Ms Parker's legs RULE!

Blame Canada...Blame Canada...nothing right has come along since Canada came along..Blame Canada..Blame Canada...what with their hockey holla pah loo and that bitch Anne Murray too...Blame Canada...

Anyone else out there think that Ms. Parker from The Pretender is a babe? I mean, besides the fact that she is a cold hearted mean spirited, arrogant and egotistical driven bitch...she is such a hotty. It could be the fact that she carries around a gun, has that icey cold stare when someone gets on her nerves and has ice dripping from her voice when she talks. Or it could be just the plain simple fact that she does all that stuff with a skirt that is so high up her thigh that she has to shave (and I aint talking her arm pits here) to wear it. Been watching season 3 of the Pretender and the more I watch it, the more I realize that she is such a hotty. I wonder what it is about that sort of woman that turns a guys head? Could it be the danger factor? knowing that this woman could bust your nuts in two with a flick of her wrist? the untamed horse factor? similiar to the 'fixer upper' fascination with women where they see a guy that is a drunken alcoholic wife beater but "I can change him *dimpled smily grin on her face*". Men see a woman that is powerful, like an untamed horse in the wild, and the first thing in their mind is "damn I gotta break and tame that wild thing". Or could it just be the fact that she exhibits strength, power, determination and self control. All qualities that a man would find attractive in a woman since when women are self controlled and disciplined men like to hang around them but once they turn to jelly fish bawling babies, men are more likely to walk out the door and leave them to their girlfriends to sort out the problem of the day.

I wonder what it is? the complex issue of this mystery astounds me. It plagues my soul and mind like a relentless pounding. Will I ever solve this riddle and come to the answer to set my mind at ease. Hmmmmmmmmm....yeah, must be the short skirts and killer legs.

would Superman blog???

of course, my mind is not the sort to follow a stagnant path of reasoning. In fact, my mind really isnt that logical when you really get down to it. So, I found it no surprise when the other day I actually got to thinking about super heros the other day. Now, I am no expert when it comes to super heros. Never was a fan of reading the comic books religiously like some young children of my day. I was more an Archie fan since it was more interesting seeing how the common boy-next-door guy tried to win the hand of the high maintenance girl while there was a girl-next-door beside him that would move heaven and earth for his affection, than to read about some super mutated freak of nature trying to stop other super mutated freaks of nature from destroying the world. So, I am afraid my knowledge of super heros rests in the realm of movies and TV shows that have been put forth in the last 20-25 years.

Now, I know that Archie and the gang never had to deal with controversial issues. There were a few moments when they did the 'its a wonderful life' thing during the xmas season or perhaps dealt with homelessness and the poor when Veronica was decided to have grown to big for her britches and was getting...well, too materialistic and bitchy. Then it was always Archie or Betty with the help of Jughead that would help Reggie or Veronica see the other side of life. I cant recall a single issue or segment where Archie was discovered to be high on crack or Jughead moved his addiction up from hamburgers and fries to a hooker with a line of cocaine on the side.

But, I wonder if Superman, Spiderman, Batman or any of the other bands of superheros ever had to deal with something as dastardly as the smaller things like homelessness, drug addiction, prostitution or other issues of international controversy? Could you imagine Batman opening the papers, reading about the problems in North Korea and the nuclear testing and suddenly jumping in the batwing, flying over there and jumping down into the thick of things to stop the plans of the North Koreans? or perhaps Superman reading about the bombings going on in Ireland of old when the religous (what were/are they called? the IRA? NRA? PIA?) where blowing things up left right and centre? or, even for that matter not just them but reading that in some country there has been suicide bombers and then going to that area and stopping the bombings from happening, or finding the 'evil' doers and putting an end to their reign?

