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Celebrate September 12th!!!

2011-09-12T02:24:00.000-07:00

Image via WikipediaIt has been an interesting week. With the backdrop of the tenth anniversary of that awful day combined with many of my co-workers doing remarkable work while watching another soul implode into the pointless depths of anger and blame.

September 11th, 2001 is still, after all these years, a teachable moment, despite that many of the "lessons learned" being completely egregious and erroneous.

Hating Muslim people is still in vogue, but I can assure you that any misgivings you may have are ill considered. Blaming Muslim people for 911 is akin to saying that all Christians want to kill abortion doctors. It ain't necessarily so, and I will stand up against this particular brand of racism until my last breath, and I would hope that others would stand with me.

While I hope everyone took a moment to remember that awful day, I would like to think that September 12th should be equally remembered.

While September 11th, 2001 is yet another day of infamy in the human pantheon, September 12th and the days that followed taught me another lesson.

Make no mistake, the mood was sombre, but something had changed.

Diners were tipping heavily, the subway was wretched with people insisting that the other person go first, and a lot of us were reconnecting, calling the people that really mattered to us. I cannot help but think that in those early post 911 days something penetrated our commonality, whereby we understood in a very deep way that we are connected to one another, that our time together is very fragile, and that it can all be gone in a heartbeat.

We will always remember that awful day, but we should also remember the days that followed, when many of us took a moment to consider how fortunate we are to be here as we used our common sorrow as an expression of our humanity in a very tiny and significant fashion.

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Death Gets Back To Work

2011-08-26T02:28:00.000-07:00

The next few days in Toronto will be an outpouring of grief and a celebration of a man who stood up for what he believed in, a rare thing in modern politics. Mr. Layton was the kind of man who gave people keys to his home so they could hold meetings whenever they wanted, and it was not unusual for Mr. Layton to come home to find twenty people sitting in his living room, many of whom he didn't know.

Whether you agree with Mr. Laytons' politics or not, surely some admiration is due simply for his well documented passion and commitment. I am grateful that a man of his character and stature was my representative in the riding of Toronto-Danforth, and like many, I was deeply saddened by his passing.

His cancer touched my life, but it was not the only cancer story that touched my life this week. A world away, in Ghana, I was privy to another cancer based Shakespearean drama.

About a month ago , Toufic, my friend from Larabanga sent me an email. I could hear the desperation in his words. His lovely young sister, who graciously made me a meal during my visit had been diagnosed with breast cancer.

And it was then presented to me: the stark reality that most of humanity lives in places where free clinics might provide basic medicine or help heal basic injuries or provide vaccines, but if you have a cancer and little money, you are in big trouble.

In my travel experience, I have found that the truly poor on this planet are not given to whining. They are given to surviving, and I am sure that Miss Kamera ignored the pain for has long as she possibly could, not wishing to be an economic burden to her family, she probably said nothing until the day the pain became fully incapacitating.

The email from Toufic, was frantic and clear, and I sent what I could, giving naive encouragement, as if Miss Kamera had the same access to a sophisticated medical system that I do. I asked to keep in touch. He did.

Toufic also got a grant from The Ghana Welfare Agency, and a Muslim organisation made a contribution and he had finally secured enough funds to begin treatment. My hope was that the worst case scenario would be a mastectomy, but it was not to be.

Toufic has already lost his mother and father, and now he has lost his only sibling at her ripe old age of twenty-eight. I cannot help but think that her death is as equally attributable to poverty as it is to cancer. He was kind enough to send me an email, which I received, the day after Mr. Layton passed.

Same disease, same outcome, but a very different ceremony.

So for me, this somber weekend will be a dual ceremony, one involving the grief of a nation, and the other involving a lone young man staring at a grave in a far off place that I shall not see again.

Goodbye, Miss Kamera and Mr. Layton. This weekend I honour you both together and equally, and I suspect neither of you would have any objection.

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Layton Legacy

2011-08-23T01:24:00.000-07:00

As many Canadians from sea to sea to sea express their grief and condolences, it is important to reflect on the meaning of Jack Layton and his legacy.

Mr. Layton evolved as a politician, arriving at a point where he intrinsically understood that there is no "THEM", there is only us, and I commend him for it.

Make no mistake, I am not commenting about ideology, I am commenting about ethics. The level of political discourse in this country is following the American lead and becoming driven by ideology rather than pragmatism which is increasingly being reflected by our major media outlets and our politicians, and the acrimony that it foments infests our dinner tables, our coffee shops, and our corner bars.

We seem to be living in an age where the cheap marginalization of others is meekly accepted by a public keen to find blame others for their own shortcomings, reducing our perceived enemies from our fellow human beings to objects, thereby removing their humanity and making it easier to be angry at "them" .

Mike Harris did it by attacking teachers and the poor, and he won.

Right wing "pundits" do it every day as they hammer away at "immigrants", propelling some myth that people who immigrate to this country take more than they give, and if you peel away at this polite onion you find an ugly centre of using government policy to promote hatred against people who are not like "US".

