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Music to Swoon to

Monday, February 12th, 2007

I’m sorry to surprise some of you out there but Valentine’s Day is in one more sleep.

Yes gentlemen, take a moment to catch your breath and panic.

But never fear, I have something that can help you out a little wee bit here. I decided that I would do some “Music to Swoon to” to help anyone out looking for some more songs for that Mixed CD (or pre-loaded mp3 player) that you are getting for that special someone.

Before I go into my songs, I want to say first of all that these are only suggestions, you need to of course use some of “your” songs in there. Also, this is aimed more at people in the throws of a new relationship, as such I avoided songs that evoked the dreaded L-Word.

Lastly making a CD/playlist for someone else is a really delicate art form and you need to follow a few rules.

A) Order Matters. Lord does it ever matter!! I know that it is so tempting with computers to just let it sort alphabetically, but don’t you dare. The songs need to flow into one another well. I highly recommend that once you pick out a list you listen to it from start to finish. If you don’t have the time then at least listen to the first and last 20 seconds or so of each song to tell how they transition to one another. They really need to build upon one another, and when I make a romantic CD I really try to imagine whoever I am making it for listening to it as they drift to sleep. So it starts out with the more fast paced ones and slowly mellows itself out.

B) Be Unique. Here’s the thing, unless you are really lucky/sheltered everyone you have been with has been with other people before you. You need to make sure that when you make this CD that you DO NOT include any songs that may remind them of someone who came before you. Regardless of your musical taste, you need to stay away from artists like Jack Johnson and Dave Matthews. Why? Because they are cliche and so many people have some memories with someone else, and you don’t want that!!!!

C) Include Some of the Familiar. Yeah I know this contradicts what I said above, but there is some logic to it. You need songs that they other person will know sprinkled in with some new ones to introduce them to. Everyone likes to listen to songs that they know and love. It’s just a very tough call to try and strike a balance.

I guess that’s enough of a long winded introduction. Here is the list of songs to use…

1. Oasis — “Wonderwall“. Yeah I know, I say be unique and then here I am putting out one of the most played songs of the past 20 years. But here me out, this pays attention to Rules A + C. It takes a very familiar song and puts it into a new context, and you need to start the CD out with a song that they will know. You don’t want to turn them off the CD from the start now do you? See why the order is important??? And the best part is that this song came out in 1995. So if you are around my age, which I know most of you are, chances are any one’s memories of someone else would be of a Grade 8 dance and they have probably gotten over it by now.

2. The Pixies — “Here Comes Your Man”. If you have not seen or read High Fidelity then go and do it right now…I’ll wait…Well there is a wonderful scene were the main character, Rob, talks about the rules to making a good mixed tape. He says that you need to start big with the first song (check) and then take it up a notch for the second song. Well here we are taking it up a notch. This song is definitely taking it up a notch. The Pixies are one of the most underrated bands of the 90’s and this is an excellent example as to why. If the song doesn’t fit your own pronoun then a good alternate could be “Mushaboom” by Feist.

3. Sloan – “I Can Feel It”. In the above mentioned scene in High Fidelity, Rob says that you need to start to take it down a notch in the third song to not overdo it. Well here we are taking it down a little bit. I really like this song, it’s chorus of “You’ve got a thing for me, I can feel it, I can feel it. I’ve got a thing for you too, you can have it, you can have it”, is so high school cute.

4. Joel Plaskett — “Nowhere With You”. Another song that is almost adolescent with its lyrics. A great thing for a new relationship/love interest/”It’s Complicated”, especially this early in the CD, remember we are building to things here.

5. U2 –”Stay (Faraway, So Close)”. This is where things get taken up a bit more after the last two light natured songs. The line of “If I could stay…and the night would be enough” ties into the next song a wee bit.

6. Howie Day — “Morning After”. Yeah I know, I’m taking a bit of a chance here with respect to Rule B due to the popularity of “Collide” a few years ago. But I tried to cram it in between some other songs that could ease the burden if that is an issue. The whole morning after theme of this song ties into the previous song’s notion of staying the night. See order is important!!!

7. Elliot Smith — “Between The Bars”. Kind of a strange song that goes with the “to hell with anyone before me” theme that has been creeping into this album. I like the guitar riff in this song, and I think that Elliot Smith has an eerie sounding voice, so here it goes.

8. TV On the Radio — “Ambulance”. I talked about this song once before and my opinion of this song definitely has not changed. I will once again re-post the chorus here because I think that the lyrics are that amazing.

“oh i will be your ambulance if you will be my accident
i will be your screech and crash if you will be my crutch and cast
and i will be your one more time if you will be my one last chance
so sweet dream fall with me
fall fast fall free fall with me”

If you haven’t heard this song by now, go and do it…

9. Eric Clapton — “Wonderful Tonight”. A classic romance song. If this doesn’t help you out then I don’t know what to say.

