Dancing with the Semi Stars

Okay, I admit the past two weeks I have watched Dancing with the Stars. I fast forward to the dance and then fast forward to the scores. I cannot be bothered to watch all the filler. I do not need any more filler! Some observations. Who is Monique? Who is Emmit for that matter; I am guessing he is a sports person. I know the other two, Joey and Mario and I also knew Jerry Springer. Still, with the mystery of Monique and Emmit I am thinking it should be called Dancing with the Semi Stars! Further, what is with the camera dancing? Stand still will ya! Circling the camera around and the close up shots on the dancers is counter productive. I want to see them dance. Steady camera shots showing the entire dance would be nice.

Otherwise, good show. I enjoy the dancing and the music. It is nice to see Ballroom and for the most part, excellent Ballroom. Why can’t people in clubs dance more like that? It’s fun and takes some skill and practice. So, I guess I just answered my own question.

Now wait for it. Big fag moment. That Mario….OH MY GOD!

Encouraging Comments

I am frustrated that my Blog does not inspire more comments. Why don’t you comment? You read the Blog, or at least I am hoping that you read the Blog. I just wish you would comment. Comments make me feel good. The comments make me feel like someone is reading my pieces and that the pieces inspire you to some thought. The comments reflect those thoughts and that is how I know you have them (thoughts).

If you thought you needed permission then you have it. This is your permission to comment on my Blog. I would prefer if you create a Blogger Profile so your comments are not anonymous but if you insist, fine keep your identity to yourself. I am fine with that for the time being. Blogs, well this one at least, are interactive. So, interact. Post your thoughts, suggestions and ideas. Let me know you’re there.

The Play

Rondi and I went to this play the other day. Rondi said, on the way into the play, that she would let me Blog about it. I now feel obligated. This is my Blog entry about the play.

I have no idea what it was about. I was confused from the moment the actors hit the stage in scene one act one. Why were all the male roles played by women and the one male role played by a woman? Actually, let me correct that, one male role was played by a man, which is even more confusing. It was a political scene set 15 years in the past. A comforting moment came at the intermission when Rondi said she wasn’t sure if it was a fictitious government they were portraying or the actual government we had at the time. It was comforting because I wasn’t alone in at least some of my confusion.

The play continued on with different scenes that apparently did not relate in any way to any other scene. I assume that the scene about the combative couple was figurative not literal but who knows? At the intermission Rondi, being gracious and all, suggested we leave. We both decided to stay and see the end. Maybe it would all make sense. Unfortunately, the end did not clarify anything, for me anyway. I left wondering if I am ignorant or if the play was lacking in some way. I am not sure which it is but I can say I enjoyed the afternoon. Rondi is great company and if nothing else the play got me thinking.

Thanks Rondi, for the invite.

Tomorrow's past

5 tomorrows have become yesterdays since I wrote about all the things I was going to do tomorrow. I just realized this and I even had to count the tomorrows that have past into yesterdays. What a shock this is to discover all these new yesterdays. Then, after giving this some further thought, I believe I must have made a mistake. It wasn’t that particular tomorrow that I was all excited about. It must be this tomorrow coming. Yes, that’s it! I am all excited again. I was worried that I had missed the tomorrow in question. I was worried that tomorrow had come and gone and I had overlooked it; missed the opportunity to do all the things I wanted to do. I haven’t however; there is another tomorrow coming soon. What a relief.

Tomorrow

I don’t know about you but for me tomorrow is going to be a rather busy day. I have so many things planned for tomorrow. I am going to start going to the gym tomorrow. I am going to get into writing and playing the piano. Tomorrow, I am going to start riding my bike. I am going to call people and go places and meditate. Tomorrow, all of this will happen. Tomorrow.

I figure why start today? Why? It’s already 2 in the afternoon. What’s the point in starting today? Might as well start fresh tomorrow. Get it all planned and organized. I could do that today; actually I will do it tomorrow in the morning. That’s it get up nice an early and get planning. Then start doing all the things I want to do. No more waiting I will do it all tomorrow. I am so looking forward to tomorrow. Tomorrow is going to be a great day. Tomorrow. I am so excited about tomorrow. Today not so much, today I will just chill and watch a bit of TV. Maybe clean a bit and get to bed early. I will do that, early to bed so I can get up tomorrow and get started! I will drink a toast tonight to tomorrow. Here’s to tomorrow’s successes!

I am reminded of a quote:

Today is the tomorrow you planned for yesterday.

