castigat0r's Xanga

Nose To This Grindstone

Tue, 03 Apr 2007 18:59:48 GMT

Ok, so I haven't posted in forever. Not that anyone notices or cares, but that's par for the course.

I'm sitting in the Canisius College Bowhuis Library in Buffalo, NY typing this before my class in Adolescent Literacy. I know that last term seems oxymoronic. Perhaps it's just moronic. Either way, I'm working out ways to teach Math to adolescents and enhance their literacy levels at the same time. Perhaps by including segments of Freakonomics, stuff about the history of Math, or even just newspaper articles on how the guitarist from Apples in Stereo uses his knowledge of Calculus to figure out his scales on their most recent album, I'll be able to turn kids onto something interesting.

Oh - and if you haven't already figured it out, I'm in Teacher's College working towards a Masters in Education in Adolescent Mathematics. I'm going to be a high school math teacher, which is relatively exciting and/or scary depending on whether or not you want me lecturing children.

Either way, the people here at school all seem very nice, if not amazingly well informed. My introduction to literacy course was less than spectacular. Needless to say the fact that I disputed with the professor over the mark on my final project, and when I resubmitted it with corrections she lowered my mark, I was less than pleased. Perhaps we could say there was a negative correlation between effort and results. Hopefully that isn't par for the course in education in general.

Hope everyone enjoys reading meaningless rambling yet again. Talk to you all soon...

Oh and by the way, you can also check out my musical discussions at http://www.indiemusicfilter.com and my hockey discussions on http://www.hockeyanalysis.com . I contribute to both fairly regularly.

Adios Amigos.

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Wed, 05 Apr 2006 04:07:01 GMT

Keeping The Homeland Secure Leaves Lots Of Time For Child Porn

"WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A deputy press secretary for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was arrested Tuesday at his Maryland home on charges he used his computer in an attempt to seduce a child and transmitted harmful materials to a minor, according to the Polk County, Florida, Sheriff's Office."

The man faces 23 separate charges related to conversations he had and images he sent to a police officer posing as a 14 year old girl on the internet. One of the first pieces of information the man passed on was that he worked for DHS, and one of the pictures he sent her happened to display his DHS security tag. Somehow this idiot doesn't seem too be very concerned about security, let alone the fact that having conversations with 14 year old girls about dirty sex on his GOVERNMENT ISSUED cell phone and OFFICE phone might be a VERY FUCKING STUPID IDEA.

The fact that this guy made it to the level of deputy press secretary in the DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY is both shocking, and ironic in numerous ways. It sure would make me glad to know that the DHS is protecting children from terrorists, so it can take dirty photos of them to beat off to at work... which is difficult - what with all the terrorists.

I bet if they spent more on DHS it would have fewer idiots working for it. HAHA JUST KIDDING! Of course they'll still spend more on it... but that won't solve the problem. Too many assholes spewing shit on America's head before telling them it's a safety helmet. Thank anyone that cares that I don't live there.

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Tue, 04 Apr 2006 06:19:34 GMT

Creating The Perfect Mix CD

It's difficult as processes go. Complicated and nuanced in a fashion suited to what we often consider decoration. Auditory splashes of colour that reflect our moods, thoughts, feelings, and concerns more clearly than most of us stop to consider. Emotion is enriched and expressed through sound.

I find it awe inspiring how something can be so dissonant and coarse one second while being sonorous, structured and powerfully focused the next; all in an effort to withdraw the desired emotional response. Movement is powerful. Subtlety. Layering. The ones that bounce or throb, the ones that make you twitch and bop or slide and sink. Those are the ones you seek.

Uh Oh... Problem. My playlist appears to be 1 hour and 51 minutes in length. If only I didn't want this in CD format. Ok before I spend too much effort I think I'll enjoy just listening to it for now... adios!