10. Semisonic — “Secret Smile”. Sure “Closing Time” was their big hit, but this is a much better song. conveys a strong “You are the only one for me right now” message that you should be going for right here.

11. Jason Mraz — “I’m Yours”. I’ll quote my previous blog entry about this song, “This just seems like such a perfect song to dance romantically in the kitchen with that special someone to”, therefore it’s a must on this mix.

12. Jose Gonzalez — “Crosses”. Jose Gonzalez is proof that sometimes less is more, he keeps the guitar simple and it works. I love the opening line of “Don’t you know that I’ll be around to guide you through your weakest moments to leave them behind you? ” it’s very caring and supportive which should up your cred.

13. Jeff Healey Band — “Angel Eyes”. Another one of those gimme songs. Next.

14. Sufjan Stevens — “The Dress Look Nice on You”. I’ve mentioned my love for Sufjan on here more times than I dare search. This song wavers between poetry and prose and I love it. Should your significant other not be the dress wearing type perhaps take “To Be Alone With You” also by Mr. Stevens.

15. Rolling Stones — “Wild Horses”. Yeah another gimme song, I really love the line “You know I can’t let you slide through my hands “, says a lot without saying too much.

16. Hawksley Workman — “Safe and Sound”. What would a playlist of mine be without Mr. Workman? This is among my favourite songs of his, very caring and nurturing and who doesn’t love that? I love the line “We fit together like the ignition and the key”, so typically Hawksley.

17. Foo Fighters — “Everlong (Acoustic)”. Another dangerous choice due to Rule B, but give it a try. I think that this song may have the most beautiful lyrics ever. But it is possibly my favourite song ever (along with “Rebellion (Lies)” by The Arcade Fire and “Jolene” by Cake) so perhaps I have a wee bit of bias.

18. Feist — “La Sirena“. What playlist of mine wouldn’t have a Feist song? You all know my love for her. This song is really mellow and fits in with the falling asleep plan I said way back at the beginning.

19. Eva Cassidy — “Time After Time”. I know, Cindi Lauper’s original is amazing, and Match Box 20’s live cover is surprisingly good, but this is the best of the bunch. This is me combining Rules A & B, something unique but also familiar. Eva Cassidy is great for that, she has a wide range of excellent covers out there (mental note: her cover of “Ain’t no Sunshine” should have been on my wallow list…)

20. Live — “Dance With You (Acoustic)”. Very romantic lyrics without going over the top. A non-single from a familiar band done to facilitate falling asleep or at least achieving a level of comfort. That’s right this follows all three of my rules, booyeah!!! If there is only one song that you take from here, make it the one by TV on the Radio but if there are two, make it this one.

21. Hawksley Workman — “Baby This Night”. Yeah I know I already used Hawksley but it’s my playlist so I can do what I want!!! This song is so great for any degree of swooning playlist. The chorus of “Baby this night can be ours, so just close your eyes” is a great way to end this playlist.

Wow this belongs among my most epic of blog posts. I guess I need to end it. I suppose that makes up for my lack of posting of late. I will very likely chime in with my thoughts on Valentine’s Day (or Singles Awareness Day as I sometimes like to called it) as a whole tomorrow, my thoughts on the subject may just surprise you…

Until next time,

G

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Remembering the Victims

Saturday, January 27th, 2007

On this day 62 years ago, Auschwitz Concentration Camp was liberated by forces from the Soviet Union. People all over Europe commemorate today as Holocaust Memorial Day (called by a different name in some other countries).

Now everyone knows enough about the Holocaust, millions of Jews, Poles, homosexuals, disabled, Roma, communists, blacks, and many more all systematically eliminated with cold, hard, twentieth century efficiency. It is an event that just about everyone has some sort of knowledge about and it really has been ingrained into our collective conscience.

Last February, I had the opportunity to go to Amsterdam. Needless to say it was an amazing trip (yeah make whatever comment you may about that sentence). But one of the highlights of it all was going to see Anne Frank’s House. As I’m sure you all know, the Frank family and several of their friends, hid in an upstairs apartment for an extended period of time before they were finally found by the Nazis and sent off to various concentration camps. Anne was sent to Bergen-Belsen where she died of typhoid.

Now the apartment is very small and it is of course, a major tourist destination. As a result you have to filter through in a long, plodding line. I can’t help but feel that much of the mystique was lost as a result. However, I still found it very emotional. Me being so crowded and confined for even a short period made me feel incredibly uncomfortable. I can not imagine how it must have felt to have been crowded and confined in that small place for such an extended period of time.

