Geese in flight...

Taken yesterday at De La Salle Beach.

Photo taken by me.

Spider & web...

On my back deck today....

Photo taken by me in my backyard.

Tramp Genius...

Posted on b3ta.com: (a UK humour site & ezine)

Oxford, a hot summer's Day in 2002

I'm sitting on a wall having a can of coke, when a scruffy little Irish chappie comes and sits next to me.

He was obviously down and out and living on the streets, so I was a bit weary when he engaged me in conversation.

'Hullo there - are ye a student?'
'Yes, I am'
'Ah, right. Lucky lad - it's a very good university, so it is'
'Yep.'
'I was student meself, y'know?'
'Really?'
'Aye - University of London and then Cambridge.'
'Really?'
'Oh yeah - was doing my doctorate and everything, but they got rid of me, the bastards.'
'Why's that?'
'Well... I solved physics, and y'know, well...they didn't like that one bit.'
'You SOLVED physics?'
'Yes. But they got rid of me. Think about it: If someone solves the whole bloody thing - there's no jobs for all the scientists any more, are there?'
'Suppose not.'
'Aye, well... I've come here to try and find a physics student so I can get my ideas to the Faculty. Maybe if there's someone more trustworthy here, I can get it all published.'
'Right'
'You're not a physics student, I suppose?'
'Afraid not.'
'Ah, never mind.... have you got £1 for the bus?'

And, reader, I gave him a pound, because either he was a very good beggar, a nutcase, or a physics genius driven out of the academic establishment by a cabal of self-interested scientists worried they could be out of a job.
(SnowyTheRabbit, Thu 27 Aug 2009, 14:40, closed)

Gotta love the tramp's originality....

Scenes from my oral surgery...

Two weeks ago I had oral surgery to correct an abscess within my gum from a tooth that I have had two root canals performed on. I was given the option of this surgery, which is at best 88% successful in stopping all future infections or problems with the tooth, or to simply have the tooth removed. I opted for the surgery seeing as I have already invested in the root canals & crown for the tooth.

The surgery was quite painless - lots of freezing and pain meds - but it involved opening a flap on my gum, cutting through the jaw bone to expose the root of the tooth and removing a tip off the end of the root, as well as sucking out all the abscess gunk. The surgery was successful and I have no lingering after effects.

Throughout the surgery the doctor was taking digital photographs of his progress. He has a high end dental photography set-up that hovers over his shoulder and an assistant remotely snaps a picture when he tells her to. It was pretty cool. He got a kick out my asking him to send me some shots and said he would. He was good to his word....

Below are some amazing, albeit a tad bloody, shots from the surgery.

Just before cutting my gum open to begin the process.

The gum cut open and the bone cut away to expose the root of the tooth.

Working on the exposed root. The doctor did a lot of this work while looking through a high resolution microscope.

All stitched up and ready to go home. One week later I returned to have the stitches removed.

Pretty interesting experience to go through. A little discomfort but I was eating steak the next night so I can't complain. Hopefully I'm within the 88% that has no further problems....

1 down 2 to go...

Helped my daughter move into residence for 1st year university today. She said she was feeling both excited and terrified. Kinda how I felt too, not to mention feeling old. My first born is legally an adult. Yikes.

We planned for this day for a long time but actually having it arrive seems almost surreal. But in a good way.

The only downside of the day was that someone else moving in mistakenly walked off with a hat box of hers full of personal items, including her iPod & cell phone chargers, and as of this writing they haven't return it. Lets hope they do....

Best of luck Boo, I know you'll do great.

Now onto the boys....

Zombie attack would be collapse of civilisation...

According to a BBC article Canadian scientists carrying out a "mathematical exercise" concluded that if zombies really existed and attacked we'd be damn near toast if we didn't kill 'em all real quick.

Money quotes:

If zombies actually existed, an attack by them would lead to the collapse of civilisation unless dealt with quickly and aggressively.

In their scientific paper, the authors conclude that humanity's only hope is to "hit them [the undead] hard and hit them often".

