Masses Slow as Molasses

An article in the Washington Post today outlines President Bush's approval rating being down in the U.S. and some associated statistics. In reading through it blows my mind that people are only now catching on to things cause its hitting them in the wallet as opposed to striking them on a moral level:

"I supported him last year," said Gina Coleman, 29, a homemaker living in Camden County, N.J. "I wouldn't vote for him again. It's gas prices, the war -- just the way he has been handling things. The rise in gas is something that has been happening for a long time, and the prices are getting worse. This makes me feel more negative about him, definitely."

Nevermind all the other activities that go on that disappear in the face of oil worries. Further into the article are statistics on feelings about the opposition or lack thereof from the Democrats. They are the only people in a situation to do anything politically because lets face it, in as free and democratic a country as it claims to be, there are only two parties that will ever be elected into power. But the way things are now, you kind of have to wonder if its not just becoming a one party system, because it doesn't seem like anyone with any kind of backbone is willing to take any kind of stand for the Dems. I guess I'd be frustrated too though if the man leading the opposition party couldn't be forced to answer questions from the people of his own nation, from the media, or from opposing political parties on nearly frequent or open enough a basis.

Matt Good once again brings more U.S. hypocrisy to question. Its just another of those things that makes you go "WTF?". Its pretty amazing just how many things can instill that same feeling.

Back to School

I've had a bit of running around to do the past couple days, and its quite obvious that school's just around the corner again. You look around and see the cars of the second year and up students packed to overflowing with furniture and appliances any way it'll fit. You go into a store and see the first year kids with mom and dad buying said appliances and furniture to be stuffed in a car any way it will fit at a later date. Every store you walk into has packs of Hilroy lined paper and bic pens in your face at the door and checkout. And a couple of the leaves are starting to change colour. Yes, it is infact that time of season where those who aren't fortunate (or unfornate depending on your view) enough to be in co-op come back from their summers at home makin bank and chillin on the beach and plop themselves into the monotony of assignments, reports, quizzes, tests, and exams.

I'm doing the same, except that I have always stayed at home, and go to school at the same place I work. That's enough to drive me just slightly crazy, but this term should be good. I'll be taking a few courses that are actually related to my discipline for the first time since first year (i.e. 3 years ago). Its an issue that's been brought up with the advisors for our faculty on many occasions but nothing ever comes of, nothing really to be too concerned about.

In two weeks the renewed student population of this two university city will all have similar problems of their own. That's what university life is, dealing with little nuggets of crap that are flung your way, and mixing in a little bit of cramming here and there of mostly random material to humour a given prof, with the eventual outcome hopefully being letters after your name that will get you a job you can enjoy.

Drained

I got back from my camping excursion yesterday afternoon, but was far less than energetic enough to post anything. It ended up being a rough 3 and a half days due to some poor packing on my part, lots of retardation and very little rest and relaxation. First I get up there, and find out I've forgotten my brick of cheese. Clearly not a world ending situation, I just had to pay a stupid amount of money because the price of everything is jacked up north because obviously people are going to pay it, especially cause it costs so much to drive anywhere.

Then I'm standing around making dinner on the first evening and realize that in throwing everything together, I didn't grab ANY of my three sleeping bags. That would be, any of the three sleeping bags that are in the exact same closet as where I keep the hiking pack that I pulled out to put all my clothes, hygiene products, and assorted tools in. Well, being as I tend to sleep with my windows wide open at home with no blankets, I assumed that I'd be alright with jeans, socks, a long sleeve shirt and a hoodie. One would think that it was stupid enough of me not to have brought a sleeping bag, but I on the other hand must have been out on a mission, and had also not packed socks, figuring I'd be barefooting or in sandals most of the time, and not thinking about staying warm at night. And so, a night at 8 degrees, an extra hoodie, and 3 hours of sleep later I got my ass out of the tent, and spent the morning with a monopoly on the nearest outhouse.

Obviously after all that I wasn't going to allow for a sequel, so I killed my day Thursday driving into a town to try to find myself a decent blanket, and some socks....$50 dollar blanket, $12 pair of socks, $20 of gas at a buck-o-six a litre, 3 hours driving = plus de time and money killed.

After that though, at least I was sleeping well, and not sick as a dog in the mornings. Got a bit of the resting and relaxing done after that, and really nothing else exciting happened until a pack of coons decided they'd explore the back of my van, with the hatch open, and my food in there, as it had been every night previously without issue. The bastards better have enjoyed those pitas.