Due to the high volume of people I didn’t take many pictures while in there. It also somehow felt wrong to do so, I wanted to just look at the pictures she posted on the wall of her bedroom and touch the walls to feel their sadness. I was looking for some pictures of the rooms to post here, but I found this video tour on YouTube…

After you go through the entire house there is a small, but interesting exhibit. They show a series of video clips on contemporary political issues. After the short clip they ask a simple yes or no question and then they display the results of both the room and of all the data they have collected. They present some interesting questions such as, “Should the government be allowed to monitor what people read?”, “Should Neo-Nazis be allowed to protest in from of Synagogues on the Sabbath?”, “Should the government be allowed to shut down newspapers? (especially in the given example the Spanish government shut down the only Basque language newspaper for terrorist links)”, and of course “Should Holocaust deniers be allowed to publish their work on the internet?”. Very tough questions that were all aimed at keeping people aware of any potential for a government to remove rights from its citizens, the starting point of any tyranny.

Needless to say, I highly recommend the experience. It is further proof that there is more to Amsterdam than just the hash and the hookers. However there are a few interesting questions that I don’t feel were explored enough in here or in the Amsterdam Historisch Museum (a museum dedicated to the history of Amsterdam). They never really explored the notion of Dutch collaboration in the holocaust. A stunning 73% of Dutch Jews were executed during the occupied years. This is the highest out of all Western European nations. It really did not take a large amount of SS officers to force this. The Dutch were very willing participants.

They had no choice you say? Well, over in Denmark, the Danes outright rejected the Final Solution. The government by and large refused to cooperate with the Nazis and were able to save the lives of thousands of Jews. Similar actions were taken by the governments of Bulgaria and Finland. I really don’t have any explanations as to why some countries refused and why some so eagerly participated. I just found it most definitely interesting (and not surprising) that such an issue was never really discussed.

I realize that I could go on about this topic forever, so I had best stop here. You really can cut and paste most of my comments from a few weeks ago for Martin Luther King Day, and paste them for this subject. They really are the same issue at hand, social justice. We have come a long, long way in the past 6 or so decades on this issue but still have a long way to go. We are not that far out of the jungle, hate crimes still happen right here in our own back yard. Not to mention the covert forms of discrimination taking place all around us.

But until we get that perfect world, I’m going to have to keep dreaming, and keep remembering. Because if we forget the millions who died along the way then their lives become meaningless, and then we are back where we started.

Until next time,

G

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Yet Another Special Day

Thursday, January 25th, 2007
O my love is like a red, red rose
That’s newly sprung in June;
My love like the melody
That’s sweetly played in tune.

As fair art thou, my bonny lass,
So deep in love am I;
And I will love thee still, my dear,
Till a’ the seas gang dry.

Till a’ the seas gang dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt wi‘ the sun;
I will love thee still, my dear,
While the sands o’ life shall run.

And fare thee weel, my only love!
And fare thee weel, awhile!
And I will come again, my love
Though it were ten thousand mile.

**********************************************

That little bit of culture was because today is a very special day. That’s right, it’s Burns Day!!!! The day to celebrate the Scottish National Poet, Robert Burns (as a quick aside: note the use of the word National, that is what Burns is officially know as. Further putting pros into this whole Quebec as a Nation thing, which you can find my opinions of here).

Like most days in Scotland, today is typically filled with excessive drinking and haggis. When I was living there last year, I gathered with many of my Canadian friends (and an Australian for good measure) and we read some of his poems and ate some haggis. Yeah they sell vegan haggis at grocery stores over there. I couldn’t make this up. It was hilarious trying to read all of the poems which are of course written in Scots, and presented quite the challenge for those of us who are accently-impaired.

I have taken this opportunity to look at a collection of a number of his poems, and I am amazed at how amazing they are. Sure this man was unfaithful and incredibly lecherous, but I’ll be damned if he wasn’t smooth. The above listed “Oh, My Love is a Red, Red Rose” is one of his most famous works, but there are so many others!!! For the romantics out there may I also recommend you check out “Ae Fond Kiss, and Then We Sever”. And of course if you have some time to kill then check out the epic “Tam O’Shanter. Wikipdeia has an awesome collection of several of his poems, which are well worth checking out.

Last year I went on a bit of a Burns tour, going to a lot of the man’s hotspots and places of inspiration. Here I have a couple to share. I hope that you enjoy them!!!

These first two are the Alloway Kirk that gets mentioned in Tam O’Shanter. In the poem it is haunted and full of witches. It still looks kind of creepy to me now.



Here we have the Brig O’ Doon, also mentioned in the above poem.

Here we have one of many Burns Monuments , this is right where the Brig is.
This is in Dumfries, the town I was living in. This is Burns’s mausoleum. Apparently he was buried in a regular grave but they later dug him up and put him in this big mausoleum instead. It really is a cool graveyard with giant head stones that are taller than I am. It was only a short walk down from my old apartment too.

Anyway, I hope that you all have a Happy Burns Day, eat some (hopefully vegan) haggis and have a wee dram. Or at least go read some really great poetry!!!