Stephen Harper uses the same tactic, when he refers to "The Sepratists", an attempt to dehumanize people who have a different view of federalism.

Ontario PC leader Tim Hudak is running on a platform of ridiculing the environmental agenda of the McGuinty government, saying "The premier wants to protect us from the plastic bag", while his real goal is to repeal environmental protection laws to make it easier for big polluters to rape the land.

Toronto mayor Rob Ford rode the same gravy train to victory, duping the stupid into thinking that all could be fixed by union busting with his bloated finger guiding the helm.

And on the left, we find the same intractable stupid greedheads running their various fifedoms. Union leaders who refuse to budge, unaware that their dug in heels will eventually be standing in line at an EI office. Politicians who care not about the constituency they were elected to serve, but who prioritize their reelection above all reason, while blindly towing the party line.

Mr. Layton was a gentleman who grew to understand that the most important quality any politician could have was the ability to listen to the community, not the tribes. He was a man of the people, and we are all diminished by his passing.

My faint hope is that we remember Mr. Layton not for his ideology, but his inherent sense of community and his ability to bring people together.

His greatest legacy should be his unrelenting quest to find common ground, and we can best strive to remember him by making our own day to day conduct reflect that value.

Thank you, Mr. Layton, you embodied the very essence of the term "public service", and I am going to miss you deeply.

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Muslim Country? Muslim People? Seriously?

2011-08-21T04:21:00.000-07:00

I'll admit that when one travels to any locale and has a positive experience, one tends to adopt an attitude of support, and I am no exception. So I'm just going to make a statement based on my travels, mostly because I see a rising tide of anti-immigration sentiment in this country ,that , frankly, scares me to death

Each and every person I met in Ghana treated me with the utmost kindness, hospitality and respect. The country is mostly comprised of Christians, but there is a significant Muslim population in the north, but that didn't matter, the level of welcome was equally gracious throughout.

Next up, I went to the Buddhism countries, and ya know what? It turns out that I'm starting to suspect that the planet might be filled with very kind people. Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam. Nice, Nice,Nice

Surely, it can't be possible that most people are decent?

The news tells us to be afraid and angry.

But I refuse to buy that, given that I have glimpsed Africa and Asia., and all I found there were people who had far more difficult lives filled with far more joy and happiness.

So I went to the heart of the hatred. Syria. You know , one of those countries where all those bastards live, where each and every citizen is working diligently around the clock to specifically destroy your existence.

But what I found in all of these places was something quite different.

What I found was a level of grace, dignity, respect, and welcome that most Canadians should aspire to.

Sadly, we don't.

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Losing Face

2011-08-14T03:11:00.000-07:00

Losing face is an Asian concept that is widely misunderstood in The West. Most western societies construe it with being shamed by others, but the concept is much more literal.

"Losing face" quite literally means that your face is no longer smiling and pure and pleasant, but that your expression has become angry, causing your demeanor to change, your brow to furrow, and your eyes to narrow. Some people live their whole lives in this state, and in old age this expression of constant anger verified by the years becomes as indelible as a tattoo.

Conversely, I have seen many elderly people whose faces exude the beauty of a life lived in peace, committed to the promotion of harmony, the kind of people who savoured the moments.

But some other people have chosen a different path, whereby they seek out anger at every turn, are constantly annoyed by others and the entire universe exists solely to annoy them. As time goes by these faces filled with rage become a reality, a legacy of a society so utterly spoiled that it fails to comprehend the inconsequence of its own grief and its belligerent response to our collective sense of entitlement.

And as for that furrowed brow, I'm sure a plastic surgeon can fix it.

As for the anger that led to that condition, there ain't a surgeon in the world.

And if you are reading this, I know you have a beautiful face.

Strive to keep it.

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Thank You, Rogers Cable

2011-08-13T03:53:00.000-07:00

From a "wired" perspective it has been an interesting few weeks, but I am coming to the conclusion that the gods are trying to tell me something.

One day my laptop fails, the next day a wireless device goes down. As soon as my laptop is repaired and I am back online, my neighbour convinces a representative of Rogers Cable to cut off my service because the wiring for my entire building is wired to a hub on an adjoining property.

What transpired from that point can only be described as a failure of epic proportions by what Rogers has the audacity to call customer service. I won't bore you with the details, but through this outlandish ordeal, I began to question whether or not I needed to have a T.V. that I wasn't paying attention to droning on in the background constantly.

As for internet access at home, that too became an expendable notion. I began to realise that the quality of my existence would probably be enhanced without constant access to these services.

Make no mistake, I am not repudiating the internet, nor am I suggesting the internet is superfluous. During my little "blackout" I came to the conclusion that I have two portable devices that can access the internet on the go, and that given that I live in an urban environment, WiFi is ubiquitous.

My employer, my local, and my favourite eatery all offer free internet access and I can get a few TV channels via antennae.

However, the fact that it took Rogers Cable cutting my feed to make me realise that I could exist without giving Rogers Cable $130 per month is delicious.

Ironyman strikes again!

