Isn't It a Shame?

Took my dad out to see King Kong yesterday at the AMC in Kanata. Was actually really very impressed with the movie...computer graphics have come SUCH a long way!

I was rather surprised that the movie lasted a full three+ hours...time really seemed to fly.

There were a couple of really glaringly obvious "oversights" in the movie...I don't want to spoil anything for anyone so I'll try to be generic...one minute crew members are being killed and attacked by "group A" the next minute "group A" is no longer involved in the movie....convenient!

Anyways yes. That will be all

I've had a fantabulous trip back to ottawa so far. My number one favourite part so far has been my new cross country skis - an early christmas present on friday! I've been out three times already and hope to be out today...did a couple of hours yesterday in Gatineau after fresh snow and it was truly wonderful...exactly the kind of winter scene you have in your dreams, or see in the movies...all the trees are coated with snow, making absolutely everything white!

Had a chance to drop in on the Kelland-o-Christmas party, which is always good fun. I definitely want to do something like that when I grow up. Got to see Dickard, AmyK, Vlat/Vik and a handful of AmyK's friends(remember Margaux and Alanna from high school?).

Have chillaxed with Kroberts a few times which was been marvy. We did a tour last night of the New Barrhaven....my lord that place has changed and grown. There's a serious MEGA mall complex out nearish to Walter Baker...like 4 mega malls, one on each corner of the intersection. It's crazy!! I'm sad that ottawa is changing so much into a big city...all of the greenspace and opennes that I loved so much is disappearing and being replaced by box stores and gargantuan gas stations.

I'm also sad/lucky that I'm not in Toronto right now. I've had a fantabulous trip back to ottawa so far. My number one favourite part so far has been my new cross country skis - an early christmas present on friday! I've been out three times already and hope to be out today...did a couple of hours yesterday in Gatineau after fresh snow and it was truly wonderful...exactly the kind of winter scene you have in your dreams, or see in the movies...all the trees are coated with snow, making absolutely everything white!

Had a chance to drop in on the Kelland-o-Christmas party, which is always good fun. I definitely want to do something like that when I grow up. Got to see Dickard, AmyK, Vlat/Vik and a handful of AmyK's friends(remember Margaux and Alanna from high school?).

Have chillaxed with Kroberts a few times which was been marvy. We did a tour last night of the New Barrhaven....my lord that place has changed and grown. There's a serious MEGA mall complex out nearish to Walter Baker...like 4 mega malls, one on each corner of the intersection. It's crazy!! I'm sad that ottawa is changing so much into a big city...all of the greenspace and opennes that I loved so much is disappearing and being replaced by box stores and gargantuan gas stations.

I'm also sad/lucky that I'm not in Toronto right now.. Seven people shot outside of the Eaton's Center during broad daylight on boxing day. All of whom are apparently innocent bystanders. It's really easy to shrug off violence and killings between gang members out in scarborough slash jane and finch as "something that would never affect me", but good lord, if I'd been in toronto there'd certainly have been a chance that that's where I'd have been...

Anyways, hope everyone's having a terrific holidays and I'll see you all soon!

Man, I've been busy as a beaver since I last updated this guy. Events have included:

- trip to vegas
- seeing the Nutcracker with Laura
- seeing Chronicles of Narnia
- doing Christmas shopping
- FINALLY getting out to Asahi
- Nutso busy at work(like working til 10+pm)

The biggest event without doubt was Vegas...a clear cut winner! I had an absolute blast. We stayed at the Mirage, but I got a chance to visit pretty much every casino on the main section of the strip. I also took at pitstop at the Aladdin Buffet which was magnificent...I put back MANY many crab legs. On the whole I was up about ~100 from gambling, which roughly cancels out all my associated costs so all said and done I was roughl flat. Would definitely do it again with gusto.

Nutcracker may have been the first ballet I've ever gone to. And while it was a nice evening out, I certainly am not cut out for the ballet. There's just not enough stuff going on to keep me interested, and I don't have enough of an artistic taste to appreciate what they're doing. Also, because there's no singing or narration, I got lost very easily and didn't really follow/understand what was going on. Only at the intermission did I discover the synopsis in the booklet.