Until next time,

G

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What Would He Say Now?

Monday, January 15th, 2007

I was ashamed and a little embarrassed that I almost forgot what today is. I was checking tsn.ca at about and saw that there were some hockey games going on. I thought, that is weird, since afternoon games only happen on weekends or US Holidays. Then I realized that today is indeed a US Holiday. It is Martin Luther King Day!!!! To start this blog I am going to put up the single most famous speech of the 20th Century. Sure we’ve all heard it before, but just in case you haven’t heard all 17 minutes of this amazing and inspirational oration, here goes:

Great isn’t it?

I’m not nearly so presumptuous to bore you with some sort of tribute to the man, that’s been done by far better people than I. Everyone of you has heard a list of his individual accomplishments, you all know enough about the Civil Rights Movement, and if you don’t then here’s the wikipedia entry to get you started.

But what I can’t help but think about (and therefore blog about) is what on earth would he say now, 39 years after his assassination? We Westerners tend to see ourselves as very enlightened and modern. I really think that this could not be farther from the truth. Don’t believe me? Well today in 2007 there are still country clubs in the American South where Dr. King’s children could still not get into due to the colour of their skin, regardless of the content of their characters. The Canadian Government only just decided to finally allow people to marry whoever they want, and are one of only five countries in the world to allow that. Women still earn significantly less than their male counterparts. People’s lifestyles and handicaps, gay and retarded respectively, are still used as insults by people. How is any of this fair? How is Freedom ringing?

(To any of the people in Section 23: I realize that I made a similar speech in Education and Schooling class a month or so ago. It’s ok to plagiarize yourself, isn’t it?)

It really scares me to see just how much everyone takes all of these injustices at face value. I was shocked the other day in my International Teaching Class, when we were having a debate on feminist issues around the world. People seemed to think that we in Canada have moved passed gender issues, and I really can’t see how people think that. It was brought up that we have had a woman Prime Minister, something many countries can not say. Yet, if you look back Kim Campbell was never voted in by the Canadian people and is see by and large as a joke. A quick glance at the list of MPs shows that only 20% of them are women. Now maybe I notice this since I am in math, but that is an incredibly statistical significance. I felt the need to stand up for the oppressed women and was only met with support from one female in my class.

I have had similar conversations with people on racial and sexuality issues. What bothers me the most about it, is that these have by and large been conversations with education individuals. Teachers no less. People who have the power to influence the youth of the world and genuinely make a difference. Yet here so many people sit blinded to the social inequalities of our time.

Some may argue that “it is come a long way”. Well sure, The Jim Crow Laws have been abolished, we do have Universal Suffrage, and many other large steps have been taken in the past half-century, but there is still a long way to go. Social change is not truly possible without a shift in the social conscious. People need to believe that minority support programs including the dreaded Affirmative Action, are indeed for the benefit of the society before it ever begins to benefit the society. Everyone needs to take some action for the cause of Social Justice, not just minorities, women, immigrants and homosexuals. Unless some straight white males take it on as well, then it is just a minority issue. What people need to realize is that the issues of the minority are the issues of everyone. You can always judge a society by how the majority treats its minorities. Right now we may be a head of many other countries in the world, but we still have a long way to go. It is never about comparing yourself to others but rather about comparing yourself to yourself and seeing that there is always room for improvement.

Here’s hoping that it can improve and King’s dream can finally become a reality.

Until next time,

G

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Merry Christmas to All and to All a….uhhhh….line?

Monday, December 25th, 2006

Hey all, just wanted to wish everyone a festive holiday season. I hope that Santa treated you all very well. As usual, Santa was particularly generous to me, getting me the usual clothes and candy, plus my big gift for this year, a GPS Tracking System. How cool is that? I will surely be amused for hours on end figuring out where the heck I am in the world, and it may help me finally kick my habit of getting lost all of the time.

I conclude my December 2006 Eastern Tour tomorrow as I head back to Onterrible bright and early. I take off at 7am, which will be awesome!!! I’m excited to get back to the other province that I call home to have some more Christmas cheer with my Dad’s side of the family. I’m sure that I will have more of a haul to report then anyway.

Since I am going to my Dad’s, I doubt that I will be able to be up to much in the way of blogging over the next couple of weeks. I will do my best to sneak onto a computer or two to be able to do some blogging. I have some ideas as for topics, and since I have a birthday, a wedding to attend, and New Year’s Shenanigans to take part of, they will probably take care of themselves.

So anywho, back to the point of this message.

MERRY F’N CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!

For all that I talk about my LOVE/HATE Relationship with this time of the year, I am happy to say that I have had a Merry Christmas this time around. I truly hope that all of you have as well.

