February 2011
1 post
September 2010
1 post
Big Announcement
Like John Stewart & Stephen Colbert, I am promising to announce a big announcement. I assure you that the announcement will be followed by awesomeness in so many ways.
Can you handle an announcement to make an announcement of this magnitude?
March 2010
4 posts
This is History
I’m reading excerpts from a book entitled “The Cultural Resistance Reader” edited by a guy named Duncombe. In the introduction, he speaks of how people can create their own forms of culture. His was getting into the subculture of punk rock, starting a band. He says that, “punk was a great tool for articulating the problems of my world, and providing a supportive culture...
Change is Always Needed
Change is Always Needed In Saskatoon, we cyclists are lucky to have the things that we have. There seem to be lots of people who ride their bikes and I consistently see bikes chained up at many of the racks around town. We also have a good network of bike paths and lanes to use. Despite the things that we have, we need to keep fighting for an expansion of safety measures. For one, safety...
Lost in (Our) Translation
In today’s modern society, it is so difficult to maintain a way of life that isn’t, in some way, attached to the ways of the industrialized western world. One way is valued and one way is not. Our schools are set up in the way of valued western cultures and ways of knowing. Our “schools tend to teach us that any knowledge you can’t write down or externally record in some...
Thus far...
I’m making ecologically-friendly changes in my life. Here is what I have done concluded or done thus far:
1. Only ride in a vehicle if there is at least 2 people in the vehicle.
2. If I need to get somewhere, only ride my bike or walk
3. never take plastic bags from the grocery store (including produce tear-away bags)
4. do not turn on lights in my house during daylight hours
5....
February 2010
4 posts
Jesus Saves, Gretzky Scores!
The Question:
Do you agree: “Individuals have become more and not less aware of themselves as critical agents through the process and practices of late modern consumption?” (Bennett, p. 56)
I partially agree and disagree. I agree in the fact that there exists such a great amount of competition that you will almost always get either a) great bang for your buck, b) a morally sound...
Culture
Recently, I was asked to define culture for a course, to which I responded that culture is the relation of a group or groups of people through common interests and other areas of relation, such as religion, ethnicity, gender or location. In my spur of the moment definition, I decided that culture is simply “people who share a common interest, which might include one or more of countless possible...
So this song is called Foozball and it is played...
Aude Sapere
Kant sees modernism as “a way out.” He wants to know if today is different than yesterday. In whose opinion is it different? Maybe someone had a death in the family yesterday and today is, in fact, the dawn of a new era. For most people, it’s only a Thursday.
He also posits the “way out” as ” a process that releases us from the status of immaturity,”...
January 2010
7 posts
Land of the Greed
My goodness, you know what I hate? SOCIALISM. Man, I hate socialism so much you don’t even know!
Before I get into my reasons for hating socialism, let me first offer a standard definition lifted from the dictionary on my computer.
socialism |ˈsō sh əˌlizəm|nouna political and economic theory of social organization that advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange...
Buy, Buy, Buy
Growing up, I would consume anything, and I don’t mean just food. I would want the latest new toys (anyone remember that creepy crawly oven?), the latest gadgets, new snack foods, and every imaginable television show. I would have a mile long christmas list made up of often expensive (and plastic) items. I would watch tons of TV and movies and I never critically analyzed what all of this...
Grad School Is Making Me Care About The World
I did a reading earlier today by C.A. Bowers entitled The Culture of Denial that criticizes the way universities and public schools (private schools, interestingly, were not mentioned) educate youth about environmental issues. I had some thoughts about this article.
Does technological advance erode the natural beauty and resources of the earth? Of course it does! Progress? Let’s see shall...
Fitting & Place
My sense of place has been out of whack now for several years. I have no idea where I will end up even though I have connections to a few places. I am a mover. I am a shaker. I felt stuck so I acted. I am a Gentleman of Action. I am among the powerful but I feel powerless. Power & prestige come with money & since I have none I am not powerful. I am not as powerless as a favela dweller in...
When I Was Young
When I was 5 years old, I had every United States capital memorized. I would amaze the adults who barely knew the capital cities in the surrounding 3 states.