"It's imperative that zombies are dealt with quickly or else... we are all in a great deal of trouble."

"My understanding of zombie biology is that if you manage to decapitate a zombie then it's dead forever...."

The professor running the study sounds like a hoot. It would be interesting to take one of his classes....

85% of CDN banknotes have traces of cocaine...

From the August 17th, 2009 Toronto Star....

Cocaine on 85% of Canadian banknotes in study

Aug 17, 2009 07:31 PM
TREVOR PRITCHARD
THE CANADIAN PRESS
Nearly nine out of 10 Canadian banknotes examined by a team of U.S. researchers contained trace amounts of cocaine.

In a study presented Sunday at the National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, researchers looked at banknotes from more than 30 cities in Canada, the U.S., Brazil, China, and Japan.

Twenty-seven Canadian bills, taken mostly from Toronto and the Sarnia, Ont., area, were analyzed, said lead researcher Yuegang Zuo, a chemistry and biochemistry professor at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.

Of the Canadian bills, 85 per cent were laced with cocaine. The amount of coke found on the banknotes ranged from 2.4 micrograms to upwards of 2,530 micrograms – approximately 100 grains of sand.

The results in the U.S. were similar. The researchers examined 234 bills from 17 U.S. cities and found that nearly 90 per cent of the notes contained trace amounts of cocaine.

Scientists have long known that money can become contaminated with cocaine during drug deals or by snorting the drug through rolled bills.

Bills that are not involved in drug deals can also be contaminated as they are processed by banks.

Such studies can be useful for police, said Zuo, because they can help identify drug traffic patterns in a particular community.

But he also said an analysis of 27 Canadian banknotes is not enough to make sweeping generalizations about cocaine use in the country.

"It doesn't really represent the whole of Canadian currency," said Zuo.

"The number is too small. More substantive research is needed."

Law enforcement agencies might look to research like Zuo's to help boost the number of drug-related arrests, but that alone won't lower addiction rates, said University of Ottawa criminology professor Irvin Waller.

"The real issue is how much money you're putting into prevention," said Waller.

"Even if you know where (the cocaine) is flowing, this isn't a lot of help unless you're going to be putting money into reducing demand for it in that area."

The rates of North American bills laced with cocaine was significantly higher in Zuo's research than banknotes from China and Japan.

Of the 112 Chinese banknotes researchers analyzed, only one in five contained any sign of the drug. Only two of the 16 Japanese banknotes were contaminated with cocaine.

Despite the study's findings, Zuo said people shouldn't have any health or legal concerns about handling drug-tainted paper money.

In most of the notes examined, the amount of cocaine found was too small to interfere with drug tests or cause any health problems, he said.

I can just picture all the cokeheads out there licking every $ bill they get their hands on now.

Junkie saliva on the bills is way worse than coke....

Back from the dead...

Interesting article from Mother Jones about an extinct seabird from the late 18th century being found alive and well on islands off New Zealand.

Photos at JPG mag...

Blatant self promotion warning....

I've joined this online photography site called JPG where I display some of my photographs. JPG also has a print version - JPG magazine - that gets its content from submissions to the website under various themes that users & visitors to the site vote on. I currently have one photo up for votes in the "Color Theory" theme.

So if you want to go and see my photos and vote for me please feel free to do so.

End of blatant self promotion warning...

Tailfins of 1959...

Great NY Times interactive photo spread of car designs of the '50s when tailfins ruled....

There is also a full article available entitled The Punctuation at the End of the '50s that is a great read on by-gone days of car design. Even includes a snippit of poetry from Robert Lowell's "For The Union Dead":

““....Everywhere,

giant finned cars nose forward like fish;

a savage servility

slides by on grease.”

Happy Birthday Sash...

My youngest turns 13 today. I now officially have 3 teenagers in the house. Though attitude wise I've had 3 teenagers for a long, long time :)

Hope you have a great day Sasha!

Love ya...

Strange dream...

Early this morning I woke up strangely calm after a terrifying dream.