Until next time,

G

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Why I Love Christmas

Monday, December 18th, 2006

Back a little while ago, I posted eight reasons why I hate Christmas. But as promised, I would provide the same amount of reasons as to why I love Christmas, while it was a bit of a challenge for me, and somewhat of a stretch, I found reasons to enjoy the Holiday Season. Without further ado…

1. Snow, Snow, and MORE Snow – Easily my favourite part of this time of the year is playing in the snow. I love the feeling of falling back into a sea of cold fluffy powder to make a snow angel. While I was in Scotland last year, it is undoubtedly the thing that I missed the most. I was so thrilled back in December when I got back to North Bay and I saw a solid foot of snow waiting for me. However, as I look out the window now, I can’t help but feel that it is beginning to look a lot like Easter. I have been hooked on the white stuff for a long time, and if global warming keeps on trucking, then I am going to have start a twelve step program.

2. Giving the Perfect Present - While I am not a huge fan of getting things that I don’t need, or getting the forced “you shouldn’t have”, I love watching people’s faces light up when you give them just the right gift. It makes me feel really great about myself to give someone the absolute perfect present. It almost makes all of the stress of shopping worthwhile. Almost.

3. The Grinch – This is by far my favourite Christmas movie/special ever. It is simply one of Dr. Seuss’s most amazing masterpieces. The way that he so brilliantly invents words to fit his rhyme and rhythm never ceases to amaze me. This is perhaps his best work when it comes to Seussisms. Fap-dablers and Flungers hold the same special place in the English language as the Jabberwocky and Jub-Jub Bird.

4. Mock Christmas Songs – While a lot of Christmas songs outright annoy me, there are still some amazing satires out there. From Bob and Doug McKenzie’s “Twelve Day’s of Christmas” to South Park’s “Merry Fucking Christmas” there are some amazing acts of parodies out there.

5. The World Junior Tournament – Sure this may have nothing to do with C-Day, but around this time of the year my favourite annual hockey event takes place. I love the World Junior Tournament and am really looking forward to watching Team Canada go for their third straight Gold Medal. It is often the best hockey played of the year. The players, all under 20, and many of whom are un-drafted, have so much to prove. Combine that with larger rinks and national pride and you have an amazing event.

6. Family Gatherings – While they are a huge pain to try and organize, I am always glad to have them. Especially my mother’s side of the family, where there is not only the obvious fact that we all love each other, we’re family after all, but it is clear that we all genuinely like one another. A rare thing for families I find. While you don’t need Christmas to have such gatherings, it is handy to have an excuse to get together.

7. Great Movies – Yeah I know, it doesn’t necessarily have a lot to do with Christmas itself, but there are always a lot of really good movies that come out around this time. Usually it is a studios last minute attempt to be considered for Oscar Nomination, while staying fresh in the minds of the public. Whatever the reason, there always seems to be excellent movies that come out around this time of year. I remind you, that it was the Christmas season that brought us all three Lord of the Rings.

8. Holidays – Yeah call me selfish, but it is always great to have some time off. Whether it is from school or work, there is always a chance to rest around Christmas. I consider myself very lucky that I am going into a profession that guarantees that I have two weeks off for Christmas, for the rest of my life.

So there you have it, I guess the Holiday Season isn’t SO bad after all….I guess. Anywho, speaking of Holidays, I am heading out East to see my mother and I won’t be back until after the big C-Day, when I have about a zillion things to do including a Camp Reunion, a wedding, a birthday (my own damnit!!!), figuring out something to do for New Year’s Eve, about three more Christmas’s to celebrate and maybe sleeping a little bit over that time. Moral of the story, I wont’ be posting too much over the next couple of weeks. I shall do my best to sneak on and post a thing here or there, I really want to get my 2006 in Review up before 2007 comes along, but we shall see.

Until next time,

G

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Why I Hate Christmas

Monday, December 11th, 2006

I’ll let you all in on a not-so secret, I hate Christmas. It is one of my least favourite times of the year. Why you ask? Well that’s what I’m going to fill you in on right about now. However, in the spirit of me staying positive, I promise that for every reason I give for not liking Christmas, I will give on that I like about it in a later blog.

1. Egg Nog — I absolutely loathe egg nog. And let me tell you it isn’t just because I’m a vegan, and am therefore morally opposed to anything cruel and/or delicious. My hatred of Egg Nog runs far deeper than that. It is simply a repulsive creation, and this opposition does not just apply to Egg Nog, it applies to all forms of nog. I am a rabid anti-Noggite.

2. Logistical Nightmares — Now my parents are divorced, and living in separate provinces. This makes it an intense challenge to try and juggle all of my familial obligations and I always find it overwhelming and stressful.