Why is it that with all the super powers that the comic book super heros had, they always stuck with 'safe' issues of crime? gang holds up a jewelary store and walks away with $100,000 in diamonds is a bad thing since theft in any country is bad...Spiderman swings in and saves the day. Group of terrorists plant a bomb in the Eiffel tower with plans to scare the world into giving them their demands, the bomb is triggered and will kill hundreds of innocents, which again in any country is a bad thing..Superman flies into action and throws the elevator and bomb into deep space to save the people (which causes more problems for good old Supe, if you ask me.) About the only super hero that ever stuck to really international issues would have been Captain Planet who had his band of 4 do-gooders that would go around the USA stopping pollutors and 'killers of Mother Earth'.

Would this be because the super heros realized that, to quote Peter Parker's Uncle in Spiderman: The Movie, "along with great power comes great responsibility". In that line of thinking, they couldn't enforce their views on the world. Granted, Superman might think that killing 1,000 of a countries poor with nerve gas to test out the gas or perhaps because the poor were just 'useless' people in society and therefore should be eradicated for the good of the society. Therefore, Superman kept to his own city dealing with crimes the he knew was wrong and didn't enforce his idea of human worth on other countries. Perhaps these great super heros were wise enough to realize that even though an evil dictator might have a country by the balls and be ruling the people like children the tyrants should not be stopped because their style of rule did not fit cleanly with the ideas of western society. The super heros just sat back and let other countries rule their lives and worried about their own back yard. Maybe there was even a sort of agreement in that western super heros didnt bother with eastern world life and left that up to the eastern super heros and the eastern superheros left the west up to the western super heros.

Which leads me to accept that fact that not only do I not have super powers, but it is a good thing that I dont. Even with the power and ability to turn them on and off at will, the pull to use them to change the world as I see fit would be something to great of a responsibility for me to have. I know that if I had the power to stop something, even though I see it as a necesary evil, I dont think I could sit by and let it happen if I thought it to be wrong. Perhaps that is what makes a super hero a super villian. A person with the powers and abilities but without the responsibility and maturity to sit back and say "I have this power but I wont deal with controversial issues but instead stick to the safe and clean issues of black and white". Super villians want to deal in grey, super heros want to deal in black and white because, in the end, only black and white makes for a safe and peaceful world. Grey areas just cloud it all up to the point where there is chaos. Get rid of the grey and stay black or white and the world is a much neater, cleaner and easier controled place to live.

A Day Of Nothing

Spent the day with my nephew and my brother. Got my brother visiting the weekend and he decided that he would invite his son to come over and spend the day and evening with us. Has been an interesting eye opener. He needed to get some items for his halloween costume and he knew where it was in West Edmonton Mall. So, out we drove to get it. However, one thing I learned is do not let a 10 year old boy totally enthralled with the mall give directions. Amazingly enough the store that he needed was to the complete left of the mall and we had to stop in at all the other places along the way to check things out. Then, when it wasnt there it must have been on the other side, so back we walked. Finally we found it and bought what he needed. So, now his life is complete.

Mine is now complete as well because I got to see Open Season in 3D IMAX theatre. Oh yeah, the movie is good no it's own, but add the dimension of 3D IMAX and it takes on a whole new meaning. Laughed through the whole thing, felt sad for the bear in the right spots and came out talking like McSquizzy. Yeah, definitly a movie worth watching.

do chess pieces think?

have you ever wondered if chess pieces really think? there they are, sitting on the board, with their own little ideas of what is to be done. We order them to do something, they move, they are either sacrificed as pawns and die, or they are used to dominate the board and win the game. With chess, as in real life, the heros dont have to be the valiant knights, the bold rooks, the holy bishops, or even the magestic king or queen. A well placed pawn, in the right area with his limited powers and abilities can dominate the board and topple the whole game to a victory.

But do they really see what happens in the game? While a game for them may last only 1 hour or so, in their brief lives that could be an eternity. So while the pawns might be lined up and the rooks fall into place for the crushing blow, do they sit back and think "yep, the world is coming to an end, the places are set, now for the crushing blow" or are they totally oblivious to the end of the world as it comes?