Monday, April 03, 2006

Mon, 03 Apr 2006 21:14:50 GMT

Mid 90's Ambient Dance Music Rebounds

    Ok so, when did the advertising world decide that taking us back to the club scene circa '95 was worth doing? I don't object I just find it amusing how quick the recycling is taking place these days. Moby songs, Prodigy singles re-releases, the mid 90's are en-vogue all of a sudden as "retro" ceases to depend on fashions from further back than a decade.

    Everyone has likely seen the new Intel commercial. The one rambling on about how earth shattering an event it is that Apple is now using Intel processors in it's Macintosh computers (bullshit marketing technique). The nice ambient piano piece in the background is the track God Moving Over the Face of the Waters, off of Moby's 1995 album Everything Is Wrong. The 2nd episode of this season's Sopranos closed with the closing track from the same album, When It's Cold I'd Like To Die, yet another ambient piece only this one featuring vocals. There's also a new video out for the Prodigy song Voodoo People due to their Singles re-release. I always liked all of these songs, I own the original releases on CD, (I actually paid for them before download P2P networks and .mp3 files were in common usage). I just find it bizarre that something that I listened to in high school and university is now considered worth dredging up for marketing to the masses again. When the rave and house music scene in the UK and US was booming in the mid 90's kids everywhere were tapped into it but it hardly ever made a pop culture appearance aside from stories about kids OD'ing on random drugs, or perhaps the occasional movie or television reference. The music itself seemed to sit on back-burners when it came to advertising, major corporate support and genuine mass appeal resultant from radio and video airtime.

    Now that it's being used to sell me products I don't want or don't need, I'm sort of laughing at it all because the marketing industry must respect my peer group enough to warrant spending that sort of money on my tastes. I guess I'm a prime retail/media target these days; which is in a sense gratifying. If the world moves in a direction pointed at me? Who am I to complain.

    You might also note that I'm listening to one of the masters of ambient music right now - Brian Eno actually has been doing soundtracks and audio production for major releases for years so I guess that wouldn't be all that shocking if you'd ever listened to much David Bowie, or seen the movie Dune.

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Wed, 29 Mar 2006 02:21:41 GMT

Canada Stands Alongside China According To Morrissey!

Morrissey calls for end to Canada's seal hunt

Ok this is getting a tad ridiculous. It's nice that rich famous people want to pick a cause they believe in and support it using their public voice, but they only hurt themselves by making idiotic statements such as the following:

..."Aside from not including Canada on his upcoming tour, Morrissey asked fans to boycott Canadian goods.

"It WILL make a difference. As things stand, Canada has placed itself alongside China as the cruelest and most self-serving nation," he wrote."...

CANADA HAS PLACED ITSELF ALONGSIDE CHINA AS THE CRUELEST AND MOST SELF-SERVING NATION?????? WHAT THE FUCK???

Ok - let me list off a number of possibly self serving nations that it might actually hurt Morrissey to suggest boycotts of. 1. America; 2. France; 3. Russia; 4. Iran; 5. North Korea; 6. Israel; 7. Australia; 8. Japan.

America is the only developed western nation to still practice Capital Punishment. It also has made numerous attempts to control the world oil industry through warfare and bullying. France is the EU member nation that basically refuses to reduce farming subsidies and hence is blocking serious improvements in world trade tarriff agreements, continuing to damage developing agrarian economies the world over. Russia basically turned off the flow of Natural Gas through the Ukraine to heat European homes in the middle of winter because they disliked the political direction the Ukraine was heading in. Not to mention the Chechnyen wars. Iran's president has been publically promoting wiping Israel off the map and rethinking the whole concept of the Holocaust. North Korea threatens South Korea constantly and is one of the most repressive dictatorships on the planet. Israel has constricted the Palestinian state into one of the most pathetic examples of a broken society in the modern world. Australia has refused refugees and broken international laws and treaties to exclude foriegners. Japan continues to enflame longstanding animosity by celebrating war crimes against the chinese during the 2nd world war. It also continues to hunt whales in opposition to international laws.