3. The “Peace on Earth and Goodwill towards Men” CRAP – This is probably what I hate the most about Christmas. Every year we get the ol‘ “You have to be nice to people, it’s Christmas” attitude and everyone is always being so nice to everyone. Well that’s all well and good, but here is my big question, “What about the rest of the year?!?!?!?”. Why is it ok to be selfish and mean most of the year so long as you are nice around Christmas? As a protest, I am nice to people most of the year but a selfish prick around Christmas. Makes sense to me.

4. Over-Saturation — As mentioned earlier, my parents are split. Therefore every year I always end up with anywhere between 4-9 Christmases. As a result, I feel as if I could take the next decade off of celebrating the holidays and end up celebrating the same amount of Christmases as the rest of you.

5. Consumerism, Consumerism, Consumerism!!! – Ahhh, here we get to the true meaning of Christmas, buying and spending. If you try to tell me that the meaning of Christmas in the modern society is not consumer based then you had better open your eyes and take off your rose coloured glasses. All of the companies plan their biggest releases around November and December just in time for people to start spending. I don’t know about anywhere that you are, but Christmas displays in stores came up on November 1, right after the Hallowe’en season ended.

6. Another Excuse to Westernize the World — Now here is were I get a little abstract. But you all know full well, that Christmas is spreading all over and is really one of the most global holidays in the world. People in all parts of the world get holidays on Christmas. So why on earth is this? Why do people in China celebrate Christmas yet we do not celebrate their New Year? Why do they celebrate Christmas in parts of the Middle East but none of us celebrate Ramadan? Because Christianity and Western Values have been exported to the rest of the world successfully. To have Christmas in China is very similar to having a McDonald’s in Red Square. A symbol of the Western need for progress and expansion.

7. Assignments, Assignments, Assignments — This is just for the students out there. There are always a ton of assignments due around the holiday time. I am stuck with a stupid ass Unit Plan to get through right now. Yuck. I know it is not Christmas’ fault, but I still have painful memories of 10 page math assignments tied into the holiday season.

8. The Raising of the Stress Levels — If Christmas doesn’t stress you out even a little bit than I applaud you. I always get so concerned about what to buy for people. I can never afford to get anyone what I really want to get them, and I always get worked up and overcome with guilt at the thought that someone else could have spent more money or more time on a gift for me than I have for them.

So I guess that’s enough for me right now. I am in class and I should get back to pretending to pay attention. As promised, I will come up with eight things that I love about this time of the year…man that is going to be tough.

Until next time,

G

Posted in Happy [Insert Holidy Here], Rants | 4 Comments »

Lest We Forget

Saturday, November 11th, 2006

Last week I wrote about Guy Fawkes Day, but now 6 days later there is another day that should never be forgot. The far more popular Remembrance Day.

I hope that you are all wearing your poppies and showing respect to those who died in the name of our country. While I do not necessarily agree with the current conflict in Afghanistan, I still include the current soldiers in my thoughts.

Last Spring I was fortunate enough to go to Juno Beach in France. For those of you unaware, this is were the Canadian soldiers landed On June 6, 1944, in the invasion that began the end of the war in Europe.

A mere stones throw from the beach is the Juno Beach Centre, a museum of sorts talking about Canada and World War II. It outlines Canada in the build up to the War, then about how Canada was during those years, then finishes with information on Canada today. It includes a variety of first hand accounts of people’s experiences, including a section where you can hear letters from soldiers read a loud.

As you enter the museum you are escorted into a small room that has televisions lining the wall. The room is made to be the exact size and dimensions of one of the boats that the soldiers landed on the beach with. The televisions began to play a battle scene as you feel that you are really there. It was hard to look all 360 degrees that were required for me to absorb all of the information. I hope that I only have to imagine what it would be like to have those bullets be real instead of virtual.

While I have a very good memory, it is not good enough to give a detailed play-by-play from eight months ago. Also, this is really something that should be experienced.

But there is one thing about that experience that really stuck out to me. Near the end of the exhibit there was a television on display above a small hallway. The screen had a scrolling display of the names of every Canadian who died during the war. Nothing fancy, just a simple white font on a black screen moving up at a reasonable speed for people to read it. When I arrived, they were just finishing showing those whose last name began with A. I have heard stories of my great-uncle, Raymond Dolan, who was shot down over North Africa, and I thought it would be good to try and take a picture of his name on the screen to show some members of my family.

I wandered around the rest of the museum and occasionally checked the progress of the screen to try and estimate how long I had to wait until it made it’s way to the D’s. I wandered around the museum for a good 20-30 minutes and I thought that I may have missed my time. How wrong I was. After all that time, the screen was at ‘Be’.

This really him me. I took a second to figure out how long it took to go through a portion that small of the alphabet and I figured that it would take at least 12 hours to go through the names of all of the Canadian soldiers who died in the war. As a history major, I have read the facts and figures many times. This, however, put it into real terms for me, each of those people had a name, a heart broken mother, and possibly some descendants like me coming to that very place and realizing the same thing that I was.