When I was 10 years old, I had a map of the world hanging on my wall and I knew that Kilimanjaro was a mountain outside of Nairobi, but was actually in Tanzania. I also thought that Regina was the capital of Canada, because it had a little...
NOFX, Kant, and the Demise of our Nation →
This was a really good read during a morning of procrastination. If you are procrastinating as well, check it out!
Click the title for the link.
Let's Start Again, Shall We?
So my 2009 had some ups and some serious downs. I’m hoping that I can use this new decade to re-adjust and start fresh. Let’s get down to business!
December 2009
6 posts
The Little Things
I boarded a plane in Saskatoon this morning in -30 degree temperatures and pitch black skies. The stars were out in full force and the exhaust from the vehicles held in the air much longer than normal due to the extreme cold.
In the air, I had the pleasure of having one of those moments in life where I wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere but where I was. As the sun rose on my side of the...
Ramble On
Tomorrow I am flying home for 3 weeks. Despite some ups and downs, I have really grown to like Saskatchewan and I am very much looking forward to second term of my masters program!
Thank you Saskatchewan. You have made a man out of me.
Tales of Psychosis from a Central Saskatchewan...
It has been colder in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan over the past few days than in Barrow, Alaska. It will continue to be so over the next few days. If you don’t know the geography of either place, take a minute to google map them please.
Crazy, right? Where I live is colder today than the absolutely furthest northern point of Alaska which sits on year-round permafrost and is 320 MILES NORTH of...
This is a demo Hot Attic song that we recorded in...
Chef Greg
I somehow managed to go through 20 paper towels this morning while cooking hash browns.
It has been an environmentally unfriendly meal.
My War
If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever.
Eric Arthur Blair
November 2009
10 posts
I am a Mac
Recently in Canada, I’ve been in a lot of places that distribute toilet paper using the “under-the-bottom” distribution method.
Over-the-top toilet paper is far superior in user-friendliness compared to under-the-bottom toilet paper.
It’s like converting to a Mac computer. It takes a bit to convert and get used to it, but as the saying goes “Once you go...
It is my birthday
It is my birthday here in Canada.
Got a new mug to keep my coffee nice and hot.
…
I was going to turn this into a poem, but I’m out of ideas.
A Night at the Symphony
The circumstances, which found me at the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra on November 21, 2009, were those of initial disappointment, but worked themselves out in the end fabulously.
After reading the Sheaf’s write-up of Vic Chesnutt, I was quite excited for that show, which was supposed to be at Amigo’s Saturday night. One of my main reasons to see this show was to see Guy Picciotto from Fugazi,...
The Aghori Secret Puja →
I felt as if I were pretty adept at accepting culture shock, but some things just border on absolute insanity and leave me speechless.
The Aghori of India participate in full-on cannibalism and here is a video about their secret practices.
Question of the Day
I was sitting and reading a book this morning when I felt my stomach instantly become momentarily concave.
Where was I sitting?
Wanted
LOWE ALPINE TRAVEL BACKPACK.
The Ringer!
It feels like I’ve been put through one this term. Man oh man. This has been three months for the record books.
My goal in life is to be absurdly literate. So literate that I can offend, bring tears, side-splitting laughter and feelings of pure neurotic shakiness by uttering but a few softly spoken syllables.
That’ll be the day when it all goes down.
OH YEAH.
Mug Mug Mug Coffee Mug Gonna Clear Away The Haze Liquid Proof That I Can Win This Race Coffee Mug The Grip That Keeps Me Tall My Inter-Link Keeps Me Questing All I Don’T Need No Booze Or Drugs I Just Chug-A-Lug-O My Coffee Mug And I Don’T Need Your Kiss And Hug I Just Chug-A-Lug-O My Coffee Mug [ Find more Lyrics on www.mp3lyrics.org/KaL ] They Haven’T Banned My Liquid Drug Of...
October 2009
4 posts
January
Ho Hum.
I have officially fallen behind where I would like to be at this point in the semester. Let the anxiety commence……..now.
Distress
I’m not sure where I belong anymore. It isn’t here. My brain is constantly in a state of turmoil because everything that I think gets second-guessed a moment later so I can make no solid decisions. I make a decision and then feel that it’s wrong ten minutes later.
I realized in September that I probably shouldn’t have left England. I was finally feeling settled and...