I dreamt I was standing on a rugged coast of Newfoundland in front of a tall white lighthouse talking with Farley Mowat. Well, more like trying to talk with Farley Mowat. He wouldn't stop talking and I couldn't get a word in no matter how hard I tried. He wouldn't let me speak.

Behind him I could see a giant wave raising in the distance slowly getting higher, faster, closer. I could make out debris in the rising wall of water as it got closer and closer, dwarfing the lighthouse in size. Farley didn't notice the wave at all. No matter what I tried to say or do to get bring his attention to the wave I couldn't.

And suddenly we were hit by the water and were completely submerged. I could see Farley under water swimming up towards what I took to be the lighthouse light. I was swimming beneath him trying get up to the air as well. Neither of us seemed to get any closer to the surface despite our efforts. I saw Farley go limp as he gasped for air under water and started to black out myself.

Never once did I panic though. Even when I knew I couldn't breath I seemed to just embrace what was happening.

Then I woke up.

What the fuck was that?....

Google Street View camera car...

As I pulled into my driveway this morning I noticed the Google Camera Car going through my neighbourhood taking street level images for their Street View feature. I called my oldest son out and we both stood in front of our house as the car went by. So in a few weeks when looking up my address on Google maps I'll be a blurred out face on Google....

Yes, I'm bored today....

Abandoned house...

On Warden Avenue just up from Ravenshoe Road is this abandoned house. I've always liked abandoned buildings and as I happened to have my camera with me as I was driving by today with my youngest son, we decided to stop and get a few shots. Someone came along within minutes to tell us that they were rebuilding the place. They said it was OK for us to look around and take a few pictures. So here they are....

View from what was the driveway.

Some of the original lath & plaster from the gutted interior.

Interior 2nd floor.

Looking from the 2nd floor down into the basement.

Main floor studs.

Main floor kitchen area.

From the backyard looking towards the driveway with my son hanging out in the doorway.

I only had a zoom lens with me so I will be going back to get more interior shots with a proper lens and better lighting, especially for the basement - it's got a great atmosphere and I really want to get some better shots.

Think I'll start exploring/photographing other abandoned buildings in the Lake Simcoe area. There are tons of old, abandoned houses, barns, sheds. Some of them are even rumoured to be haunted. One can only hope....

All photos taken by me.

One tiny piece of paper...

"...only you, and a select few others,
contain the secret of the show."

The Trajectory of a Bullet - part I: A Man Screaming so Loud Colours are Coming Out of his Mouth...

Dark night.

 City lights,
       The distance hangs like thunder…

If this car would only go faster.

Concrete Jungle air, there's a difference, big difference.
      Real air excites your lungs,
      Concrete air insults (assaults) your lungs.

I can remember being paid a good wage to help me forget
I lived in a plaster box in the Jungle, in the sky. I remember dry
heaves in the morning. I remember trying hard to forget…

    LANE CHANGE

I haven't seen another car for hours/miles of wet ribbon road.

 My thoughts aren't as fast as the painted lines or as
 slow as the radio's liquid amnesia…

I could be dead.

    ACCELERATE

    CASSETTE TAPE

"Hellhound On My Trail"

I'm chasing a dream that's a nightmare chasing through my 
childhood/youth/adult life.
The windshield wipers beat it back with fluctuating rhythm…

    ROAD SIGN

Turn off to where-ever/when-ever

    DOWNSHIFT/CHILDHOOD

Brick walls and darkness…windshield

    Staring at myself staring, I still think I'm twenty years
too late but I'm driving to forget all that shit, driving to
forget why I remembered it in the first place.

    ANIMAL!

    BRAKES LOCKED

    TIRES SQUEAL

Rear end of car drifts slightly…
      Control feels powerful,
      like I'm in control

    ACCELERATE

Country roads like big city lust gone sweet…
      headlights piercing darkness
in surgical foreplay being folded over and over
until afterbirth is all that's left.

