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Showing posts from October, 2009

Pumpkin Bounce

Remember: pumpkins do bounce! Happy Halloween!

A Surefire Way To Reduce Our Carbon Footprint

Lots of hand-wringing going on about rapid transit and how to move people around the CRD. Controlling traffic congestion is like controlling an explosion: you can direct the blast but you can't fine tune it. We need to diffuse the situation. 20,000 office workers are housed in the downtown area. Many of them live outside of the downtown core, some in Langford and Sooke. If 20% were from nearby downtown (walking distance), 20% of them drove cars and 60% bussed; then that means 200 buses full of office workers and approximately 2,000 cars coming into the downtown core daily; and then crushing to get home at night. Do we really need 20,000 people in cubicles downtown opening their email, working on electronic files and chit-chatting around the water cooler? Office workers that directly interface with the public still need to do their work from easily findable offices. The remainder could just as easily work from home or at least work closer to home. With such a volume of people in th

H*N* - some hemagglutinin and neuraminidase info

In influenza: H* stands for the fifth of several known types of the protein hemagglutinin . N* stands for the first of several known types of the protein neuraminidase . H1N1, which caused the 1918 flu pandemic ("Spanish flu") and currently is causing seasonal human flu and the 2009 flu pandemic ("swine flu") H2N2, which caused "Asian flu" H3N2, which caused "Hong Kong flu" and currently causes seasonal human flu H5N1, ("bird flu"), which is noted for having a strain (Asian-linage HPAI H5N1) that kills over half the humans it infects, infecting and killing species that were never known to suffer from influenza viruses before (e.g. cats), being unable to be stopped by culling all involved poultry - some think due to being endemic in wild birds, and causing billions of dollars to be spent in flu pandemic preparation and preventiveness H7N7, which has unusual zoonotic potential and killed one person H1N2, which is currently endemic in hu

These Need Words

Why is it that some things that need words attached to them don't have that one word attached, like schadenfreude (satisfaction with the suffering of others). For example: Seeing an Ed Wood movie in all of its mediocrity; or seeing a dumpy guy who is in a pathetic pleather trench coat. You'd rather not experience these, you don't look forward to them, but when you encounter them, you enjoy seeing them. How about Schadenfred (for male fashion victims) / Schadenfreida (for female fashion victims)?

Tell Michaels that your postal code is X0A 2K0

Michaels and other retailers are polling you for your postal code. Why? They used to say it was to make sure that you get your flyer. They no longer deliver flyers. They then said they were doing a study. That study must be done-- and besides, when did buying sculpey become a lab experiment? They're trolling for demographics. The same organizations that raise the ramparts and refuse information; and provide poor service. How can you counter this? We all need to provide this postal code, when asked: X0A 2K0 -- X0A is Nuanvut, but 2K0 is not a real suffix. That said, I'm calling a little hamlet called Proteston-- it's a picturesque respite from invasive retailers.

It's ZOMBIE TIME!

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This Saturday, October 24th the Zombie walk caps off with the 1st annual “Little Shop of Horrors” and pre-party for the Zombie Walk at Logan’s Pub, 1821 Cook Street. The market will start at 3pm and vendors can sell until 8:30pm with music to follow. We will be accepting donations at the door during the market. A showcase local artists of all kinds to sell their work from cloths, comics, art pieces, jewelry, leather ware, etc, anything which is Halloween related. I've pondered doing a Halloween day-- make-up, ghost stories, ghoulish events and the like. I thought that 2008 or 2009 would be ideal. Last year passed. This year-- Alisa Shebib and Heather Furneaux organized a craft fair! In the evening there will be performances by Hank and Lily with The Secretaries for their Halloween Tour Kick Off. Joining them local musical performer Dylan Davis. Alisa Shebib will host a Zombie Workshop on stage during the market and other ghoulish surprises to be announced. There's good news if

Survey Says!

I'm planning on embarking on some new art projects this fall. I usually work in clay and polymers; video; and photography. I have some big sculptures. I want to democratize this next part of the process: What should I make? Click Here to take survey

Quick Thought on Lotteries

How is it that when you're young, your dream is to get out of retail; then, if you win the lottery your dream is open a shop?

VanOC steals Cowichan Sweater Designs

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This from the CBC : Members of the Cowichan First Nation on Vancouver Island say the Hudson's Bay Company ripped-off their design for one of the most sought-after pieces of Canada's Olympic uniforms. The First Nation says it bid to knit its traditional sweaters for the Games, but instead the company went with a knock-off. The art of knitting what locals call "the Cowichan sweater" has been handed down from generation to generation, Cowichan elder Jenny Martin told CBC News Wednesday. "My mom taught me how to knit when I was 15 … and my mom had-made sweaters and ponchos," Martin said. Martin said the Bay's version of the sweater has an elk and a maple leaf but lacks authenticity. "It's not Cowichan-made," she said. The local MLA said the situation makes him angry. "VANOC has threatened legal action against businesses that use the Olympic logo or even use the word 'Olympic,'" said the B.C. NDP's Bill Routley. &qu

Seven Days

Sunday - The weekend is over. Dread the week to come. Monday - Munday. Hum drum Tuesday - Feels like you should be bowling Wednesday - You're happy that Law & Order is on. But now it isn't Thursday - You're almost there! The shops are open late Friday - Hooray! Mini-graduation Saturday - Anything-can-happen day and it's all better.

These People LOVE Child Molesters

Here is a partial list of entertainment types who think that Roman Polanski should escape justice for his 1977 crime of sodomizing a 13 year old child. These are people who have signed a petition. Don't forget to throw Harrison Ford and Johnny Depp into this list of complicit degenerates. Erika Abrams Fatih Akin Yves Alberty Stephane Allagnon Woody Allen - Just LOVES young girls Pedro Almodovar Gianni Amelio Wes Anderson Michel Andrieu Roger Andrieux Jean-Jacques Annaud Frédéric Aranzueque-Arrieta Alexandre Arcady Fanny Ardant Asia Argento - Took on a whole football team for her 10th birthday Marie-Hélène Arnau Darren Aronofsky - Not even his family will watch his movies. Smears jam on his groin on the 1st of every month Olivier Assayas Alexander Astruc Gabriel Auer Zdzicho Augustyniak Alexandre Babel Fausto Nicolás Balbi Eleonor Baldwin Jean-François Balmer Alberto Barbera Museo nazionale de Torino Luc Barnier Christophe Barratier Carmen Bartl Pascal Batigne Anne Baudry Juan An