous friends do. I remember her from when I watched Bill Maher's show fairly religiously when I was in university. I, like a friend of mine, was somewhat smitten with Mr. Maher. Note to guys: you don't need to be 'classically handsome' (whatever that might be) to be attractive. You do however, have to have a couple of brain cells to rub together and not be an ass, generally speaking. Fine line, I know. Maybe he's just my pathetic version of the bad boy. No, no rap sheet, tattoos and piercings, but an attitude mixed in with an actual opinion. But I digress...

HRH Miss Huff has been getting a lot of press for discovering the power of the blog when in fact millions have been figuring that out for a long, long time now, most even longer than I. There was a bit on CNN an hour or so ago about this...a group of people including HRH musing about how sad it is that bloggers seem to focus on media criticism and not on original news.

Now I agree about the media criticism. I like reading blogs in my spare time, everything from the newly famous Huff Post to Rosie's and then all just the regular folks out there, and a lot of them, including myself, waste a lot of electrons bitching about the news....and they are right, I mean Paula Abdul's sex life is not *really* news now is it? Of course, we do get what we want, so someone must be watching. Let's all shrug at our collective guilt here. But what got me kinda pissed about the CNN chatters is the idea that bloggers do not take on "original news". Huh? I think they do, and in a very big way. We all take on the media's definition of real news by reporting our personal news, a.k.a. the experience of our lives. And some of us do a damn good job of it, thank you very much (keep reading for some examples). This isn't a media criticism thing....I mean NBC, CTV, CNN, they report their news, what sells ad time and what people like you and me watch. But blogger original news is not some second class thing just because it's not broadcast on TV. I mean, there's just as much chance of crap on the net as there is on TV, and Dan Rather can prove it.

So here, I offer some blogs that I occassionally like to peruse. One is about a woman who is facing health issues with her husband. Another is written by a mom from New York. Yet another was created by a Priest in Norway.

Say a Prayer
Fighting Inertia
Lime

I do not vouch for their 'realness' or their 'newsworthiness' to you, but offer them as an occasional option to CNN. And I have nothing against Arianna Huffington, really. It's just she's so prissy looking and sounding that I think she may have a pink dog like Marlen Cowpland. Sorry, that may be nasty, but whatever. As I've said before, get your own damn blog.

And on a related note....I'm reading Sarah Vowell's "Assassination Vacation". I LOVE her writing. Very *original*.

Ah, stick it in your arm you fool!

It would appear that there is an outbreak of rubella, a.k.a german measles, in southwestern Ontario among schoolchildren. Interesting since the vaccine, as far as I can tell from a google search, was approved in 1970. Now I’m not an expert here, just your regular, semi-informed, news junkie blogger, but I happen to think that vaccines are a pretty good idea generally speaking. But I’m not going to argue that government should require you to get vaccinated or throw you in jail or anything. I’m just saying that there are good reasons for it, and you might just want to seriously consider them for you and your children. Personally, I’m for vaccination because of ‘the social contract’—because there are some things one does to protect society as a whole. For me, the fact that I may not get the disease, the individual benefit, is a lovely side effect. Every year I get the flu shot because I come into regular contact with vulnerable individuals for whom the flu would be a lot more than a discomfort and a couple of days off work. Yes, if you don’t get the rubella vaccine (actually MMR) you might get rubella. It would be uncomfortable and not fun, but you would get over it. But more importantly, you would be raising the risk to every pregnant woman you come into contact with, perhaps profoundly affecting the life of her and her unborn child. Yes, the vaccine isn’t 100% effective, but neither is a condom. *Shocking* It’s all about the risk vs. benefit analysis.

Interesting that those in opposition to immunization in general cite, as one of their reasons, that vaccines are tested on fetal tissue, and yet their refusal to get vaccinated may prompt many other women to abort. I’m not saying that’s a good decision on their part (then again, who knows what one would do in such a situation), but it is seemingly incongruous with the purpose of their self-centred behaviour.

Yes, you heard me. I really think that these are people who only think about their children and no one else’s. Yes, there are chemicals in vaccines. Yes, they probably aren’t great for you. But in my mind, eradicating, or at least significantly diminishing the impact of a disease, outweighs the risk. Okay, if you are allergic to something in the vaccine that’s another story. But if you’re already taking your kids to McDonald’s twice a week, sorry, but you just don’t have a good enough excuse to jeopardize our collective health to avoid some formaldehyde that’s probably somewhere in those fries too.

I mean, if God wanted us all to die of cancer, there’d be no mammograms, no chemotherapy. Rubella is a disease that is largely preventable. Far more preventable, and easily preventable, than cancer. Come on people, we have enough to worry about here. If you want to refuse treatment, that’s your right, but don’t do so at all our expense. It’s irresponsible.