If anyone can explain to me how Canada, which is not breaking any international laws through it's seal hunt, and not injuring any other political groups or human beings, is remotely close to standing alongside China, let alone any of the above listed nations for it's "self-serving" and "cruel" behaviour. There are kill limits on the hunting of Harp Seals in the gulf of the St. Lawrence river and the overall animal population is not endangered in the region. This basically amounts to animal lovers defending "defenseless" creatures from hunters. Personally this begs the question of why Cattle, Sheep, Chickens, Pigs, and any other animal killed for it's pelt, food, or any other reason lacks "rights" such as those apparently deserved by Harp Seals. I'm fairly sure the reasoning is along the lines of how Harp Seals are cute, and thus shouldn't be killed.

If you're not endangering the animal population and hunting of them remains profitable the idea that it should be halted over a perception of cuteness is rather absurd. That statement is one of the most moronic things I've ever read in print. I like Morrissey's music, but I really wish he'd stick to making music and avoid political debates. The scarier part to me is that people might actually agree with his point.

PEOPLE ARE STUPID.

Illegal Immigration Issue Incenses Idiots

Mon, 27 Mar 2006 23:07:48 GMT

    I'm going to be quoting numbers tossed up by Lou Dobbs for a bit here, just to demonstrate why I think all of this pandering to reactionary fear mongers in the US in regards to illegal immigration belies a serious and fatal flaw in the current American political perspective.

    Dobbs quoted numbers on his show earlier this evening that sound quite plausible and deserving of discussion. The current amount being spent on immigrant employees in the US per year is roughly $200 billion dollars a year. The amount of Social Services illegal aliens soak up is roughly $50 billion a year. He then said immigration defenders often quote the $7 billion dollars that is yearly "gained" by the economy through immigrant labour.   I believe all of these numbers to be relatively accurate and I don't dispute that it's a relatively serious issue facing the US populace. My problem is with how they plan on solving the issue: increased/enhanced border security OR just give all the illegal aliens amnesty (thus skipping regular immigration regulations and qeues) or work visas (which they would then overstay and again be illegal aliens). Neither of those potential solutions solves the actual problem which is a serious fiscal imbalance in the way America allocates its wealth.

    Consider the fact that Corporate Tax Rates in the United States are now 4th highest in the 30 nation OECD. Ahead of nations such as Sweden, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands and many others. Consumption taxes on the other hand are relatively minimal in the US but considered staples of economic reform in both the EU and Canada. Taxing mobile capital flows basically results in a shifting of investment away from the American economy and even results in record numbers of American companies incorporating abroad to avoid high tax rates.

    Add to this growing fiasco the fact that private medicare insurance rates have quadrupled over the past 5 years. 46 million americans can't afford medicare with another million being added to that list yearly on average. Companies have a hard time funding ridiculously exorbitant insurance costs and hence decide to hire labour in a more hospitable market with more reasonable numbers in their favour. Considering most illegal immigrants will work without insurance coverage and for less than minimum wage, why they're working is obvious. When one also takes into account the generally poor education numbers for the average american students in recent years, one begins to develop a coherent picture of where all these problems are originating. Infrastructure is being left to rot in the US while the filthy rich move their money to places the government can't access it... purely to avoid paying some of the randomly highest tax rates in the world that actually discourage constructive behaviour.

    The US seriously needs to consider weaning itself from it's massive consumption rates to control its trade deficit, and also needs to contemplate providing companies with an incentive to actually play at home as opposed to abroad. Enforcing existing labour laws in regards to minimum wages, insurance, safety, worker permits and visas would also be relatively beneficial. The number of prosecutions for using illegal labour went from over 2000 cases in Clinton's last year in office to 7 in Bush's first year, and that trend has basically continued.