Anyways, I'm back to ottawa TONIGHT! Hope every makes it home safely...I'm looking forward to a week and a bit of super good times with everyone! : ) Merry Christmas!!

I'm off to vegas this weekend. I've got somewhat mixed emotions about it - on one hand the whole place seems so preposterous to me. The lavishness and extravagance seem so wasteful to me.

However, all that being said, I think I'm going to have a blast! Going on a "paid vacation" is something that you really can't say no too! Especially when you're a bit of a poker fiend.

We're staying at The Mirage.

I think the highlight for me is going to be all the buffets - breakfast, lunch, dinner!! Apparently these buffets have lobster tails, crab legs, etc etc!! OH YAH!

As an aside, the whole thing has made me think of the movie
Swingers. Vegas baby, vegas! You're so money and you don't even know it!

I want to ask a big favour of everyone. I know you've heard this a dozen times from me already, but please bear with me. This is something I feel exceedingly strongly about.

(IF YOU DON"T WANT TO READ ALL OF THIS PLEASE CLICK HERE to sign a petition asking that the Green Party be included in the televised election debates)

As you all know, there's an upcoming election. As you all know, a major focus of our election campaigns are the nationally televised leaders debates leading up to the vote. These play a pivotal role in how people evaluate the parties and in how they choose to vote.

I always thought that these debates were somehow government/elections canada sanctioned. They aren't. They're run entirely by 5 tv/radio stations - CBC, Global, CTV, TVA and Radio Canada. The decision making process is entirely in the hands of 5 people, one from each station. This in and of itself I think is very, very bad.

As an example of why this is such a bad setup, and to see where there's room for bias, one of the five decision makers last year was Peter Kent, representing Global. Well, it just so happens that Peter Kent is RUNNING for the Conservatives this year. Hard to imagine he was making purely unbiased decisions when he voted to exclude the Green Party from the debate last year.

Well, this year nothing has changed. Although the Green Party received almost 600,000 votes(roughly 4.5% of the vote), ran a candidate in every riding in the country, and reached the 2% criteria set by Elections Canada in order to receive federal funding(all parties receive $1.75 per vote, meaning the Greens get roughly $1M), they are ONCE AGAIN BEING EXCLUDED FROM THE DEBATE. Polls during the last election showed that 76% of Canadians wanted to see the Green Party as part of the national debates.

I could go on for hours about this issue. However, what it boils down to is that I feel strongly that the "old" parties no longer truly represent the political aspirations of all canadians. I think our electoral system is profoundly broken. I think we need to start looking for serious alternatives. I think it's important that people that are tired of the Liberals and Conservatives have the ability to choose to cast their vote for another party. I think it's important that ALL Canadians are educated about every option equally. I think we as Canadians need to demand that the media doesn't mangle and twist the election to make "the best tv" but rather that they present the information in the clearest possible way. In particular, I think that the rules surrounding the televised debates need to be clear, fair, and reflect the needs and democratic rights of canadians. I believe that all truly national parties should be given an equal opportunity to present their platforms.

If you agree, or if you atleast want to placate me and help me out please take 20 seconds to sign this petition. Don't you atleast want the chance to hear what the Green Party is all about? Don't you want to be able to see ALL the leaders side by side?
CLICK HERE TO SIGN THE PETITION ASKING THAT THE GREEN PARTY BE INCLUDED IN THE TELEVISED DEBATES.

I love(read: "hate") politics. The degree to which the major parties talk out of both side of their mouths drives me absolutely insane.

For weeks the Liberals have been announcing spending plans($5 billion for natives, no tax on trusts, etc etc etc). For weeks the Conservatives have been saying that it's deplorable that the Liberals are trying to bribe the voters.

Of course, that doesn't mean that he/the conservatives aren't promising the exact same thing. They'd cut GST by 1%, then by another % a year out.

It's interesting to see the differences in approaches. I'm no economist, so may or may not really grasp what is "best". But to me, the Green Party approach makes much more sense: tax bad things, don't tax good things. So, in this case - cut income taxes (jobs = good ) and instead shift the taxes to "bad" things such as logging, producing packaging intensive goods, etc.

But above and beyong the actual economic impact of the decisions, the hypocrisy of it all really gets to me.