Its amazing how much life up there in what people take as a pristine, natural environment is due soley to the presence of stupid campers, voluntarily and involuntarily feeding the animals and allowing their populations to grow. The raccoons, red squirrels, chipmunks and ducks patroling the shoreline along the campsites says it all. I'm sure the same is true of the bear populations, although I didn't see or hear from any up there.

Aside from my own stupidity though, the gorgeous daytime weather, and the outdoors provided me with some relaxing views.

Gone Fishin'

Warning! R3 Ahead!

Yeah that's right, R3. You've seen it before, you'll likely see it again. You've likely seen it in pictures already.

Anyways...tomrrow's my last day in town before sledding off this berg into the great north....or at least driving out of this rolling glacial sediment slightly north into a more rocky, and slightly less populous area of Ontario. Any way the cards fall, it will be a good time....I haven't been out of the region since early May, and even that was only for academic purposes.

Out of the reflected glow of city life, I'll be able to watch the stars...the distant ones, not the ones on Inside Entertainment...and catch fish, and listen to wolf calls. But then, inevitably I'll have to come back. This is my fault...I am constantly looking too far ahead to enjoy the moment.

G-string

I rolled out of bed this morn and broke my G string. I must confess it was a highly disappointing experience, especially considering I just restrung two weeks ago.

Vacation!

As of 3pm today, I am done my work-term and free from the chains of the University until mid September when shit will of course pile on in full force again. But in the mean time...rest, relaxation and retardation!

The plan is to head up to Algonquin on Wednesday morning, hopefully just miss the end of T-dot rush hour taking 401 to 400. I may yet decide to make a scenic backroad journey out of it though, what's life without a little adventure right? Besides that, and hittin the beach one day, I have absolutely nothing (except a nagging work report or two...) to do for the next 4 weeks, and I'm lovin it.

I went over to MBlog yesterday and found a subtle 'For Sale' link. Curious I checked it out, and found a sweet ass Fender stack (actually 4 of them) that he's selling at what seems the right price to me, especially considering I've been lookin at gettin a new amp for a while. I however didn't save as much money as I'd have liked this term, and the likely shipping prices scare me. I also think a 4x12 cabinet might be a bit overkill, but things like this, especially from collectible perspective tend to not lose their value, particularly Fender gear. You can always step into a music shop and find an old Fender amp at almost the same price as the brand new stuff. I'm waiting for a reply on the shipping, but I could in the next few days end up making another one of those headshaker purchases. Anyone wanna make donations to the Aaron Fund?

Iraq's Marshlands

Yesterday I had the opportunity to sit in on a seminar put on by biologists studying the marshlands in Iraq. These marshlands exist around the juncture of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Iraq and western Iran, and were once home to a large variety of organisms, and people living off the natural life there. When a group of people from the marshlands and surrounding area rebelled in the 90's, Saddam Hussein ordered the area drained, in the process killing off nearly all the life in the area and displacing a number of of people.

In the past couple years since the removal of Saddam Hussein, the marshlands have been reflooded, but the return of the original diversity, and overall natural productivity is still taking time. The biologists yesterday related studies carried out throughout the midst of the ceaseless military activity there, and comparisons to pre-flooding conditions. Most accounts described the recovery of the diversity, that is, the number of species found, at 60-80%, and in some cases up to 100%, based just on appearances of unique species. However, in terms of total biomass, that is the size and number of organisms present, full recovery is apparently still a long way off.

One of the underlying hindrances to the recovery, that wasn't readily divulged by the speakers, is that of the human impact in the area. Because of the displacement of so many peoples, and the lack of work, people are forced into hunting and fishing more than they would normally in an effort to survive, greatly retarding the rate of recovery. These biologists so dedicated to their cause that they carry out these studies in the midst of war, are torn between the survival of their own people, and the recovery of what were once one of the most diverse marshlands on the planet.

More information on the history and revitalization efforts is available:

Crimes of War

Iraq Marshlands Restoration Program

Music Stats 5

N,op,Q

Iran this week resumed work in nuclear power generation under UN supervision although of course the usual parties want to keep them from doing so under the threat of weapon production from the resulting fission products. Bush, while facing attacks on home soil on the justifications for sending America's kids to war, stated this week that "all options are on the table". If I'm not mistaken, that was the exact same stance the Bush administration took prior to unilaterally deciding to waltz in for a 2 year and running hodown.