    Building a wall to "secure" the border is an idiotic plan that will inevitably fail. Obviously the US didn't pay a lot of attention to the whole Iron Curtain concept. Isolation doesn't promote any genuine benefit for the population and exclusive behaviours actually alienate potential trading partners severely.

    In my opinion the best means to address the issue would be an increase in consumption taxes, a cut to corporate tax rates, and public medicare and education spending and resource allocation improvements. Too bad people in the US are so hung up on security from the war on terror, if they actually thought for a few minutes about the fact that the odds of actually being killed in a terrorist attack are lower than the odds of being shot by a loved one at home... which are actually over 500 times more miniscule than the odds of drowning in your own backyard pool.... which is to say the chances of it happening, even in countries that regularly see terrorist attacks, is pretty much zero. YES it happens, but very rarely and usually affects a very localized area. Screwing the entire US economy over by hampering trade is actually making problems worse not better.

    Lou then went on to quote a statement US president Theodore Roosevelt made in 1907 (according to the TV show, or 1919 according to Lou's website so I'm not really sure which it is) in which he stated that being an American amounts to giving up all other cultural identity and language for American culture and the English language. No other option exists according to Lou Dobbs. He then went on to berate mexican-american demonstrators for waving mexican flags at rallies in Los Angeles. When pressed on why he complains about mexican flags waved during immigration demonstrations and not irish flags on St. Patrick's day he actually then insisted that he doesn't believe in celebrating St. Patrick's day or any other NON-AMERICAN holiday. Correct me if I'm wrong but the only "american" holidays in existence would be Independence Day on the 4th of July; Columbus Day when they credit Christopher Columbus with discovering the US even though he landed on the island of Hispanola and had nothing to do with the creation of the United States specifically; and the various presidents' birthdays throughout the calendar year. Church holidays such as St. Patrick's day are perhaps welcome as long as they remain religious in nature and refrain from nationalist tendencies in favour of other nations. Melting Pot vs. Mosaic and the US according to Lou Dobbs is obviously a melting pot.

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Wed, 08 Mar 2006 15:08:47 GMT

Stop Heartening Terrorists!

    Ok why does anyone bother listening to the Hawks in charge in the US anymore? Lets just take a look at some of the figures Donald Rumsfeld has hung out with during his time as US Secretary of Defence. Deals on arms and general back slapping tend to make for fast friends in Defence circles apparently. He's yukking it up with Chinese generals, shooting the shit with the leader of Colombia (war on drugs!), hanging out with the leaders of both India and Pakistan, arming Egypt and Turkey and oh look there he was chatting with Saddam Hussein. So you've got the 3 most militarily powerful muslim countries on the planet, the US' biggest threat internationally in China, and the 2 countries currently closest to Nuclear War all feeling nice about good ole Rummy and friends... this disturbs me greatly.

    It's not just that he speaks to them, it's the nature of what exactly he's dealing in with these characters. Lots and Lots of ARMS! The US gives more military aid to Egypt, Turkey, Colombia, India, and Pakistan than it does to countries like oh... East Timor, Chechenya (which was legally separated from Russia before the 2nd Chechen war), or even Taiwan or Tibet. Wouldn't want to step on Russia or China's toes though, and starting wars isn't really what the US is about... it's about big business and making a buck for the people in charge. Last I checked this is what is known as Fascism. Single party political system, no questioning of authority, business interests drive defence interests and both of those trump humanitarian and social interests. Wars on Drugs, Terror, and Crime don't seem to ever go away, but they're about as successful as any war against nebulous ideas that lack any sort of concrete nature.

     Recently in the news Rumsfeld is taking the Mass Media of the world to task for "heartening the terrorists" by presenting a bleak image of Iraq on the brink of civil war. Considering the daily stories of sectarian bloodshed and random massacres I find such bluster laughable.