  "I keep one hand on the wheel
  and one hand on the shifter
  I keep one eye on the road
  And one eye on your sister"

Teenage sex is better on record than reality; clumsy and rushed
headlong into death

Teenage sex sung about by grown men remembering/wishing

  "How many guys out there over 30
  can still get 16 year old girls
  to go down on them?"

  "How many really want them to though?"

   RIGHT TURN
Full moon on the horizon
Full tank in the rear

I remember helping a stranded female motorist. I gave her a lift.
Her car broke down in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night
and I was on one of my nightly cruises into tomorrow…
She didn't like the handcuffs hanging from my rearview mirror.
She turned pale…
I dropped her off at the top of a street she said was hers…I wonder if
she remembers/thinks about me or my handcuffs.

    FLIP THE TAPE

When I was a child I thought that all the traffic in the world
is what made the planet rotate…

Farley Mowat...

Been on a bit of a Canadiana kick reading Farley Mowat's latest book Otherwise. An engrossing read detailing his youth, years in the military and time in northern Canada. I couldn't put it down. Made me want to visit the places described even though I know they would be nothing like they were some 60 years ago. The caribou migration sounds simply mind blowing. I would love to have witnessed that. With all the raw nature this man has seen it's understandable why he is somewhat bitter with what humankind has done to the planet and other life...

Now it's on to his 1984 book Sea Of Slaughter.

Nine Inch Nails - one more time...

The band I can't get enough of live in concert is packing it in (touring wise) and are on the last leg of their Wave Goodbye tour. But just this week Trent had this to say on the nin.com site:

"Getting right to the point, we're going to play a handful of shows in NYC, Chicago and LA starting August 22nd. They will be informal affairs in medium to small venues with longer set-lists, possible special guests, cool openers and other surprises. Upon reflection, the NIN/JA tour felt like we had to rush through sets due to a limited allotted set length and many shows were in daylight - it just didn't feel right to end NIN that way. An offer to headline a festival (being announced soon) set the idea in motion to play some FUN shows to end this up with. If we can get it together we'll film these shows, too."

The festival in question that NIN will be headlining is Toronto's Virgin Festival in August. He even confirmed it via Twitter yesterday:

Yes, I will be at the show which will be sometime in late August I'm presumming as the date & complete line-up has not been announced yet. Can't wait for NIN concert #7 for me.

Asshat of the Month = United Airlines...

Heard a great story about an East Coast musician who had his expensive acoustic guitar broken due to United Airlines baggage handlers being witnessed throwing the guitars on the tarmac and how United refused to pay for damages. So after nearly a year of run-a-rounds from United, Dave Carroll decided to approach things from the stand point of what would Michael Moore do if he were a song writer?

Dave vowed to write 3 songs and produce 3 videos about the events. The 1st of these, United Breaks Guitars, is available on youtube (embedded below) and is one of, if not the highest, downloaded music videos on youtube.

And United Airlines is beating a path to his door to make things right in the aftermath of the shitstorm of bad publicity that followed. Apparently even CNN's Wolf Blitzer featured the story and video on The Situation Room.

Good stuff...

Asshat of the Month = dog owner who lets his dog piss on other people's recycle bins...

I was upstairs sitting by the window working on my laptop when I noticed this asshole (pictured from behind below) letting his dog stop and piss on my green recycling bin. By the time I got downstairs and my shoes on he was way up the road and I watched his dog pissing on several other bins along the way. So I hopped in my car and pulled up to him, got out and had the following exchange:

me: I'd appreciate it if you didn't let you dog piss all over my recycling bins.
Asshat: (in a drug induced slurry haze) I don't even know where you live.
me: That's not the point. You simply don't let you dog piss on anyone's bins. If you see him sniffing to mark his territory yank on the fucking leash and keep walking.
Asshat: (in a drug induced slurry haze) Looks at me. Blinks a couple of times, puts his head down and starts walking away.
me: Fucking moron.

I simply cannot believe how ignorant some people are. Not even a thought of what's wrong with letting his dog piss on other people's belongings. And not even an attempt at saying something along the lines of "sorry, won't happen again."