So the end of the world, or the chess game, is never just a decisive conclusion, but a slow and calculated manuever. The pieces are slowly placed, things are done and then the few last minutes strokes happen and the game ends. I always envisioned the world coming to an end in one big move where all the 4 horsemen of the apocolypse lie dormant in their stables playing a nice game of dice then all of a sudden look Death will look at the clock and say "ok, boys, last toss, finish up your beers and smoke, we ride now" and then they all go out and War, Pestilence, Famine and Death all head out and the world ends. However, perhaps the world will end like the game of chess, not quickly and decisively with the horsement riding out at once, but slowly and sneakily. Perhaps the 4 horsemen are amongst us now, placing the pawns, setting up the people, and slowly ecking into daily life to the point that we dont even notice their presence but they are there.

We have always had conflicts. For what is life without opposites. Everyone has fought someone, if not in all out war but in little outbursts. So, we have minor skirmishes around the world, here and there, few people die, gov't collapse, civilians disappear. Then, the fights slowly escalate to skirmishes, to battles then to wars. So, without riding out in a fierce rush of flames and all, War sneaks in upon us and leaves the steed in the stable but walks amongst us on earth rubbing shoulders with Korea, China, Japan, England, Canada, America, Germany, France and other major powers of the world. We have minor skimishes in those lands, then it escalates to a fight to a battle then to all out war.

Then we have Famine rubbing shoulders with the world. Making diet pills, diet plans and weight loss a major epidemic in the land. 'Thin is in' and Famine is making it's round in happiness. Famine gets to the point where even models have to have a certain body weight to be accepted or else they are too skinny and the model people are even complaining saying that they will lose their market if just anyone can be a model. Then we have super bugs and viruses in our world that are becoming increasinly resistant to our drugs and cures. More and more diseases pop up and we try to stop them but are having trouble.

Hand in hand, with all these other 3 horsemen walking around our world, Death is always with them. People are dying everywhere, sometimes one by one, sometimes in droves, sometimes by natural occurances, and sometimes at the hands of fanatics (be them any nationality or religion) that want to meet Death quicker than nature wants them to.

So, in the end, perhaps the world wont end when the horsement come out in a flurry and hoofs and fire, but perhaps they are already amongst us, laying the seeds of the final days, putting the final chess pieces in place and while we look at the rook, queen, king, bishop or knight to give the final blow that will end the game, perhaps it is a lowly pawn that just happens to be pushed by War in the right way that will topple the Queen and end our game.

Stories dont always imitate life

While doing a class in Christian Studies at the university I attended (yes, I know, quite odd for an athiest to be taking Christian Studies, and even odder for that athiest to get the highest mark in the class) I was told a rather interesting tale.

One day, a man was sitting at a river that ran by his village. He was just laying there when he noticed a body floating down the river face down in the water. He wadded into the water and found that the body was actually a man that had been hurt and was dying. So, being the nice human that he was, he patched up the man with bandages, water, food and let him rest in his bed. The next day, the same man was at the river bank again when he saw another body floating down the river. Again, he wadded in and found an injured human in the water. Again, the man tended to the wounds, fed and watered the poor man and let him rest in his house to heal. The man felt good about himself everytime that he went down to the river, saw a hurt soul, fished the wounded out of the river and helped the wounded individual get back on his feet.

This action of going down to the river, finding a wounded soul and patching him up went on for days and days. It got the point that there was even a greater increase in the bodies that were being fished out of the river. It started with two bodies, went up to three, finally to four and now there was a steady stream of bodies coming from the river. It got to the point that the man had to ask the village for help for his deeds. He got volunteers to help bring the men out of the river, volunteers to help bandage the wounds and change the dressings and even volunteers to give their homes to the wounded to rest to heal. The man became a great figure to all those in the village as being a kind and gentle man that was helping the dear souls that were coming down the river and the village felt a sense of pride and happiness for helping these people out.

However, it came to pass that one day, a lone boy was sitting at the river, waiting with the volunteers that helped get the wounded from the river looked at the river and then to the men standing there and asked the simple question "why are these bodies coming down the river? what is happening up there that is causing this hurt and why havent we sent someone up to see about stopping it?"