    There is no way Rumsfeld thinks the Terrorists give a shit about what is being written in American Papers... how the average American percieves the conflict is irrelevant at the moment, and if anything the terrorists would prefer to see the US repress infighting and hence promote anti-american chaos from which they can emerge on top.   Morons on the streets of Arkansas, Texas, California and Alabama (no offence to those of you that aren't) are unlikely to actually influence the outlook of the Terrorists. No Terrorist in Iraq wakes up and checks their copy of USA today and reads about how Rumsfeld is telling the media off and thinks "man he's right... if it weren't for these stories about how great the insurgency is going I'd have given up a long time ago." Does Rummy actually want Americans to think that if all the stories they read say "US Destroys Insurgent Stronghold" or some such pap that the Terrorists would be suddenly frightened or intimidated? Ludicrous in the extreme.

    All I know is, these are the same assholes in charge that lied about who they were giving guns to in the '80's (Egypt, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Contras in Nicaragua), drugs and guns in the 90's (Colombia, US Citizens, Egypt, Turkey), guns and technology in the past 6 years (Pakistan, India), and general trade concessions and outright fawning behaviour to their biggest rival China, since about 1995. One "little" invasion of Iraq seems to have screwed their system up a smidge... congrats assholes.

    What we really need is for the US brass to stop trying to convince middle american idiots that the world is MORE dangerous now than it was 20 years ago. It isn't. It's actually far safer in general. The rates of violent death have been decreasing for most of the globe over the past 15-20 years, and that's largely due to a downgrade in the number of violent civil wars racking Africa over the past while. With Ethiopia and Eritrea relatively settled, Sudan sorting itself out, Congo still screwy but calmer, Rwanda recovering, Rhodesia no longer a problem, Angola improved, the general sentiment is that Africa is still impossibly behind the rest of the world... and it is.   But the reasons for this are a discussion for another time and
are beside the point I'm making. The US wants everyone to support it's crazy campaign for world policeman or leader or judge. What it doesn't want people to realize is that international institutions (SET UP BY THE US AFTER WORLD WAR 2 FOR THE MOST PART BY THE WAY) have been doing a better job of managing and improving world affairs behind a blue banner (the UN) than the US ever did by managing things on it's own. Only the US can call the UN irrelevant and actually mean it - if they considered it relevant everyone else would have to. This state of affairs is extremely unfortunate.. the UN is being funded and run by the same jerks that think they should run the world.

I just hope they all fuck off sooner rather than later.

Friday, March 03, 2006

Fri, 03 Mar 2006 20:35:57 GMT

On Subjects Neglected

    Recently I've been up to the usual. Those of you who know me, know that that isn't much beyond keeping a strange sleep schedule, driving around and across Toronto, socialising with friends, attending concerts, and generally being an irresponsible bohemian.

    If you're jealous - don't be. While it has it's moments, the lack of uplifting moments that generate self-respect is rather opressive. Which isn't to say I am lacking in self-respect; I'm just aware that most of it isn't tied up in what I do in the day to day.

    I hope anyone who read my previous comments about Canada under achieving at the Torino Olympic Games is glad my motivational reverse psychology worked so well. Canada ended up ranking 3rd in the world behind Germany and the US for Medals with 24. Our nationally public stated goal was 25 - which means we still technically under-achieved.   That said we tied for the most top 5 finishes in the world, and we had more women medal than any other country. Our men's hockey team also failed to medal which must be considered a disappointment if not a catastrophe. Personally I don't think the Tochett/Gretzky issue actually resulted in the failure.   As distracting as it was it seems in retrospect to be mainly a media created frenzy that died down quickly once actual hockey was taking place. In the end a lack of cohesion, agression, and sacrifice is what caused the result we bore witness to. I also disagree with the logic that portrays Olympic medals as secondary to Stanley Cups in the minds of North American Hockey Players. Every day of the olympic hockey tourney you could read articles about how European hockey players care more about playing for their country and play harder on the international stage than they do in the daily grind of the NHL, while North American NHL'ers give their all every night but can't raise their level of play in international competition. Frankly that's a load of shit. If the only tournament that matters to Canadian Hockey players is the Stanley Cup tournament, far more of them would refuse to play for the national team. They aren't paid to play for their country and they aren't compensated for any injuries suffered during the tournament. Honestly, they are in a sense damaging their chances of success during the Stanley Cup playoffs by adding to their overall load of games by playing in the Olympic Tournament in the middle of the NHL Season.

