Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.

Topics - RP.

Pages: [1] 2 3

Author, Author! / POLITICS ON CAPS LOCK

« on: May 02, 2011, 05:52:02 PM »

So yeah after about a 5 year absence I've started blogging again:

http://policapslock.blogspot.com/

Going to do some liveblogging of the election tonight, much of it in caps lock. I decided this is more considerate than jamming up everyone's facebook feed with the constant flow of election commentary that I normally do.

Narrow Shoulders / Trying to remember a user on babble

« on: March 26, 2009, 04:01:42 PM »

I'm trying to remember someone, a dude I believe, who lived up north, the reason being, he gave a very good account of building up the Western Arctic riding association and winning for the NDP. Would love to use that anecdote in a speech tonight. Can anyone fathom who that possibly wiz?

Technology & Science / Ultimate smart phone

« on: February 21, 2009, 10:10:36 AM »

My brother's band did the music for this ad for the ultimate smart phone, the Pomegranate

Feminist News / Waitress fired because bruises are ugly

« on: January 05, 2009, 03:47:25 PM »

A waitress was barred from working at the Hooters restaurant in Davenport after a violent physical attack left her bruised and unable to meet company standards for maintaining a "glamorous appearance."

Banter / Want to know if hubby's cheating?

« on: December 18, 2008, 04:09:22 PM »

Just get a whiff of the ol' wang.

(I realize the matter of the wife beating is serious, but I can't help but focus on all the serious, peripheral WTFittude).

If you want to be further enlightened in a way that you've never been enlightened before, check out this Fark thread on the subject. Warning: much, much misogyny, but also some seriously bizarre admissions. I guess every now and again it's worth being reminded how seriously frigged up people can be.

Banter / 7 days of sex makes one weak.

« on: November 13, 2008, 11:35:44 AM »

http://www.cbc.ca/cp/Oddities/081112/K111206AU.html

Quote

The pastor of a megachurch says he will challenge married congregants during his sermon Sunday to have sex for seven straight days - and he plans to practise what he preaches.

Banter / Does alcohol mix with a floor sander?

« on: October 21, 2008, 09:21:04 AM »

This message contaiend too few characters.

Technology & Science / If it doesn't exist, it should be invented

« on: July 16, 2008, 11:29:44 AM »

Anyone know if there exists a combination PDA/phone/internet/dictation device? Basically like a Blackberry you can do dictation into? I'm woefully unaware of these kinds of things, but I know it's something that can make me more productive (i.e. trick myself into working more away from work)

Sappho's Salon / Controversy over trans parade marshall for PEI Pride Parade

« on: July 10, 2008, 04:23:37 PM »

Yuki Damon, a trans high school student from the town I live in, is going to be the marshall of the pride parade in Charlottetown. Apparently, she rocks a few boats of str8 and queer alike.

Facebook group: Petition To Remove Yuki Damon As The 2008 PEI Pride Peraid Marshall

Quote

This is a patition to remove Yuki Damon as this years Parade Marshall for the PEI Pride 2008 Paraid. Myself and other belive that Yuki will say something critical that will set the islands gay community back.
The ARC board of PEI has been working vigorously for the last ten years fighting for the island to be more aware and understanding of the gay community and the GLBT community within the island. Myself and others belive that Yuki should not have been chosen as this years Paraid Marshall due to the fact of his age and the drama Yuki likes to provoke.
If you look at the comments and the videos Yuki has posted on facebook you will see that she is not mentaly mature to be able to handle this type of media attention and attention from the public. Myself and others are afraid that Yuki will say and/or do something to jeopardize the work the ARC bord has done, as well as many other gay activists in PEI.
Yuki is more than welcome to march IN the peraid . . we just do not want her to be the spokes person . .just yet .

Good golly. I don't know much about how trans folk relate to other LMNOP, but how do you like that? "You're young, flamboyant, trans, you wait your turn."

She apparently has quite the following on YouTube.

For those of you who don't know, although having progressed over the years, Summerside has been seen as very insular, even by PEI standards, so you can only imagine what being a near six-foot-tall transexual with poofy pink hair can be like here. A very brave kid, and all the more deserving of the honour of marshall!

Adventures / Trans-Siberian railroad

« on: April 04, 2008, 09:52:55 AM »

A friend's adventure across Russia, an amazing story, thought I would share:

Quote

Since my last update, I am have travelled halfway across Russia on the Trans-Siberian Railroad, riding platzkart (economy class, with ordinary Russians and many funny stories). Here is a summary of some of the highlights from my logbook. I look forward to sharing the rich detail the next time our paths cross...

Before leaving Vladivostok on March 28th, I was the guest lecturer at an English language school attached to Far Eastern State University, where my Russian friend Andrey is a student. I visited 16 Canadian war graves at Churkin Russian Naval Cementary, which stand alongside the tombs of British, American, Czecho-Slovak and Japanese troops who died in post-revolutionary Russia. I also visited the Canadian barracks at Gornestai Bay and took a boat past the Eggersheldt wharves where the Canadians landed. With my friendly interpreter Sergey Ivanov, I travelled to Shkotova, a town 50 kilometres north of Vladivostok on a key rail line connecting the city with its coal supply on the Suchan River. In March 1919, Bolshevik partisans had seized Shkotova, prompting a joint Canadian-Japanese-Italian manouvre to reclaim the town. Japanese General Kuizo Otani rewarded the Canadians with 99 bottles of saki.