Maybe I expect too much from humanity. Or what passes for it at times in Keswick....

Boys homework...

A couple of pieces from my boys for some end of school projects. First up is Connor. For his grade 10 art class, using charcoal, he copied an image of Morpheus (Dream) from Neil Gaiman's outstanding Sandman comic series. (Click image for larger picture).

I'm using this image as a desktop background on my Macbook. Great work Con!

Next up is Sasha's humourous "commercial" for a ride on The Hispaniola. Part of several assignments they had to do relating to their reading of Treasure Island. I love his sardonic delivery and use of a slightly different type of "sailing" ship. Attitude that only a (soon to be) 13 year old could muster...

Great work Sash!

Both you guys make me proud...

NIN|JA 2009 concert...

Finally getting around to posting some shots from last week's Nine Inch Nails, Jane's Addiction & Street Sweeper Social Club concert at Toronto's Molson's Amphitheatre. What a great show. NIN & JA together was a treat in itself but to add Tom Morello's (guitarist of Rage Against The Machine) new band Street Sweeper Social Club - and to be totally blown away by how good they were - made the night perfect.

This is billed as NIN's Wave Goodbye tour as Trent has stated publically that he wants to stop touring for at least a decade if not permanently. It was the 6th time I've seen NIN live, the 5th time my daughter has, and the 3rd time my youngest son has. One big happy NIN family....

So here are some shots using my new (used) Nikon D70 and 210mm lens. Still getting to know the camera but I like these shots. Bands are in order of appearance on stage....

Click on images for larger picture.

Street Sweeper Social Club



Tom Morello using the guitar cord to make noises as only he can and playing with his teeth ala Hendrix....








Nine Inch Nails










Jane's Addiction






My favourite shot of the night....

All photos taken by me.

Daily horror-scope...

Interesting horoscope for me today from the Toronto Star....

Libra (Sept. 23 — Oct. 23)

It has been a long time since you last looked deeply into your true feelings concerning a relationship. Inspecting them could open up a Pandora's Box and bring on a storm. Be not afraid. Something crucial has changed

Given my current situation I'll say no more....

Asshat of the Month = driver of silver Dodge 300 Lic# BEEH 228...

To the female driver of a silver Dodge 300 license number BEEH 228 on Highway 9 near Jane St this morning:

You are a freakin' selfish asshole.

Trying to cut me off instead of pulling in ahead of the car ahead of me or behind me where there was at least 14 car lengths of space. No, you had to try and squeeze your big assed boat into a spot that was at least 3/4 length too small for you, cutting me off in the process.

Fuck you. I'm glad I didn't let you in. I'm even more glad that you got pissed off.

I hope you have a single car accident and die a slow, painful, firey death.

Douchebag.

Worms for dinner...

While playing with my new camera & zoom lens in my backyard I managed to get a shot of this bird bringing home some take out dinner for the kids....
(Click image for larger picture)


Photo taken by me in my backyard.

Got rid of "The Wife"...

No, not my wife, "The Wife". I'm referring to my heavily modified, beloved 1974 Fender Precision Bass that I have owned for nearly 30 years.

After more than a few years of non-playing and having no desire to ever get back into a band situation, I decided that rather than have it stored in it's case in the basement I'd see if I could sell it or trade it for a digital SLR camera. After less than 24 hours on craigslist.org I received numerous offers of cash or trade. Tonight I met with one of those people and swapped "The Wife" for the following: a mint condition Nikon D70 DSLR body with a 35-70mm lens, a 70-210mm lens, battery charger and 2 memory cards. Here's the camera:

I couldn't be happier. Been playing with the new toy all evening. Can't wait to try it out at the Nine Inch Nails / Jane's Addiction concert in a few weeks....

World Super Hero Registry...

My kids and I are shaking our collective heads after watching this report on real life "Super Heros". There is even a World Super Hero Registry website with pix and bio info on real life "Super Heros" around the world. Complete with costumes.