    Canadian Hockey players know this. They still choose to go overseas and represent the Maple Leaf. When they win everyone celebrates how proud and driven they must be. When they lose it's disinterest and a lack of heart. These are for the most part the same athletes that won the Olympic Gold 4 years ago, minus a few key parts, plus a few questionable replacements. But unless you think the replaced players constituted the entire drive and desire of the winning squad 4 years ago in Utah, you can't really think the guys who went to Turin were shiftless losers who didn't care about winning.

Canadian Music Week!

    March 1st - March 5th 2006. CMW takes over Toronto. I'm going to 2 shows that are completely unaffiliated and frankly I think I overpaid for the 1 show I've made it to so far. This is mainly a trade show/convention for industry types that want to find the latest Canadian artists to bolster their rosters in advertising, television, or their foreign music label. Aside from a few Danish and American invitees the greater majority of artists are Canadian.   In comparison to NXNE I'd say this series of shows suffers for a lack of star power, and scheduling problems whereby interesting artists seem to all go on stage at the same time across the city... thus dividing attention to such a degree that few artists seem to play to the size of crowd they likely deserve. Openers seem to have larger crowds - Headliners seem to have smaller.

    Take for example the New York based group Men Women and Children who played right before Edmonton's Shout Out Out Out Out and the hometown boys Holy Fuck. Men Women and Children are organized by ex-Glassjaw guitarist Todd Weinstock, they recently toured with UK Post Punk progenitors Gang of Four, and will soon be touring with Motion City Soundtrack and The Format. While their show was obviously attempting to be fun by using audience participation - in a sense I was impressed they didn't ditch any of their typical stage show for an "industry audience" - it didn't really succeed. A bunch of arms crossed, head bopping, judgemental bastards who find any attempt to lure them into a role in choreographed stage actions and screaming sessions contrived and weak. Showmanship of this sort is wasted on people who see over 100 shows a year... and the crowd was decidedly larger than the band would've warranted on tour without the promotional aide of Eye Magazine and CMW. Shout Out Out Out Out and Holy Fuck are both NXNE veteran acts, with a powerful electro-pop sound that engenders life in it's listeners without pathetically begging for it. Shout Out(x)4 were the life of the party while on stage, but by the time Holy Fuck came out a lot of people were "electroed" out and started to bail for other shows. Hence they played to a smaller crowd than they likely would on their own WITHOUT the industry types in attendance.

    Musically the shows are the same no matter what size audience they play for. The problem is - audience reactions are difficult to gauge with a jaded industry crowd that seems to suffer from a horrid case of cognitive dissonance as far as I can tell. Unless it reminds you of something you already like you must not be able to like it - huh??

    On that note I'm going to say Canadian Music Week is almost over-hyped by local media but seems sort of under-rated by local concert goers.   I'm still on the fence about where I think it's at in that regard. Ok... I can't type any more about this I'm even boring myself.

    The Ladies (Rob Crow of Pinback and Goblin Cock, and Zach Hill of Hella) new album, They Mean Us, is a pleasant listen that ends up sounding halfway between Pinback and Hella. Sort of like a more serious form of Goblin Cock.

The Gossip (based in Olympia Washington but 2 members are from Arkansas) are probably best described as Soulful Bluesy Post Punk that reminds me of the Kills a fair bit. Female vocals has something to do with that but the obviously blues influenced bouncing garage rock might also. Either way - check out their latest release Standing In The Way of Control. It was recorded with the help of Guy Piccioto of Fugazi (who also produced the last Blonde Redhead album), so there's a vote of confidence if you can't trust mine!