Now if you'll excuse me, I have some books to read and some phone messages from Rogers to ignore.

http://goyestoeverything.com

2011-08-09T03:22:00.000-07:00

Dear Rogers Cable,

I wish to cancel my account. While I enjoy paying ever more money for increasingly banal content, I am even more impressed that some of the content that I used to get for the $128 I have faithfully given you each month for over a decade has been moved to yet another new channel, none other than a channel owned by yourselves.

But that is just greed, and I can understand greed and your appalling and naked greed alone is not enough to get me off my ass to cancel your service.However, when predatorial greed is combined with breathtaking incompetence and appalling apathy sandwhiched between concentric circles of outright bullshit it gives me pause to consider whether it is wise for me to do business with an organisation that embodies a depth of contempt for its clients that dwells as deep as your own.

I submit to this kangaroo court the following.

To wit, Rogers Cable corporation has treated this loyal customer in an incompetent and egregious manner.

On Friday, July 29th,2011 I awoke to find myself without cable

On Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011 a gentleman came to repair the cable. At that time another gentleman emerged from the apartment building next door. He is a representative of the owner of said building.. I am a tenant in the next building.

To my utter shock, he tells me that he had my legal and fully paid connection arbitrarily cut by one of your representatives because my television and internet is connected to a hub on his property, which it is.

I repeat to the court A representative of Rogers Cable came and cut my account with full intent to do so.

Now, I'm just a simple bartender who don't know much about your legalities and stuff, all I know is that I pay my bill and I expect service, and I don't give a rats ass about where Rogers chooses to locate its infrastructure.

After much drama between the neighbour and myself, the cable was reconnected, with a one week deadline to move the hub, or be disconnected again.

So I called Rogers and we booked an appointment for August 6th forgetting that the street would be closed due to The Taste Of The Danforth. Now I'll freely admit to being an idiot and forgetting the date, but it is a tad frightening to realise that the people who book service calls at Rogers are as stupid as I am.

So we rescheduled, and I had an opportunity to speak frankly with a dispatcher who had the unfortunate ability to making me believe he really, really cared. I explained the scope of the problem, the concept of property rights, and the fact that I don't own either of these properties, anymore than I own The Rogers equipment installed on the building next to me and that I do have a landlord next door that is maliciously using your minions to destroy your equipment.

I was reassured that a top level person who could take action would be dispatched to help me avoid playing a starring role in a b level version of Pacific Heights. The dispatcher sounded so committed that I half expected James Bond in a tuxedo to be lowered by chopper into the courtyard.

But it was not to be. It was just another failed ESL student who had the temerity to answer a cell phone call in the middle of our "exchange" (excuse me, I don't understand) while reaffirming Rogers commitment to doing nothing

In summation, I must give some credit to your employee who wrongly cut my cable. Clearly, he is the only person on the payroll who is willing to take any action, and I'm sure that he will be fastracked to the VP level any day now.

And to the good folks who call the shots at Rogers, if you have a moment to spare, why don't you go fuck yourselves? Surely it will be cheaper than providing customer service.

The Plaintiff rests.

http://www.goyestoeverything.com

Women: I Can Hardly Express

2011-07-24T04:06:00.000-07:00

Working in a bar gives one an opportunity to see how a myriad of couples relate to each other. The young, the old, the first rush and the special blush, the bitter and sweet born of time, and true, true love: ever so sublime.

I recently had a conversation with a kind friend of some intelligence regarding the issue of how Muslim women dress, which is in and of itself an ignorant statement, given that the dress of Muslim women varies widely.

Make no mistake, this is a complex argument as it intersects with two sacred cows of western liberal thought. Freedom of religion, and the rights of women.

Through the course of our conversation, my reasonable friend tends to the side of female rights, that he believes "Muslim women" are being oppressed.

The vast majority of women who are being oppressed are not being oppressed by cultural rules, they are being oppressed by douchebags who turn to monsters once they have control.

Granted, some societies and cultures are better at protecting abused women, reacting after the fact, but the level of abuse against women in our "civilised society" is not significantly less than it is in other cultures

I supposit that western women are being oppressed, but from the other side of the spectrum. Women in western societies routinely have their humanity removed every day. Through advertising, television, and those inhumane shoes that you walk around with. All of it is little more than a conspiracy to remove your humanity. and make you little more than a sexual object to men.

I suspect that eating disorders are not a big problem in Africa. Take a moment to consider why this is an issue in our society.

Muslim culture can be equally as oppressive as our own towards women. And like my western culture, there is a wide range of Muslim women in Arab societies, from liberal to fundamentalist.

Personally, I think we need to keep an eye on the Amish. I never trust a culture that thinks a belt buckle should be worn on a hat. What is up with that?

I'm a uniter, not a divider, and I like to find commonality in the goal of seeking a dialogue.

I ask only one question. Can Middle Eastern culture and Western Christian culture agree upon one thing?

We both like to subjegate women, we just do it in very different ways.

Unfortunately, I live in a world where I need to warn you that the following video contains the "N" word, and I should also mention that women have been the angels in my world, my point notwithstanding.