That is the problem with life. We all have problems, we all see the source and we try to patch up the effects and conquer the source when we can. But, too bad life isnt like a story where there is only one source that causes the pain of the world. Life has many different sources of pain and horror on the world. When you solve one pain, you cause another. Each helping cause always has an effect on the world around them that causes someone else pain. We stop oil production and stop gas production, we stop pollution and the gov't gouging of the pockets of Joe Taxpayer. However, we also stop the jobs of thousands of people in the country, employed to keep the oil flowing. We save the whales and stop killing and trapping for furs, we destroy a livelihood of those around us.

Too bad we don't live in a story book of morals where all is easily solved with just one little knowledgeable and insightful boy saying "look, what don't we just do this?"

knives, NO...blunt instruments, sure...

ok, first off, give credit where credit is due. I would like to congratulate the airlines from releasing their paranoia just enough to allow liquids on the plane again. Mind you, not enough release to allow more than a few drops, but it is still something. Though now, for some reason, we are now allowed to take lighters on the plane (at least from the Yellowknife airport) but we have to seal it in a clear plastic ziploc baggy. Of course, this is due to recent scientific discoveries that found that lighters can be harmful and used for dasterdly plans of terrorism and destruction when carried open, but once they are placed inside the unpenatrable force of the 'zip lock bag' they become useless. Obviously any terrorist worth their weight in plastique has mastered the art of turning their shoe or laptop into a bomb, but has failed to grasp the simple concept of the zip lock bag.

Though, if that wasnt enough, I was looked at suspiciously (though I am getting used to it since I am scrutinized every single time I go through security in airports) over my keychain which is a simple little piece of metal about the length of your pinky finger, and about as wide, with the logo "COORS" on it. However, the girl that was in front of me handing in her ticket to get on the plane was carrying a rock. Not a pet rock, a small little cute thing with googly eyes that says "I love Palm Springs". Nope, a rock. Big ass chunk of soapstone about a foot long and about 3/4 of a foot thick. This thing had to weigh at least 10 lbs at best, and it wasnt even smooth it had sharp jagged edges. Any sort of rock that you would see on the beach or on a moutain range walking, that is what she had in her hand. She passed through security with it, and I didn't happen to see that exchange, though I saw her when she was showing her boarding pass to the clerk and he wasnt about to let her on, even though she passed through security. He went to double check with security and when he came back, all his comment was "ok, but dont hit our air stewards with it". Yeah, ok, thanks for giving her that stern warning. I mean, I could just see what was going through her mind "oh man, here I was going to bash a couple stewards over the head with it and force my way into the cockpit and beat the pilots to death but since he said I cant, rats, my plan is foiled" I was shocked that he let her on, though I still had to show my photo ID to get on the plane.

One thing I dont like about the way the whole airline business at the airports is being run is that not only is it subject to change per country that you go through. Some countries are so relaxed they dont even look at your bags but just ask 'you got drugs or bombs?' and when you say no they let you on. Whereas some, like the USA, will give your bags a good xray, hand search and then if they find nothing will turn on your and search your shoes, pockets, jackets, and even a few empty cavities if they feel like it. But now it seems that different airports have different standards when it comes to searching. Yellowknife lets you take rocks on the plane but not hockey sticks or bats, Edmonton wont let you take lighters on the plane (though it is amazing how many people are in the smoking area of the Edmonton airport with lighters that can not be brought in or purchased past security), and last time I went through the Cambridge Bay airport they didnt even have an xray machine for the baggage. I guess when it comes to the north the airport people figure anyone leaving the north is so happy to be getting out of that frozen chunk of wasteland that they really dont have any ambitions of hijacking or blowing things up cause they are already going to a much better place. Whereas if you are going to the north, chances are you are so depressed about your destination that suicide by blowing the plane up, or even hijacking it to take you to a better place like Poland perhaps, is a very large possibility.

Though, if you want safety, go through the YK airport security. Not only will they let you take large blunt objects, but they have at least 16 people running two xray machines at all times. I went through Edmonton airport where there were 5 xray machines running and I counted 20 people working the machines. You figure that one out. All I can say is that it truely is a mad mad mad mad world.