I simply love this song

For many reasons I love this song... listen to it and you may at least appreciate it aestetically.

What a Good Boy

When I was born, they looked at me and said,
"What a good boy, what a smart boy, what a strong boy."
And when you were born, they looked at you and said,
"What a good girl, what a what a smart girl, what a pretty girl."

We've got these chains that hang around our necks
people want to strangle us with them before we take our first breath.
Afraid of change, afraid of staying the same,
when temptation calls, we just look away.

Chorus

This name is the hairshirt I wear
and this hairshirt is woven from your brown hair.
This song is the cross that I bear,
bear it with me, bear with me, bear with me, be with me tonight,
I know that it isn't right, but be with me tonight.

I go to school, I write exams,
if I pass, if I fail, if I drop out,
does anyone give a damn?
And if they do, they'll soon forget 'cause it won't take much for me
to show my life ain't over yet.

I wake up scared, I wake up strange.
I wake up wondering if anything in my life is ever going to change.
I wake up scared, I wake up strange
and everything around me stays the same.

Chorus

I couldn't tell you that I was wrong,
chickened out, grabbed a pen and paper, sat down and I wrote this song.
I couldn't tell you that you were right,
so instead I looked in the mirror,
watched TV, laid awake all night.

We've got these chains, hang 'round our necks,
people want to strangle us with them before we take our first breath.
Afraid of change, afraid of staying the same when temptation calls ...

Chorus

When I was born, they looked at me and said;
"What a good boy, what a smart boy, what a strong boy."
And when you were born, they looked at you and said;
"What a good girl, what a smart girl, what

Upcoming

I have been putting together a little exhibition of the autumn which I will post soon...maybe on my flick account.

So it's been a while....

So it's been a while...but who the heck am I apologizing to? I get more gratification out of writing in my notebook. I suppose though that this is more experimental. There is more feedback. And is the medium not the message?

So things have been crazy lately. Or I am anticipating eminent craziness, with school starting, me not having a place to live per say, Sara coming to visit towards the end of September, and much more I won't delve into. It is gooey relationship stuff. I will spare you.

So it has been almost 9 months since I have left Ireland and boy do I miss it. I guess anyone would miss a half year long holiday. Even though I was doing intensive labor on the farm I would still call it a holiday for its conscience relaxing properties.

This is going nowhere. I guess I should be working, or at least an approximation of fake work. This isn't work, I'm not that good of a liar.

Rent a cat

The neighbor's cat is often seeking attention. It is always outside and seems pretty needy. Whenever I see it I give it a good firm scratch behind the ears and then I'm on my way. Because of the cooler weather I had the kitchen window open and he was up in it meowing earlier. So I though why not let him inside for a bit. I gave him some milk in a saucer and let him roam around the house. I thought when was the last time someone played with this cat? So I improvised by getting a piece of dental floss and proceeded to play with the cat. For those of you who don't know, cats chase string. I am sure that this is knowledge in the public domain. I don't know who was happier, the cat; who was inside away from the raccoons who seem to harass it, or me; doing something as simple as bobbing a pieces of dental floss enjoying a minimal moment.

Cool on Your Island 

Hot in the City

Ok, so it's obvious that Southern Ontario is generally hotter than Newfoundland in the throes of the summer. Southern Ontario is inland and close to large bodies of water which can retain a lot of heat and produce a lot of himidity, which can increase the feel of the weather, almost increasing the temperature at times by 8 or 10 degrees. Newfoundland is smack right out in the Atlantic ocean which changes less drastically in temperature from season to season as compared to a lake. So basically the ocean is going to act as a cooler more than a heat retainer. So with that aside I would like to point out the above average temperatures for Ontario. There, now I can complain. These are record breaking temperatures. Records dating back through hundreds of years of meteorological data. I can officially complain about the heat. The only reason Newfoundland isn't seeing record highs is because it has the ocean as a big ol buffer zone. Yet again, what is my point in pointing this out? Well I suppose I am appending this to my previous entry. I don't want to sound like some sort of end is nigh nutjob though, because I feel there is plenty of time left before we totally mess up the ecology of the earth...we just have to take that time to look at our actions...sooner....now. I mean heck, when Kyoto was made official it got one day of coverage in the media and that was that. We need to make being environmentally friendly cool. We need to make some bad ass hummer bikes. There are some pretty bad ass bikes out there already. So there's a solid infrastructure of commuting and production and consumption already there... we just have to step back and assess it.