Lets face it, we live in a global culture where it is accepted that irresponsible men are allowed to walk away from their moral responsibilities, and women are left to pick up the pieces.

And if you can show me any country on the planet where women forsake their responsibilities more often than men, I will lick your asshole in the middle of a heatwave.

(asshole licking offer is only available upon request, and is limited to three "licks" under precedent law, "Tootsie Roll Owl v. Tootsie Roll Iincorporated in Ohio Circuit Court, on October 1973, when county judge Sam "Snicker" Snodgrass issued a decison declaring that "anything beyond three licks" be deemed "cruel and unusual punishement". This decision became entrenched in international law, when it was cited by The United Nations Human Rights Tribunal in Geneva, Switzerland during the 2006 war crimes trial of Slobodan Milosevic.)

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eisio

Wagging The Dog

2011-07-21T01:38:00.000-07:00

So, maybe I made a mistake, but now I have to live with it, and do the best I can. This is the price one can pay when making an impulse purchase. To exacerbate matters, I made a mistake and bought the decked out limited edition model, and the most unfortunate thing about an internet transaction error is that there is no salesman to irately shake your fist at.

Allow me to explain.

It started innocently enough, with a heads up from the lady that I work for about an unbelievably cheap flight to Kenya. Toronto to Nairobi for $775. Now I had been seriously looking at a trip to East Africa, but realised that the reason people go to East Africa is to see the animals, and seeing the animals costs at least $200 per day (minimum three days) and that is a budget level well beyond my means.

But the cheap airfare made me bite. I meant to shorten the trip by a few days, and by doing so lower my expenses, and stem the loss of work time by two extra shifts, but I messed up, and forgot to adjust the date.

Having read countless stories of naive travelers buying incredibly cheap tickets on the internet and then trying to change them, I decided to eat my mistake. Que Sera Sera

Much of Kenya is like a hip nightclub, with a huge cover charge. Admission alone to the best national parks is $80 per day, and you must be in a vehicle. These parks are huge and one must camp, or pay huge amounts for hotels. There is no shortcut for a budget traveler here.

I briefly consider starting the Greg Stock Foundation For The Benefit Of Greg Stock, citing the fact that all donations go directly to the benificiary, with no administration costs whatsoever. Unfortunately, I have a collection of friends who are of above average intelligence, and may be a tad reticent to use their hard earned dollars to pay for my jaunts to exotic climes.

While giving up all my hopes for The Greg Stock Foundation, I remind myself that this is the price one pays for not being kinder to the stupid.

So the upshot is that I am definitely going to fly in to Nairobi on Sept 26th. In the travel community, Nairobi is nicknamed Nairobbery, and is widely considered to be one of the most likely places to get mugged on the planet.

But that is the price one pays when one acts on impulse, submitting to the siren song of the "good deal".

Ironically, I am going to one of the greatest places in the world to see wildlife, and I won't be able to afford the luxury.

But thats OK.

I like people, too.

http://www.goyestoeverything.com

PS: I've had this feeling before, and I'm not the only one.

Breathe Greg, breathe.

Charity Case

2011-07-19T01:53:00.000-07:00

Maybe it is just me, but the definition of charity in this country has lost all meaning.

I've railed about this before, but as things continue to get more perverse, I'm going to rail again.

Recently, a Calgary women whose daughter was a cancer survivor, was denied entry to a fundraiser because she was only capable of giving four hundred dollars, which to me is a significant amount, but the charity denied her entry like an angry doorman at some hipster nightclub.

Apparently, the cover charge was two grand. Even more apparent is the fact that this "charity" gives less than 25% of your donation to the actual cause. The rest is squandered on a bloated infrastructure run by overpaid people of questionable competence who make their living blackmailing your emotions for their own benefit.

Make no mistake, cancer intersects all of our lives, including my own, but I cannot abide charity corporations who think that an eighty percent tax rate is acceptable under the moral guise of a "donation".

In my estimation, any charity that exceeds expenses of more than 20% is no charity at all. By all means if you want to get on a bike or put your running shoes on so you and your friends can feel good about yourselves, please do so. But please do not define what you are doing as "charity".

It is an insult to the definition.

It is little more than a circle jerk with a tip at the end.

Read this before you donate.

I recently received an email from a friend in Africa. His sister has breast cancer. He needs money to save his sister. I am confident that 100% of the money I send will go directly to help someone with cancer.

I know that all my friends and most Canadians are incredibly generous people, but I fear that that inherent generosity is being taken advantage of, and I only ask that you put the same level of thought into your giving as you do into any major purchase.

And if you think that your two grand is best spent participating in some event with a tax rate approaching 80% , then by all means don your lycra and off you go, but don't BS me into thinking that what you are doing matters.

The majority of your donation supports a self perpetuating and for profit system, not some noble endeavour.

I humbly suggest that a well placed investment of $2000 can change lives for generations, but it lacks the glory of showing your friends how much you care as you trod some specially closed for you urban avenue.

Its called charity, and its prime purpose is not to make you feel better about yourself.

