Well thank God, the damned thing’s finally over. Eleven months of peace before another one of these awful holiday seasons rolls around , complete with its tacky displays, embarrassing traditions, and the constant insistence that you stretch your face into an ugly, manic grin. I cannot begin to tell you how much I hate Christmas. But it did get me thinking a lot about Consumerism – and what better day to talk about it than Boxing Day?*
I gotta tell you folks, I’m feeling pretty depressed today. I Spent the night arguing with my girlfriend, my car’s being a piece of shit, there’s nothing funny on the internet today, and, as my friend Griffin so eloquently put it, I’m looking out the window at an ashtray sky. Might as well write about Climate Change, I guess. That’ll at least give me a good excuse to get drunk later.
A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to miss this particular controversy, but like a bad case of chlamydia it’ll catch up with you eventually unless you’re hiding under a rock. So if right now it doesn’t burn when you pee… well, like Serenity says “You can’t stop the signal”. Allow me to be your cultural agent of memetic virulence.
Hi there folks, sorry I’ve fallen a bit behind my self-imposed posting schedule. I’ve recently found a potential publisher for my novel, and I’ve been tidying things up there in preparation for submission. But I stumbled across a video today which brought back some memories. This past summer my girlfriend was going through some medical procedures, and the experience was just awful. Arrogant, unknowledgeable physicians with no understanding of Bayesian Probability Theory, secure in the knowlege that – since this was Soviet Canuckistan – they were the only game in town. If you don’t have a family doctor here (and...
The other day my girlfriend told me that she really enjoys sharing a bottle of whisky with me on Thursdays. A bit of strange statement, given that half these nights end up with her sobbing as I yell at broken furniture, but I’m not one to judge. I’ve always lived with the philosophy that an interesting life is better than a happy one, and that tragedy is the highest form of art. After all, you have to admit that hiding in the corner as your boyfriend breaks his knuckles on an oaken coffee table is more interesting that playing Solitaire...
As I write this, delegates from the Switzerland, Japan, Australia, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Mexico, Jordan, Morocco, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, Canada and the European Union have gathered in Seoul under the watchful eyes of their leader from the United States. Dressed in a blood-red gown, he leads them through dark hallways chanting the ancient Latin prayer of offering to the MPAA as his followers flagellate themselves with the burning tips of a firewire cable. But this is not a committee dedicated to the study of S&M; nor is it some harmless group of Opus Dei celebrants....
You damned fools have passed another law out of spite and antipathy to your fellow man, but you never stopped for five minutes to consider what its actual effects might be. That’s right, suburbia, trust your government – I’m sure they’ve got nothing vile planned. More in-depth details on the legislation here: “Reason Magazine: Sweet Lies About Kids and Smoking”
I ran into this article the other day about supposed misogynist themes in the television program Firefly. For those of you who don’t know, its creator, Joss Whedon, had previously worked on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and is a self-identified feminist known for his portrayals of strong female characters. _allecto_, the author of the above article, begs to disagree. While her article is worth a chuckle overall, there are a couple of specific passages (and comment-replies) I’d like to draw your attention to: the first involves the character Inara, a future-world prostitute/courtesan and self-employed entrepreneur: Our first introduction to Inara...
Last week, I was driving back from the girlfriend’s house, about midnight or so on a Tuesday. I was mostly driving through residential neighbourhoods, on a 50 km/h main drag, but one portion passed through a city park which spans most of the city, and has underground tunnels for the pedestrians and bike-riders. Most of the time, people go through here at 65 or 70 – and it’s perfectly safe. There’s few, if any, pedestrians walking along the road, and given that it’s a mild valley the extra momentum can be useful for making your way up the other side....
A post-apocalyptic science fiction novel.
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Professionally a Bachelor of History, a Bachelor of Geographic Information Systems, and a Canadian Forces Infantry Veteran.
I write science fiction, play the saxophone, study philosophy and psychology, have dabbled in film making, and am a faithful member of the Catholic Church. Politically speaking, I'm a Red Tory and a Monarchist; my views are often heterodox to the mainstream opinion.
I'm also a strong believer in wearing hats for any occasion.
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