P.S. By the way, I'm from Newfoundland...just in case anyone was curious as to why I was making the connection.

Crank up the ac in your Hum V

Well, Ok so my title makes one point but it sort of defeats my point that global warming doesn't necessarily mean warmer weather, it also means more erratic weather.

When a meteorologist is making statements such as these its time to worry...

"There's nothing normal any more," he said. "Statistically, you should get more normal weather than extreme weather. Normal is what you expect. It's almost as if what nature's [giving us] is the ends of the spectrum.

"Weather seems to be presenting it to us in an extreme way," he added. "We've literally clobbered records, smashed them."

Link to full story.

Ok so there are those out there, suv drivers and tree huggers alike, who feel that there is more to this than mere pollution causing the greenhouse effect. So yes, I admit that there are many more theories out there on why the worlds climate has been at a level which the world hasn't seen for thousands of years. Regardless, there is proof that we are emitting too much emission, and that it is at least a part of the problem.

It's too bad that many people only see climate change as a damper on their summer holiday plans, when the most devastating effect it can have is on the flora and fauna of the world. Evolution isn't as fast as our rate of destruction. Now my thoughts turn to those influenced by one too many prophetic sci fi novels...so this is a good point to stop.

TCAF

Recently attended the TCAF (Toronto Comic Arts Festival) and met two of my long time web idols...

R. Stevens I have been reading his comics since back in 2001 and I have been cracking up ever since. A pixellated jumble of robot, relationship, web/pop, and generally punny humor.

Sam Brown A master of the illustrated understatement. Minimalistic works of stick figury that can be playful: taking a phrase and creating a visual pun, and at the best of times intensely meaningful.

I also met Kid Koala at the TCAF.. who is a musical Idol of mine so that's another post...though he does draw his own mini graphic novels for his albums...and has recently released a full graphic novel that comes with it's own soundtrack...sort of the opposite of what he's done before.

How is that normal?

How the heck is 30c + considered the norm? Who desires it to be that hot? Between 20 and 25 is just right in my opinion. Maybe it's just me, but when people desire above 30c then I get the feeling that people are warming up to global warming.

good ol selfish wants

I Want...

1. a pet Giant African Millipede
2. a thunder shower
3. to swim in a (clean) lake
4. to finger paint
5. to get a ukulele

Skinny Legs and All

Just finished reading Skinny Legs And All by Tom Robbins and it is up there on my favorite books list... up there with Island by Aldous Huxley and Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut. I like my novels to be spiritual yet playful. Skinny Legs being especially playful. Now that I've read my first Robbins novel and been introduced to his playful use of language and metaphor I plan on reading many more of his works.

Wasting Time With Yard Waste Bags

My lovely assistant Kate and I. Kate by the way is one of my aforementioned great new roommates...or should I say was, because she is sadly moving out tomorrow.

The intricate process of bag camouflage.

any passer by would be fooled into thinking I were merely a rather highly stacked pile of yard detritus.

This would be quite a dangerous assumption for they would face the wet leafy wrath of detritus man. Once a mild mannered raker who had one day fallen into a radioactive mulch pile.

It's still cookie of the week....

It won't become cookie of the month...I have just been busy...you know...settling into a new place and job.... so here's the new cookie. I seem to be basing my cookie of the week solely on sales at the local grocery store. So that will be the pattern. So...Dad's Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. Pretty basic premise. The goodness of homemade softness in packaged form. Wow, that sounds like some sort of adult singles ad. Ok....so cookies...umm. One complaint is that they are so small...much like Mr Christie's soft chocolate chip cookies that I end up eating them too fast. maybe that is just me though. I have a cookie problem. I need a cookie intervention.

And the universe keeps doing it's thing....

Random things to report.... about my life... so they are oh so interesting... oh dear yes aren't they...

1. My sister apparently drew eyebrows on our cat yesterday. I miss my family.
2. I got accepted into Journalism at Humber.
3. My circadian rhythm is back to normal...whatever normal is. it's been messed...well... for an indefinably long time.
   
4. I love my new job at Indigo in the fiction section.
5. I need a camera. Funny things are happening I swear.
6. I love books. This is nothing new. I am currently reading Skinny Legs and All by Tom Robbins...it's great so far.
   