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The Toronto Sun Gives Hate A Chance

2011-07-18T03:27:00.000-07:00

I've been closely following the epic political scandal that is engulfing Britain, and so should you, if only because its vastness and implications would make the The Bard drool. While it may be easy to guffaw from afar, could we please not allow our very Canadian propensity for smugness to overwhelm?

I submit to the court, an entity known as Quebecor, a massive media conglomerate that owns a great many right leaning publications spanning the country, including The Sun chain of tabloids. Recently they were granted a licence to broadcast on my cable package in a lame and odious entity imaginatively dubbed "Sun TV".

Your Hounour, and Ladies and Gentlemen of The Jury, and to my fellow Citizens in the gallery, I submit exhibit "A".

It is an article that appeared in Toronto Sun, and it is about a heinous crime.

I do not question the merit of the article, but I am deeply offended by the tone of the comments and even more anguished that the bright minds at Quebecor have now permitted the comment board at the Toronto Sun to be a repository for open hatred.

Look at the first comment, which has now been languishing for more than a day. "Muslims are evil". Then look at the others.

http://www.torontosun.com/2011/07/16/charges-laid-in-york-university-sex-attack

Now I know that it is difficult to stop idiots posting stupidity on a comment board, but I'm just a blogger, not a major media outlet. One would think that a major media outlet like The Toronto Sun would have some policy about openly disseminating hatred on their comment board given that it is against the law.

In addition, the entire Sun chain withdrew from The Ontario Press Council last week, (an oversight body of Ontario print media) citing too much "political correctness" as a reason.

Sure, laugh at Rupert Murdoch, but don't be smug, and if we are not vigilant this contagion will morph into influence.

The fact that The Toronto Sun allows this garbage to fester unfettered implies tacit approval for the hatred of Muslim people.

I cannot begin to quantify how deeply offensive that is to me as a Canadian.

The turtle water continues to warm, and it warms for thee.

The defense rests.

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Tribal Diversity

2011-07-16T03:59:00.000-07:00

Can we just be honest with each other for a moment, or a millisecond? I beg you to consider the audacity of the illusion of multiculturalism and the embracing of the buzzword "diversity".

Now don't get me wrong, I am in favour of both multiculturalism and diversity. But lately I've noticed that people are confusing the notion of diversity with the promotion of their own self interested and petty tribalism. Groups demand acceptance for themselves, but they live in ghettos whereby the acceptance of others is scarce and diversity is even scarcer.

Perhaps I'm wrong, and if you ever see a drag queen having lunch with a family of refugees from East Timor, please advise, because that is my definition of diversity.

I can abide the well intentioned and self serving lies that we tell ourselves in the name of tolerance. Make no mistake, I am pro tolerance. Just don't try and sell it to me as diversity.

Submitted for your approval is the case of one Toronto High School that saw a problem and addressed it in a creative and pragmatic fashion.

The problem was that many Muslim students were skipping classes, and using the call to prayer as an excuse. So the school decided to permit Muslim students to pray within the school, and all was well until some tribalist with a platform expressed her outrage under the guise of diversity.

To wit, I submit to the court one Heather Mallick, columnist for The Toronto Star.

http://www.thestar.com/article/1023979--mallick-some-toronto-schoolgirls-are-always-second-rate

Of course Ms. Mallick and her ilk have no interest in diversity whatsover, they only have their egomanical delusion that the rest of the world desires to live under the same value system that she does. But she is not alone, George W. Bush believed that better access to Big Macs would bring peace and happiness to the Middle East.

Ms. Mallick, like so many others, is utterly incapable of making the distinction between tribalism and diversity.

The audacity of her tribalism is so entrenched that she will probably be victorious, and the school board will ban this pragmatic solution. Ms. Mallick and her tribe will win, and more young Muslim girls will miss more classtime. I see no benefit in this arrangement for the girls, but apparently Ms. Mallick (and her tribe) does.

To me, accepting diversity means accepting the fact that not every culture is the same as my own. It most certainly does not mean that I should have the hubris to demand that ancient religious cultures bend to my will.

That would be egotism, right Ms. Mallick?

http://goyestoeverything.com

Hockey Loses!

2011-06-16T03:00:00.000-07:00

Image by Getty Images via @daylifAs I watched my beloved Canucks lose game seven from my tiny and overpriced urban enclave in this great Canadian city, I decided to head out to the magnificent neighbourhood that I call home.

My team lost, and I'm angry.

I try to tip over a truck, but those things are even heavier than they look.

I decide that kicking in some windows would be a brilliant expression of my hatred, but I realise that those windows belong to my fellow citizens and they represent the fabric of my community.

I briefly consider setting someone elses shit on fire.

Then it occurs to me that it is a fucking hockey game and I don't live in Vancouver, I live in Toronto, a city that thankfully never gets anywhere close to winning anything of import.

While I'm sad that my team lost, I am deeply ashamed to be connected to a game that results in such violence both on and off the ice.

And a note to the big craniums in Vancouver who thought it was a good idea to invite massive crowds into the streets because it worked during the Olympics, think again.