At this point, I realized that my bus was leaving shortly so I needed to head on out without seeing the name of my great-uncle. Since I didn’t have several hours to kill.

All in all, Juno Beach was a fantastic experience and if any of you happen to be in France I really recommend it. I stayed in the small town of Bayeux (a cool place in its own right!!!) and it makes a great place to go and relax a bit after some frantic times in Paris.

Here are some of my pictures from Juno Beach, hoep you enjoy, and more importantly, get a chance to show me some of your own!!!

Look just like any other beach doesn’t it?

One of the many abandoned bunkers that have been left as a grim reminder.


Not sure if you can read that sign, but it says “Here On the 6th June, 1944 Europe was Liberated by the Heroism of the Allied Forces” . Just to the right of the pillar you can see people playing in the ocean. Fitting isn’t it?

Until next time,

G

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A Day that Should Never be Forgot…

Saturday, November 4th, 2006

Remember, remember, the 5th of November
Gunpowder Treason and plot ;
I know of no reason why the Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.
Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes,
‘Twas his intent.
To blow up the King and the Parliament.
Three score barrels of powder below.
Poor old England to overthrow.
By God’s providence he was catch’d,
With a dark lantern and burning match
Holloa boys, Holloa boys, let the bells ring
Holloa boys, Holloa boys, God save the King!
Hip hip Hoorah !
Hip hip Hoorah !
A penny loaf to feed ol’Pope,
A farthing cheese to choke him.
A pint of beer to rinse it down,
A faggot of sticks to burn him.
Burn him in a tub of tar,’
Burn him like a blazing star.
Burn his body from his head,
Then we’ll say: ol’Pope is dead.

– British Nursery Rhyme

Hello everyone, glad that you lasted past that long introduction, and welcome to today’s blog entry-apalooza. Tomorrow, November 5, is one of my other favourite holidays of the year, Guy Fawkes Night!!!!!!

For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about (i.e. have yet to see V for Vendetta), allow me to explain. On November 5, 1605, a man by the name of Guy Fawkes (And his conspirators) were captured in an attempt to kill King James I and both branches of the British Parliament, the House of Lords and the House of Commons. They attempted this by hiding large amounts of gun powder in the cellar of the House of Parliament and planned on detonating it while the King made a joint address to both Houses.

Guy was of course found, convicted and killed. Since then, every 5th of November, has been an annual celebration in Britain. They celebrate the day by having massive bonfires, igniting fireworks and burning effigies of Mr. Fawkes. You can wiki the man HERE and the night HERE.
In the years that followed, the English public became increasingly anti-Catholic, worrying that it was all a huge plot by the Pope to eliminate Anglicanism (thus those last several lines of the poem, which do not tend to be repeated in recent years). The people of England entered a huge state of fear, dreading another strike by an invisible enemy. Sound familiar?

As many of you know, I spent last year living in Scotland, so I was in Britain last 5th of November for the festivities. This happened to be the weekend that myself, and four of my fellow Canadians rented a car to go and take a road trip up to Inverness.

As we are driving on this Saturday night we see a series of bonfires with crowds of people gathered around them. We look around and think that this is a pretty cool thing and admire their resilience for staying outside on a cold Highlands night. As the night drags on, the sky lights up with fireworks. Every July 1 I see fireworks, but nothing like this. It seemed as if every town, hamlet, and farmer’s field purchased enough gunpowder to declare war on a small oil Emirate. There was even a point when we were driving past a small town (who for the life of me I can’t even remember the name of) and we saw three separate fireworks displays competing to illuminate the sky. It was unbelievable.

After a while we decided that we should stop and enjoy the bonfire, fireworks, and culture. So we pull over in the small town of Baxter, and this is what we see:

This pictures does not even begin to do it justice. Now I was a good hundred feet away from this bonfire and it looked like that. I was warm facing this fire the size of a house. Of course, there was more than just this gigantic fire, as there were fireworks going off as men, women, and children gave their collective ooo’s and ahhhh’s. Of course, in typical Scottish fashion, there was a beer tent full of inebriated locals.

After the fireworks died down we got back into our rented car and continued driving towards Inverness. I decided to call my grandmother (who left England after WWII) to wish her a happy Guy Fawkes Day.
I assume many of you have seen the aforementioned V for Vendetta. If not, I sincerely hope that you do, it is simply brilliant. In that movie, the main character V is a Guy Fawkes inspired anarchist. We spend the movie not even seeing his face, but rather a mask of Guy himself. He leads a revolution against a future government that is almost Orwellian in its approach, by serving as a symbol for hope and change…oh and by using a ton of explosives and sweet martial arts moves that Hugo Weaving must have learned from his time as Agent Smith.
Four-hundred years ago Guy was a villain, accused of the vilest crime of treason, and the even more vile crime of Catholicism. Yet, now a character based on Fawkes is treated as a hero for his commitment to individual freedoms, and sticking it to the man. What a difference a few centuries make!!!
So I can’t help but wonder just a little bit. If Guy Fawkes can go from villain to hero, even to the point of ranking #30 on the 2002 list of all time greatest Britons, what can happen to the villains of today? Is it so far out of question to imagine a day when Osama bin Laden is given the same amount of respect? Fawkes was considered a vile terrorist at the time, seeking to disrupt social order for his own purposes. Sounds a lot like what people say about bin Laden now doesn’t it?
Just an interesting thought to ponder…