Any pre-schooler could point out to you that the difference between Iran and Iraq is an 'op'. And being as Bush often comes off about as cavalier, unreasonable and illogical as a preschooler, I think we can all guess what may come next. However the international community has already started voicing its warnings, including Gerhard Schroeder opening his campaign for re-election in the fall (from BBC):

Mr Schroeder directly challenged Mr Bush's comment that "all options are on the table" over the Iran crisis.

"Let's take the military option off the table. We have seen it doesn't work," Mr Schroeder told Social Democrats at the rally in Hanover, to rapturous applause from the crowd.

If the last time around was any indication, the stance of other nations doesn't mean much anyways, and not many options seem apparent for restraining the U.S. in whatever they decide will be their way of policing the world. The further decreased reputation that the States would garner in the world eye would be the only apparent reprimand if they did choose military action again. On the positive note, with how apparently drawn out military resources are already, a lot of those kids wouldn't be stuck in Iraq anymore, they'd get a nice new change of scenery. Hang a right at the lights, and head one country to the east. You might wanna make sure you have a full tank of gas before you roll out though...

Countdowns

As of right now I have 50 hours of time to put in at my co-op placement before I am done the term. Its also 2 weeks til I head to Algonquin for a few days of fishin, drinkin and grillin in the wilderness...out of the back of my van. And unfortunately 4 and a half weeks til I'm back in classes. That doesn't leave me as much time to chill in between as I'd like, so I started gettin some shit in order today. In the process I found this:

I used to have it hanging on a bulletin board by my dart board, but it got put away for renovations at some point. Its funny sometimes the things you find when cleaning up that you completely forgot about, or had thought gone forever. Its probably mostly a function of being a packrat at times, but hey, it still gave me a chuckle.

I think what my room is still lacking post renovation is aformentioned bulletin board. I should stick one up to pin all my old memorabilia (tickets, pictures, pennants etc.) to. Yet another item for the long agenda of shit that needs to get done before I just use it as a distraction from studying and assignments once classes light up again.

Consider this my (not so) public statement of my intention to buckle the fuck down this term.

Music Stats 4

Splat!

I've hit a wall. I've got a two and a half weeks til I'm done work at my co-op placement, and I should be feeling like I'm in the home stretch and energized, but its quite the opposite right now, and I'm really finding it a chore to go in and put in my hours. To be fair, I haven't been particularly energetic at home either, I think it might finally be the heat getting to me, but I just feel tired lately.

The past three evenings I've come home and grabbed at least 2 hours sleep, waking up to catch the end of the Jays game and some latenight talkshows, and then crashin again for the night, resulting in probably 9-10 hours of sleep a day.

I shouldn't need that much sleep, and infact feel like ass after those evening naps cause I know I should have done something productive. I don't however think its a sickness or anything, just a lack of drive right now. Hopefully vacation time will serve to recoup me a bit.

I remember most of highschool I used to stay up to watch Kilborn every night til 1:30, and usually channel surf for an hour or so after that, and be awake again at 6:30 to drag my ass in to school. I functioned as well on 4-5 hours sleep as I feel I do on 8-10, but if I try doing that now I am a zombie. I miss youth, and smashing through those walls.

The Jays winning the first 2 games of their series against the White Sox, and the player movement in the NHL has kept me entertained while awake this week. The Avs got hit pretty hard with not being able to re-sign Adam Foote, and Peter Forsberg, who I believe is the best player in the game, but are still in good shape with the Sakic, Hejduk, Tanguay and Blake core. The Philadelphia Flyers are looking particularly dangerous now. Its also nice to see the formerly cash strapped Canadian teams pull in some good players in the capped environment. The balance of talent in the league already seems to have been evened out some, hopefully making for some exciting play in the upcoming season.

Bud Selig should take a good look now as the commissioner of the only remaining uncapped pro sport in North America. In football and basketball you already see teams going worst to first on a regular basis, and lots of turnover in the teams present in the playoffs. Major league baseball fans on the other hand get to look forward to seeing Boston, New York and Atlanta EVERY year, and while a testament to being able to pull in good players, its also more a representation of how much money you can spend on a ball team. Granted there are big spenders out there like the Dodgers who have been far less than regular attendees of the postseason, and surprise teams like the Angels of a couple years ago, but mostly you can go into any season and predict at least 6 of the 8 playoff teams. Something needs to be done to even things out, or obviously the rich teams are gonna keep pulling more fan support and getting richer while the poor have less and less chance at the playoffs.