Another note to both the NHL and NHL culture: As a future former fan of the game, I don't care to see unconcious people on their back holding their comatose arms in the air, zombie like. I also don't care to see people suffering major spinal injuries, and the convulsions are not nearly as entertaining as your data might show. Ditto for the concussions.

Is it any surprise that the violence that is promoted in the game spills onto the streets?

Goodbye NHL, I am no longer interested in buying what you are selling.

After 39 years, it is time for me and hockey to go our seperate ways.

And on a meaningless sidenote, congratulations to the Boston Bruins, as much as you broke my heart, you were the better team, and I am sorry that your victory was marred by such stupidity.

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Bostons Bruins Greg

2011-06-13T00:19:00.000-07:00

I'm posting this because my Mom said she couldn't see the youtube link that I sent her.

Andrew Barber is a brilliant comedian, and his "Bostons (no that is not a typo) Bruins Greg" fan postings on youtube represent a small portion of his brilliant work.

His youtube ID is barbarbinx, and it is worth a look.

Warning: Offensive language.

This is video number one, done prior to the series.

And after game one.....

And after game two....

And after Boston wins decisively in games three and four.

And prior to game 7...

Brilliant work, and his homepage is here

Even better his youtube page is here .

Thanks for the laughs, Andrew.

http://www.goyestoeverything.com

If Shakespeare Wrote About Hockey

2011-04-28T01:48:00.000-07:00

Image by Getty Images via @daylife
I don't blog about sports much, but I figure this is a blogable moment.

In 1972 my family moved from Calgary, Alberta to Vancouver, British Columbia. When I found out that Vancouver had an NHL team, my six year old brain new I had hit the big time, and I've been a loyal fan ever since.

We made it to the finals twice, but couldn't close the deal.

In 2009, we made the playoffs, but lost to the Chicago Blackhawks.

In 2010, we made the playoffs, but lost to the Chicago Blackhawks. Chicago went on to win their first Stanley Cup in decades. Vancouver golfed early, but made key changes, in the hopes of beating Chicago.

In 2011, the Vancouver Canucks had their best regular season in franchise history, finishing atop the league. On the last day of the season, Chicago backed into the playoffs when Dallas failed to beat Minnesota, once again lining Vancouver up against their old nemesis.

OMG, not again. And early on, there was little to fret about. My beloved Canucks went up 3-0 in three close games. In the next two games they looked flat and were demolished by a combined score of twelve to two.

In game six in Chicago, Vancouver stunned everyone by starting rookie backup goalie Cory Schneider over franchise player Roberto Luongo. The Canucks and Schneider played better, but a key giveaway and a penalty shot goal by the rookie tender make the difference.

And in another operatic twist, Schneider cramps up on the penalty shot, and is replaced in goal by franchise player Roberto Luongo.

The Canucks lose in OT 4-3, and now its 3-3, with one game left to play in VanCity and I've got this same sick feeling in the pit of my stomach, like a three year old ulcer that won't go away.

My Vancouver Canucks are on the verge of what could arguably be the worst collapse in the history of sport, a shame so epic that only a future championship could eradicate these goat horns.

One game for all the marbles. One game to slay the dragon.

Vancouver scores in the first three minutes and dominates the rest of the game, but can't put the game away as Chicago goalie Corey Crawford stands on his head. With less than two minutes left Chicago scores shorthanded to tie the game 1-1, and I begin to feel sick to my stomach.

And so we go to an overtime that could scar my Vancouver Canucks for decades, and I start to contemplate what kind of fuel would be best for an old fashioned jersey burning.

Aaaah, never mind, I knew they'd win all along.

http://www.goyestoeverything.com

Dog......meet Pony....Its showtime.

2011-04-21T04:04:00.000-07:00

As of this writing we are in the midst of an election in Canada. I am sure of this because my television is rife with a bunch of overpaid and overweight white balding men aided by young blonde women in tight tops telling me that if I don't vote for the correct party, the world will surely end.

Now I've had the opportunity to spend some time in a few countries where the notion of democracy is obscure at best, and I hate to pull the rug out from the rest of you stupid, bloated, spoiled, self important, bleak, dreary motherfuckers, who live in Canada under the illusion that because you put an X beside a box every few years,that you live in a democracy.

At least the people in Syria are aware that they have no freedom, you people remain clueless.

And can anyone tell me about a specific incident involving the government that actually had a significant impact on your day to day life? Seriously, anyone?....Yeah, I didn't think so.

So bleat on over your roast beef in your dining room next to the sport utes in your garage and overlooking the golf course, about how awful life would be if party X got elected and support the lies that you tell yourself about the pointless and deluded life that you and your ilk live each day.

And most importantly, make sure you get out and vote on May 2nd.

Your delusion counts.

http://www.goyestoeverything.com

Turkey/Syria pics

2011-01-13T11:34:00.000-08:00

One vid and tons of pictures.