Music Experts Lacking Expertise

Fri, 03 Mar 2006 19:42:14 GMT

If the debate amongst Musical Genre terminology and the logic behind such titles annoys, bores, or outright disgusts you: don't bother reading the rest of this commentary. Otherwise you might find it sort of amusing. The following concert listing in Now Magazine's Toronto edition was pointed out to me by my friend Ian. We're going to the show in question so it was of particular interest.

"PHOENIX - Every Time I Die & Haste the Day (emo)." - Concert Listing from NOW Magazine for a show at Toronto's Phoenix Concert theatre on Sunday March 5th.

Problem 1) Every Time I Die and Haste the Day are not headlining this show.
Problem 2) The show is not Emo.
Problem 3) Now Magazine portrays itself as a Music Weekly by making Musicians it's cover story.

In response I list the following:

1) Bleeding Through is headlining the show and should rightfully be the only band listed if you're not going to list all of them. Oddly enough two of the three largest acts on the tour, Bleeding through and Between the Buried and Me are not mentioned.

2) This is a hardcore metal show - if you show up to this concert expecting an act like Taking Back Sunday or The Used you will be dissappointed - not that I expect anyone who likes those bands to be confused by the genre listing of Emo showing up next to groups like Everytime I Die.

3) Now Magazine is in the market of selling advertising. Most of that advertising is by local promoters, artists, and businesses. By presenting itself as the information source to local hipsters and pretentious underground visionaries it could at least make an effort at following the music world in enough depth and breadth to actually get their Genres straight.

I DO realize that 99% of the people who read Now Magazine won't actually bother going to this show and the majority of the people who WILL be there don't read Now Magazine. That doesn't change the fact that I find it annoying to be given "tips" by music writers and editors that don't know the difference between Hardcore Metal and Emo... as for the people that don't CARE about the difference, or for whom it is negligible, well... nobody asked you.

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Tue, 14 Feb 2006 11:04:18 GMT

Happy Valentines Day: Dick Shoots Friend

    Ok so a few things. Firstly, as it is St. Valentine's Day I should send out a happy Valentine's day to Tari. Secondly, the VP of the US was hunting illegally in Texas when he shot his 78 year old lawyer friend full of buckshot after mistaking him for a small quail. Somehow I find it difficult to stop laughing upon contemplation of that scene. Thirdly, the 2006 Winter Olympics have begun in Torino (aka Turin for those of you who can't figure out the Italian to English translation), Italy.   Canada got off to a great start with a Gold in the Women's Freestyle Mogul Skiing. Unfortunately since then most of our expectations have seemed a tad... over-reaching. Not that this should be shocking to anyone.

   Rick Tocchet has been accused of financing an illegal book-keeping and money laundering operation which he ran along with a friend from his days in Philadelphia who happens to have since become a NJ State Trooper. Odd how the NJ State Troopers have made such an effort to divert attention away from one of their own.   Unfortunately as Tocchet serves as an assistant coach with the NHL's Phoenix Coyotes, it has tarnished both that franchise and the league with an unsavoury sheen of tar right as it was supposed to be on main display in Italy. Wayne Gretzky is answering questions about his wife's gambling habits and his own knowledge of Tocchet's enterprise rather than discussing the chances of his construction known as Team Canada has for a gold medal. Unfortunate but intriguing either way.

   I went Snowboarding for the 3rd time yesterday and I'm still struggling to not fall flat on my face with anything approaching regularity or frequency. I need to work on my leg muscles would be the other message I'm pulling out of these efforts.

    Plan on going to a couple shows in the near future including the Def Jux show with El-P, Aesop Rock, et al. Should be a good time. Check out the Subways, MewithoutYou, and Imogen Heap if you're looking for new music in a variety of stylings.