I have nothing further to add other than watch the video. Especially the big green guy. Strikes fear into evil doers everywhere.....NOT!

Asshat of the Month = Billy Bob Thornton...

Listened to Billy Bob Thornton being interviewed yesterday on CBC's Q with Jian Ghomeshi. Seems BBT was there with his band the Boxmasters to promote their new CD. Jian's producers were apparently told not to ask any questions about BBT's acting, writing, Hollywood shite - only music. Jian made a contextual reference to BBT's history/acting, etc. in his introduction - but asked no Hollywood related questions - and BBT acted liked a spoiled, fucked-up, retarted, rich kid.



What a dick. Here's a tip Billy Bob - the ONLY reason your shit-ass band was on a high quality show like Q (with the very professional Ghomeshi) is because of your acting/Hollywood background. Suck it up Princess.

Cudos to Jian for handling the ignorant dickhead so well.

Now everyone go out and steal Billy Bob Thornton's band the Boxmasters music. Steal it all. And then delete the shit.

Good riddance ASSHAT!!!

Note: BBT does have a website related to his musical endeavors but it sucks like his ego so I didn't bother putting a link to it.

Life: A medical condition...

Great article from the BBC entitled Life: A medical condition. The opening quote sums it up nicely:

Restless leg syndrome, social anxiety disorder, female sexual dysfunction, celebrity worship syndrome - it seems that a new illness is invented every week, covering every potential quirk in human behaviour.

I know a few people, well one specifically, who should read and then re-read this article. And then print it out and tape it to their office wall, bedroom wall, kitchen wall, bathroom wall, forehead, etc....

Some other money quotes:

"If you look at the American Psychiatric Association 'bible', you'll see almost every piece of human behaviour can be classified as being in some way aberrant."

Dr Kendall sees dangers in a "tendency for new categories to be invented, often at the behest of drug companies looking for a new drug".

In 1997 the US fully legalised the advertising of prescription medicines.

Since then television ad breaks and popular magazines have been packed with explicit claims for the effectiveness of anti-depressants, behaviour modifying drugs and pre-menstrual tension treatments.

Prescriptions for the most heavily-advertised drugs have risen significantly.

'The Medicalisation of Normality' is broadcast on BBC Radio Four at 2100 BST on Monday 30 March and repeated on Wednesday 1 April at 1630 BST.

Juvenile humour...

For some reason a couple of silly little things popped into my mind today. Both deal with silly humour that made my chuckle and I'd thought I'd share....

When I was around 10 years old I used to get dragged out grocery shopping with my mom. Keep in mind this was nearly 40 years ago (pre Tylenol poisonings in Chicago) so there was no extra security seals on any of the packaging. Well, being a young, bored kid I would go to the cooler section where the Cool Whip was stored. I would open one of the round Cool Whip containers and using my finger I would spell out: Hi ! in big letters in the Cool Whip. I still giggle to myself thinking about people opening those containers when they got home....

And in more recent years.... I read somewhere about someone who started signing the Gideon's bibles left in hotel rooms. I thought that was brilliant so I started doing the same. Every hotel that I have stayed at in the last decade has a bible that is signed on the title something along the lines of:

All the Best,

God

Totally silly but both of these things still make me smile to myself....

You only grow up once in life but you can be immature forever....

NINJA2009 tickets in hand...

NINJA2009 - Amazing summer amphitheatre tour featuring the 2 groups that kick started alternative rock in the late 80's and early 90s; Nine Inch Nails & Jane's Addiction (original members) along with the new band from RATM's Tom Morello; Street Sweeper.

Can't wait for June 2nd down at the Molson Amphitheatre. Seeing NIN again is worth it by itself but to have Jane's Addiction on the bill is incredible. I remember getting JA's first album 'Nothing's Shocking' - and yes by album I mean as in vinyl. I wore that disc out. Several of them. Never got a chance to see them live and now the original members have reunited to tour with NIN....

Last year it was NIN with RATM at Lollapalooza and this year NIN with JA....

Life is good....