The call to prayer at the ruins of Palmyra, Syria

Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia

2Istanbul

Various Istanbul and Topkapi Palace

22Istanbul

Adana, Turkey

Adana Turkey

Basilica Cistern, Galata Bridge, Ephesus, Virgin Mary House

Istanbul Efes

Aleppo, Syria

Aleppo Syria

Damascus, Souk, Umayyad Mosque

Turkey Syria1

Damascus and Palmyra

Palmyra Syria

http://www.goyestoeverything.com

Beirut or Bust

2010-12-12T04:42:00.000-08:00

In these last few days prior to departure, I find myself overwhelmed trying to address Christmas obligations while fretting over details regarding my upcoming journey. It has created a perfect storm that has left me like a bunny in my own headlights.

If you want to find out how much of a control freak you are a good place to start is to plan a trip like this by yourself. Apparently, my control freakiness knows no bounds

I have researched every aspect of Turkey and Syria that I reasonably can, but my little foray into Beirut remains understudied, an ill considered dessert order after a spectacular meal.

However, I have been watching the news..................

I thought that this comment from afz at the Thorntree forum summed it up best. It seems to me that the violence in Beirut is either turned up to "11" or it is off.

In general it's perfectly safe for tourists, with the caveat that massive communal violence and/or aerial bombardment can break out with no notice at any moment. The Lebanese are generally very friendly, but they're all convinced, as they have been continuously for most of the last millennium, that catastrophe is imminent (and they're usually right). Barring war however, you'll have no worries. Street crime and personal attacks against tourists are both far less common than in Europe or the United States.

In The Beginning......

2010-12-10T04:08:00.000-08:00

Image via WikipediaThe first chapter of Murder On The Orient Express does not begin on the Orient Express, it begins on the platform of the train Station in Aleppo, Syria.

And a lot of other things begin in Syria. Both Damascus and Aleppo lay claim to being the oldest continuously occupied city's in the history of humankind Let others flock to Italy or Greece or Egypt on their overpriced and generic tours, I'm putting my faith in Syria.

Istanbul is re-emerging as one of the great cities on the planet. Historically, Istanbul has always been a crossroads, a place where civilizations meet. In an increasingly globalized world Istanbul remains the conduit through which all history must pass, and the true interpreter of a global era.

Either way, I am nervous and excited.

I will try and keep you posted along the way, but many of the countries that I plan to visit block Twitter, Blogger,Facebook and Youtube.

30 Years And One Hour Ago

2010-12-08T01:54:00.000-08:00

I can't exactly remember the weather that night, what we had for dinner or who was playing on Monday Night Football. My parents were recently divorced, and I was living with my father. We made a tradition out of watching MNF together after dinner.

And so it was on this fateful Monday that me and the old man made dinner and cleaned up and settled in to watch one of the most boring games ever staged in the history of the NFL. It was so boring that I retreated to my room early in the second half, and turned the radio on, something I had never done before.

Then the reports started coming in. In those days television was slower than radio. There was no CNN, no net, no nothing. If you wanted live news, you listened to the radio, and for much of the world, the radio is still it.

With my dial tuned to CFOX fm99 (The Fox Rocks!), the news began to trickle in. "We are getting reports that John Lennon has been shot in New York City".

At first, I thought that Lennon was some out of control rock star, given that he had been involved in many antics during his time in Los Angeles, and that his political beliefs had left him marginalised. I imagined him being grazed by a bullet at a cocktail party hosted by Andy Warhol and attended by Phil Spector.

As I lay in my room trying to comprehend, my father was a few feet away, watching this...

And I was hearing fragments of this on the radio.....

As I walked out of my room, I was shocked to see that my father was ashen. I said "did you hear?" He said "yeah, they just announced it".

John Lennon was just a man, but the idealism expressed through his music represents the highest aspirations of the human condition, and that is why we love him. He challenged humanity to be better, and was willing to admit that he didn't always practice what he preached.

And three decades on, I still miss the shit disturbing SOB.

http://www.goyestoeverything.com

Why I Love John Lennon

2010-12-06T04:36:00.000-08:00

We are going to hear a great deal about John Lennon this week, and many tears will be shed about his unfortunate demise.

My main reason for my undying respect for Mr. Lennon is the fact that he was a man of principal. This film played at TIFF a few years ago, and is well worth a look. If you like the trailer, you can watch the whole thing here. Click on the link at the lower left.

.

Happy Xmas!

http://www.goyestoeverything.com

WTF? Leaks Are Good, You Idiots!

2010-12-05T02:47:00.000-08:00

When I was eight years old, I used to get mad with the television after school. It was 1973 and I was aghast at the fact that the local stations from Seattle had the temerity to show the Watergate hearings, thus pre-emptee Brady Bunch and my precious Gilligan's Island (btw its Mary Ann uber alles)

On an evening in 1974 my parents and I had dinner in front of the television. The rarity of this event was the fact that it was at my parents behest. Usually it was me and my older brother begging to have dinner in front of the TV from the PST so we could watch Ken Dryden and Guy Lafleur et al crush our underdog instincts so magnificently year after year.

But that night was different as we sat at our TV tables in the rec room . I wasn't watching a hockey game, I was watching Richard Nixon resign as president.

He resigned because of leaks that shone a light on the darkest corners of his humanity, which rightfully led to his resignation.