From Vladivostok, I took the Trans-Siberian Railroad "up country," through the Ussuri Mountains to Khabarovsk, Victoria's sister city. I explored Karl Marksa Boulevard and the centre of this attractive and clean city, walking the promenade along the wide Amur River and visiting the Regional History Museum with its huge panoramic exhibit of the Red Army victory at Volochaevka. I was impressed by the well-maintained public spaces and rich architecture of this young community -- which, like British Columbia, is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year.

I then embarked on a 2 1/2 day journey on the Trans-Siberian train, hugging the Manchurian and Mongolian borders toward Lake Baikal, the world's deepest lake. I experienced the essence of platzkart, the least expensive bearths, with open cabins and an eclectic culture of Russians and migrant Chinese workers sharing food and vodka through the vast Siberian taiga (fir forest). I was befriended by a kind civil servant in his 50s, Leon from remote Anadyr on the Bering Sea near Russia's northeasterly tip. "Perestroika was good," Leon told me, referring to Mikhael Gorbachev's reform agenda of the 1980s. "But [the] people said: don't touch old people system (pensions), don't touch medical system, don't touch young people system (education). But then they start charging for school text books. That was [the] biggest f**king mistake. Now the system is broken."

At the city of Irkutsk, I met with historians at the State University and others with expertise in the civil war in Siberia. I visited a monument to Admiral Alexander Kolchak, Supreme Governor of the anti-Bolshevik government at Omsk who took power in a November 1918 coup and enjoyed the support of Canada and its Allies. I also visited the jail where Kolchak was detained in early 1920 after the Red Army occupied Omsk and Irkutsk. I saw the small tributary of the Angara River where Kolchak was executed by firing squad, his body dumped in the frigid waters of the river.

Back on the Trans-Siberian Railroad, I spent another 24 hours in the platzkart, in the company of a young couple from the fishing town of Nahodka, near Vladivostok, who were moving to Pitar (St. Petersburg) in search of a better life. They belonged to the sub-culture that we would call "punk," with piercings, tattoos, and patches on their clothing of the "antifa" movement: the anti-fascist youth who challenge the power of Russia's ascendant Nazis, a distorted outgrowth of people questioning their post-Soviet economic woes.

Yesterday afternoon, I arrived at Marinsk, a town of 80,000 in central Siberia renowned for its vodka and kindred alcoholic spirits. A student of history, Alexsey, met me at the rail station and took me to dinner at his home with his wife Natalya and son Sasha. We had tasty (and simple) Russian fare -- kolbassa saugage, potato salad, rye bread, pickles, and meat dumplings. Alexsey poured me three shots of vodka followed by a sweet coffee. He gave me a bottle of local cognac, then drove me to nearby Kemerovo, capital of the district that bears the same name with an economic base in coal mining and chemical manufacturing.

In Kemerovo, I enjoyed a SECOND Russian feast in the trendy apartment of Sergey Zviagin, a specialist in the history of White Siberia during the civil war. Two young language students, Lena and Alexander, facilitated our wide-ranging discussion of Canadian and Russian politics, history and travel. Four vodka shots also helped, nourished by smoked salmon, pickled mushrooms and other delicacies that settled very well with my Slavic palette! I stayed the night at Sergey's flat, and in the morning joined Sergey and Lena on a walking tour of this surprisingly beautiful city. The vast public spaces are a testament to the best aspects of Soviet planning, a city designed for people (rather than cars in the North American mold). The main square was bounded by regional and municipal government offices, the former KGB building, and the regional trade union headquarters, devoid of traffic with a large statue of Lenin and an expansive and modern wooden playground for Kemerovo's children. My daughter Aviva would love it!

A short bus ride with a friendly graduate student in politics took me to Novosibirsk, Russia's third largest city. Here I have had a truly unique experience. In the main square, Ploshit Lenina (Lenin Square), I stumbled upon a petition table and political canvass against logging in the region, organized by the local branch of the Russian Zilnoyih Partiya (Green Party). I introduced myself to the organizers, shot a short video with my digital camera, and was promptly apprehended by four Russian police officers. They inspected my passport and detained me in a nearby hut. Their mood seemed to mellow after I presented a letter from Canada attesting to my academic credentials, and explaining the purpose of my visit to Russia. After 15 minutes, during which they ran my name and passport number through their headquarters, I was released. Most of the officers were kind enough, but their supervisor told me sternly: "Go home."

Not quite yet. Tonight I catch the Number 001 Russiya train (the flagship of Russia's public rail system) to Omsk, capital of White Siberia, to meet with the director of the local history museum. Fifty-five Canadians had travelled to Omsk in December 1918, to serve as headquarters staff for 1000 British troops in the city. Battle raged between Red and White Russian forces on the nearby front in the Ural Mountains. But most of the 4200 Canadians never left Vladivostok. Political debates back in Canada and divisions among the Allies sapped the resolve of Prime Minister Robert Borden. By June 1919, all the Canadians had returned home, as general strikes paralyzed cities from Victoria to Winnipeg to Amherst, Nova Scotia. But I digress.

My Siberian Expedition continues. Omsk, then Moscow, St Petersburg and home. I look forward to seeing you soon!

Banter / Garfield minus Garfield

« on: February 26, 2008, 02:00:29 PM »

Wha

Quote

Who would have guessed that when you remove Garfield from the Garfield comic strips, the result is an even better comic about schizophrenia, bipolor disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life?
Friends, meet Jon Arbuckle. Let’s laugh and learn with him on a journey deep into the tortured mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against lonliness and methamphetamine addiction in a quiet American suburb.