On a side note, I was once threatened with expulsion from grade school for not having my MMR vaccine. It was really just a question of timing and moving from one province to another with different immunization directives. So how come over 60 per cent of kids at this one school haven’t been vaccinated? I guess we’re more enlightened to people’s charter rights in 2005 than we were in 1986. Like I said, it’s a question of collective rights. And I don’t happen to think that my individual rights are being violated in protecting myself and my community from disease.

Hello Mrs. Webb, wherever you may be...

Books are warm things. I am a mostly serially monogamous sleeper with books. Occasionally, when I am finding one particularly boring, like "Infinity" for instance, I invite another one to join me, like "Angels and Demons" for example. That's the current situation. I spent a night with "Terry" on Sunday. I'm looking forward to "Beauty tips from Moose Jaw".

Books put me to sleep, but in a good way. They usher out the stressful day and welcome the waves of imagination and relaxation like a really good bouncer. To what do I owe this true love? Probably my parents who are *huge* readers--a fact I did not know until I realized that some people, shocking as it seems, did not spend large portions of each Saturday of their childhood in used book stores or have the entire Agatha Christie collection in their basement.

I also credit Mrs. Webb, librarian at Wilfred Hunt Elementary School in Regina, Saskatchewan where I spent some of my formative years. Odd as it seems now, we had several different types of classes in those days: math and spelling and gym and music and *library*. This brings me to my sad point, which I read in the Globe and Mail today (again, a paper I might not be able to read today if not for the work of Mrs. Webb):

"Library funding not by the book, survey suggests"

"Half of Canadian schools spend less than the cost of a set of encyclopedias on library books and magazines for students annually, a new survey suggests. (...) On average, Canadian schools also had only a quarter-time teacher-librarian position. Prince Edward Island had the highest level of teacher-librarians, Quebec the lowest."

As a testament to the wonders of Mrs. Webb, I can tell you that even now, approximately 25 years later (ohmigod, I can't be that old!?!), I can recite to you: "The owl and the pussycat went to sea in a beautiful pea green boat. They took some honey, and plenty of money, and wrapped it up in a five pound note." And remember how they used the ring in the pigs nose as their wedding ring? And how they "danced by the light of the moon"? God that was a great story!

Note to readers: I'm not that far off these many years later....check out the actual text here. But what's up with that reference to a bong-tree. ;) Whoa! Didn't remember that! But whatever people, I'm not a drug user (just food), so get over it!

I also recall very fondly the story of "Where the Wild Things Are" and the shiny medallion on the cover of the book. And there was also a favourite about some sort of fly whispering in a person's ear. Okay, so that part's a big foggy. But I'm a reader, and the bottom line is she encouraged that. I *loved* library time. Sittin' on the carPET, listenin' to a storEE.

Here's to you Mrs. Webb. And my sympathies to all you five year olds out there now.

You can see the rings of calcium deposits that indicate just how high the water can be at the Hoover Dam. This picture is actually just to the right of the Dam, on the Arizona side. As you can see, the facilities are not great here. ;) 

Close up of a Joshua tree. See, no bark. This is the kind of tree that stabbed me in the hand, though not the exact tree. Dangerous things. And try not to look at it without singing U2's "With or without you"...

Inside the Desert Passage shopping mall--part of the Aladdin Resort. That big thing with the lime on top is advertising yet another place to get a margarita. 

Don't think I mentioned this before--this is from the Conservatory at Bellagio. Fresh flowers daily. 

Me, with a hand on that 1.9 million dollar car I mentioned earlier. This is at the new Wynn Las Vegas Ferrari-Maserati dealership. I mean, it's a car, so it really doesn't do it for me, but that's a lot of money to comprehend.

Me at the Grand Canyon. There are no words that express just how magnificent it is, especially in the natural state that it's in on the Western Rim. The lights on the Strip can make a person feel small by comparison, but when looking out at the Canyon, you feel like a small grain of sand in the evolution of humanity. I'm talking both size and time here. It's truly awesome and I'm so glad I went.

Eagle's Point at the Grand Canyon. See the eagle? It's wings, it's right talon? You can see why the Hualapai's view this area as sacred. Having said that, even though they do a good job of keeping the commercial out, they do have a amateur type operation (sorry) and that sort of cheapens it a bit.

The Fountains at Bellagio. Pictures can't do them justice. This is an example of a hotel doing the entertainment thing right, unlike that Sirens of TI thing I witnessed twice at my hotel. It's big, but somehow understated at the same time. And it reminds me of the close of Oceans 11 (the one with Brad Pitt). Throw in a little Frank Sinatra music, and who couldn't love it? One of the songs the fountains played to was that "One, singular sensation.." song you hear so often from some Broadway show. The fountains actually looked like a chorus line of women kicking up their legs. Fabulous.