Woodward and Bernstein were celebrated for making that happen, the finest journalism a generation could offer. Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the Pentagon Papers, which revealed the secret bombings of Cambodia, is also regarded highly.

Fast forward to 2010 and the slow rising tide of fascism. Apparently journalism is dead and anyone of you bleak, dreary, brain dead losers that pass yourself as members of the press will be given the compliance award so long as you keep your mouth shut.

Wikileaks is doing the world a great service. What shocks me is the obedience of the populace in supposedly "free democratic countries" to accept the idea that we are not worthy of listening in on the communications of those in power.

So much for that "All Men Are Created Equal" garbage, with apologies to the ladies. The real message here is that most people agree with the idea that people like you and me have no business knowing what those in charge are thinking.

Fuck them, fuck that and fuck you if you agree.

That is how we end up in a twisted world where people openly advocate for the murder of the last journalist left in this century. Hello and goodbye Julian Assange.

And when I set up my TV dinner in front of my computer to watch the story of Mr. Assange and his death,I will mostly think of how an age has passed when whistleblowers could bring down kings, while lamenting the compliance of a current time.

The real message of Mr. Assange and his upcoming demise is about the widespread acceptance of the idea that we have no business knowing what our "betters" are thinking or doing. In a "free society", these are the sorts of things that citizens have a right to know.

If only we lived in a free society.

Shame on us, our compliance, and our complicity.

Heil!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Assange

http://www.goyestoevrything.com

Device-ive

2010-11-28T04:20:00.000-08:00

I guess its better than banging junk, but the scope of the usage far outweighs the heroin problem.

WTF is wrong with you people? Are you so bereft of the ability to comprehend that a beautiful reality is happening around you right now in HiDef that you have to hide inside some digitally created falsehood that you long to call your life?

I don't care what you posted on Facebook, I don't care about your latest Tweet, and I don't even care if you care to read this post.

But I know you. I see you every day. And I do care about you.

So let me say this to you.

Real life is happening out there.

It is not happening in here, no matter what they try to tell you.

So stop reading this blog, De-Facebook and Un-Tweet.

And go fly a kite.

I mean that seriously. Go fly a kite, it will make you a great deal more happy than sharing your opinion about the latest Mad Men episode or Lady GaGa vid.

Better yet, go fly a kite with a friend.

Either way, each and every one of you should go fly a kite.

http://www.goyestoeverything.com

Happy Turkey Day!

2010-11-25T01:07:00.000-08:00

First of all Happy Thanksgiving Day to my American friends. But that is not quite what I meant by the headline. As of yesterday, I leave for Turkey in three weeks.

At least I hope to fly in to Istanbul. As of this writing my passport is in the hands of the Syrian government while I await the results of my visa application. I'm pretty sure that I will get my passport back, I'm a little less sure that my visa application will be accepted.

A Syrian visa application asks you to list a reference in Syria. It also states that the application must be filled out in full. It also asks you if you have ever been to "occupied Palestine". In most Arab countries, if you have an Israeli stamp on your passport you will be denied entry.

Also something that I have never encountered before on a visa application is a request for entry and exit points. I could not find the exact name of my border crossing from Antakya, Turkey to Aleppo, Syria, so I put down the route.

Even better, I did manage to figure out the name of my exit point from Syria to Lebanon: Mansaa. I was able to confirm this because a Lebanese soldier was shot there in a drive by shooting the other day.

And now on to Lebanon, where things get even better, with a big nod to Ironyman. Thanks to a rare fit of actual journalism, Lebanon "is on a knife edge", a "storm is brewing" and apparently the "country is holding its breath" as it awaits a UN report that indicts Hezbollah on the Hariri assasination.

Ironically, it is my own government sponsored news agency that released this story that set off a firestorm in the Middle East. It is a fine piece of journalism, even if it makes my itinerary problematic.

All I know at this point is that if I get my passport back, I will be landing in Istanbul on December 16th; and if I don't get my passport back, I won't.

http://www.goyestoeverything.com

Suddenly 1994

2010-11-21T03:26:00.000-08:00

Personally, I blame Pat Burns. I was already feeling very sad about the passing of the former Habs/Leafs/Bruins/Devils coach. I never met the man, but dang it, I liked the guy and his death sent me in to a fit of melancholy out of all proportion.

But apparently I did not understand the lesson, at first.

And thus it was that an envelope was proffered as I tended the bar. It had been kindly left by my ex wife, and contained photos of bygone days filled with bygone people.

Perfect, more melancholy, but then the lesson.

I wasn't mourning the loss of Pat Burns, I was mourning the loss of a time and a place in my own life. Mourning the fact that sometimes things don't work out as we planned, that we lose loved ones along the way, and that time is littered with squandered opportunities.

Partially I was mourning the fact that it is not 1994 anymore, but at the core of my lament, I was mourning the fact that with experience comes the forlorn ability to see the ever shrinking road ahead and to know it in the fullness of its own relentlessness.

Plus that was a total high stick by Gretzky on Gilmour in game seven.

Right coach?

http://www.goyestoeverything.com