Technically he's walking on water

I really have no excuse for this. I just want to share this picture. It has always made me chuckle. I printed it off once and scribbled a signature across the bottom. It was as though the divine spirit of Jesus had visited me, and given me his autograph. If jesus really played hockey there wouldn't have been a strike...not that anyone cares. Yeesh.

What has the world come to?

A cookie less society is going to inevitably end up like some sort of sick Brave New World society. we need cookies for balance and the Cookie Monster needs to bring us that balance. First Ernie and Bert's sexual preferences were brought into question and now its the cookie monsters eating preferences which seem to be an inherent instinct within the poor blue fuzzy fellow. What is happening in the world when a lovable cartoon character who is named after what he is best known for, a natural act that is uncontrollable, is suddenly told to go on a diet, thus weakening his identity? The cookie monster is going to have some serious identity issues.

Once an AGH, now an AGH no longer

Finally... settled back into Toronto. Moved into a new place. Here are the top five reasons why I love my new place....

1. Close to the the subway (even though there's gonna be that friggin' strike on Monday)
2. Close to a value village and a Loomis art store
3. Great shower pressure and hot water ( I am not entirely conscious until I step under scalding hot water in the mornin')
4. Great roommates (friggin' awesome to be precise)
5. Just north of the Beaches

AGH!

Currently in Toronto...or should I say back in Toronto.
Currently looking for a place to live.
Currently exacerbated

I am really excited/and impatient about the word on whether or not I got into Journalism at Humber.... funnily enough I am more concerned about the comedy writing and performance audition next tuesday. I have a few skits written and I am planning on doing the whole mr roboto thing...where I act out all of the lyrics to mr roboto. Scary.

Word of the day

Bupkiss: n. "nothing". zip, zilch, zero.

me: "i've got a pair of aces, what do you have?"
you: "i've got bupkiss (nothing, or a 5 of clubs and a deuce of diamonds, etc.)"

Change

Changed my blog so that any old schmuck can post a comment. Mostly did this because most of my compadres arent Blogger members.

Happy Birthday Chuck!!

Ok, so I may not exactly be all that much of a Chuck Norris fan, ok maybe not much at all (one reason why I am not), but in recent light of the return of the Walker Texas Ranger lever on Conan, I just thought I would post this homage. I guess he sort of does kick ass for and old white guy who...well... kicks ass.

Cookie of the...ummm...week.

Ah Caramel Fudge Cookies. Another Favorite. Though not named after any sort of occupation (such as pirate), these cookies hold their own. I don't know about you but there is just something unhealthy about any vachon cake. Sort of like how twinkie is synonymous with the word bypass. So compared with their cakey counterparts I can go through a box of these right away and not feel like I'm abusing my body...maybe I am though. Chocolate covered chocolate cookie with oozing fudge and a little bit of some sort of stuff similar to fluff is just the thing to hit the spot of a chocoholic.

Consumption tip: Try and savor them. It's just so hard not to eat them in one bite. Also avoid the little stringy bits of fudge that get on you.

Mecha cool!

Five reasons why anyone would want to be a mechagodzilla technician

1. Help in the squishing of badly dubbed japanese actors.
2. Great Japanese badly dubbed alien bosses.
3. Easily get a date cruising around in that thing.
4. Help take over the world.
5. Rocket fingers!!
   

Cookie of the week

Pirate Cookies. Oatmeal and peanut butter! What an unbeatable combination. I know that peanut butter has commonly been teamed up with chocolate in the past, but the marriage of oatmeal with pb bring a certain je ne sais quois to these cookies. And as most people know, oats are very good for your health. Who doesnt like a cookie named after such an amiable position as that of a pirate? Arr, they be good cookies.
Consumption tip: dipped in milk. I know most cookies are pretty good in milk, but these cookies are almost better when dipped.

p.s. this may end up being cookie of the month once I calculate how many types of cookie there are out there.

now I understand all of those noises chewie makes

Post numero uno(skip-bo is better). Mission statement! As the proprietor of this blog I herby promise to make this as self indulgent as possible, without whining...very much. This is a wonderful place to share my neurotic tendencies with all of those out there in the land of dorkdom.

Kyoto Go Go!!...well not totally. Mr. Bush has a long way to go before he fixes any public relations issues he has created. So good luck with your trip georgie. Though I can't see things smoothing over any time soon as long as you keep offending other countries and their sensiblities. I think David Suzuki should kick your tucus, or at least give you a stern lecture.