Hope you all celebrate Guy Fawkes Night somehow!!! If you can’t have fireworks, please find some way to stick it to the man. Do it for ol’ Guy.
Until next time,

G

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Hallowe’en — The Critical Analysis

Wednesday, November 1st, 2006

First off let me start by wishing everyone a happy belated Hallowe’en to everyone. Whether you went trick or treating, stayed home and gave out candy, went to a costume party or watched The Rocky Horror Picture Show, I hope that you celebrated my favourite holiday of the year in style. Secondly, I was planning on posting this blog yesterday and was almost finished typing it all up and then the power went out and I lost it all. At first I was worried about the power going out on Hallowe’en of all days, I assumed foul play. I narrowed my list of suspects to: Jason Voorhees, Ichabod Crane, An American Werewolf in North Bay, or Tim Curry in drag. I was relieved when the power came back on and nobody in my house was found murdered or doing the Time Warp. Thirdly, I’d like to wish all Catholics out there a Happy All Saints Day!!! The religious holiday invented to counter yesterdays pagan activities. As a non-practicing Catholic, I pray to Saint Christopher, the patron saint of travelers, often. So if you happen to be praying at all today, give me a shout out in your words to the big guys upstairs!!!

So after that long winded and non-sequitur introduction, I’d like to get into the topic that I was intending all along, my night out for Hallowe’en, which through the magic of hyper-linking by clicking right here if you haven’t already given that a once over.

In that entry, I alluded to the fact that I had my ass grabbed a number of times throughout the evening. Most of the grabbers were women, and most of them complete strangers to me. Now, I’d be lying if I said that my more egotistical side completely loved the attention, but the more critical side of me got to be thinking. What if I were a woman? If a man grabs at a woman that he doesn’t know then he is a complete creeper and would more than likely find himself on the receiving end of a beat down by some chivalrous goon. Yet when a woman is the groper instead of the gropee, it is somehow ok. How is this different?

About a year ago we were all treated to Debra Lafave saga. For those of you unfamiliar with her story, she was a teacher who had an affair with a 14 year old male student. She was sentenced to a mere three year house arrest and a seven year probation (You can read her Wikipedia entry by clicking right here). So I have to ask, what if she was a man having an affair with a 14 year old female student? Whenever a male teacher or person of authority has sexual relations with a student then there seems to be no charge harsh enough. How is this different?

I have to be honest with you on this one, when you first heard the Lafave story, I first thought “Good for him!!!” as I’m sure many of you did too. When I was a horny 14 year old I would have been thrilled to be:
a) Had a sexual partner other than a stack of magazines
b) Had one as attractive as Lafave
I can understand where the teen was coming from, hell I’d probably take either of those two opportunities as a horny 23 year old, but that’s a story for a different entry. But I have to also ask, how many 14 year old girls have crushes on any of their teachers or other male authorities? Probably a lot. How is this different?

Somehow a woman grabbing a man is different than the man grabbing the woman. Somehow a woman abusing her authority to have sexual relations with a teenager is different than a man doing the very same thing. There is a clear double standard on the issue here. Many would say, it is against men, but I would turn it around and say it is in fact against women.

A man in a tutu getting randomly groped, and a teenage boy having sex with his teacher are seen as being willing participants. Consent is implied based on gender. Men are pigs after all, and want sex at any time. Where as a scantily clad woman getting randomly groped, and a teenage girl having sex with her teacher are seen as victims. They are seen as meek victims under the oppression of some predatory male. In all scenarios it is the man who is empowered, either as a free sexual being or a fulfiller of the fantasies. And the women, who are disempowered, preyed upon by a grabby man or manipulated by some tyrannical educator to perform their sexual whim. How does this view favour the woman?

I find it sad that in our so-called modern, advanced, equitable society that we can still have such a glaring double standard when it comes to the perception of women. Women are not just meek, tame creatures being preyed upon by men everywhere. There are some women out there who are just as capable of violating someone as a man is. However, in order to recognize this you need to give women the same amount of sexual empowerment that a man has.

I just looked back at how much I have written and it seems like this is getting long. I feel like I could go on about this topic for quite a bit more. So, in the interest of everyone I’ll just stop right here. If you want to talk more about this issue please hit me with a comment.

Until next time,

G

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