Bombs and Sanctions

I have to admit that I do not know that much about world politics so feel free to correct me in the comment section if you so wish. I read this article in The Star and I wonder what sanctions against a dictator will accomplish. I suspect that the only people who will surfer is the already impoverished and innocent population. Kim Jong, no doubt will still live a lavish life style (with that speedy muffler outfit) while the people of North Korea feel the impact of UN sanctions. I do not have a solution other than killing the dictator, which would lead to other issues. Who would take over? How do you “debrief” or closer to the truth “deprogram” an entire population? Would the people of North Korea ever accept a democratic process?

I find it difficult to imagine leaving nuclear weapons in the hands of a person such as Kim Jong. I think it is important to make that distinction. The weapons are under his control. Should he decide to use them he has no one to answer to or convince. We can say all we want about the US and other nations but at least they go to a council and have the debate. Kim Jong will not pay us the same respect.

Smoke Free....

I spotted this on Rondi’s blog (wonkitties). I do not think she is joking, although I am not sure. Regardless, I am; however, glad to see that more and more places are going smoke free. I hate smoke. I hate smelling it and choking on it when I am walking down the street. I also hate seeing the “butt’s” in the streets. Why can’t smokers carry little ashtrays? My sister had one, a little ashtray with a lid. Kept all that dirty crap contained. If you are going to insist on smoking on our streets and in our parks then clean up after yourself.

I have heard the argument that all this legislation is against "Smoker’s Rights". Really, since when did smokers have rights? I have heard of this before and I have looked around for these so called rights. I have yet to find any so I figured I would hazard a guess as to what these rights would look like.

Smokers Rights

We, the Smokers, have the right to purchase little cancer causing tobacco sticks in shops that will be on every single corner. We will call these shops Convenience Stores. We will then have the right to light up everywhere we go. We will inhale deeply, as is our right, and then blow our smoke out into the world. We do this regardless of who might inhale this second hand, as this is our right as a Smoker. Further, we have the right to “flick” our cigarette butt’s (as they will come to be known) out of our car windows and off of our balconies. And should some non-smoker get burned we shall not speak of it as this may lead to an infringement of our rights as a Smokers. We will also have the right to oxygen tanks and lung transplant surgery on the dime of our government health insurance (subsidized by the non smokers who do not share in these rights) and we will breathe easy again so we may continue smoking, as is our right. Finally we will have the right to carry on our addictive behavior without being discriminated against and we will use the lobbyists of the large corporations that sell us our drug of choice because we are Smokers and we have rights!

This summer when I am sitting on a patio and some smoker lights up I am going to institute the water spray retaliation plan. In this plan I have a spray bottle of water with me. When the smoker lights up I start to spritz my water. When they ask me to stop, I will ask them to stop. When they tell me they have the “right” to smoke I will tell them I have the “right” to water.

Thinking

In the silence is
where everything is spoken
Inside the silence is
where we make love
Down deep in the darkness is
where no sound can travel
And the truth of our lives also, is
Down deep
where our souls mingle.

Rights and North Korea

I heard a comment that North Korea has “the right” to create and maintain nuclear weapons. Why? How is it that an insane dictator that has a country of people under control through fear has the right to create and arsenal of nuclear weapons? This same person compared the situation to the United States saying that they have nuclear weapons and if they have them any nation should be allowed to have them. I fail to see the comparison. We are talking about a Country that is lead by an individual that denies its population any basic human freedoms. They are not allowed to use the Internet or cell phones. They barley have enough food to survive and they have every aspect of their lives dictated to them.

Before anyone makes the argument that these people worship the dictator lets just move on from that by saying the following. When you are raised to believe that your leader is God and you are manipulated by fear the fact that you worship him does not count. You are not making that choice willingly. The abused often hold the hand of their abusers.

This man has no rights, period. He has no expectation that the rest of us should or would respect him or his regime of manipulation and terror. It is unfortunate that the USA attacked Iraiq instead of North Korea. Clearly North Korea is the largest threat to democracy. Regardless, a dictator has no rights to nuclear power or anything else for that matter.

It's Pretty Simple

Mel Gibson. I will say upfront that I think spending the amount of time on this topic that our media has is a huge waste of time. First, the man was drunk, apparently drinks quite a bit, which says pretty much all we need to know. Second, in his interview with Diane Sawyer he says it all. He claims that the comments he made are not the type of person he is. He said that the alcohol loosened his tongue. Whatever Mel, when I am drunk and my tongue gets loose I do not find myself making racial slurs and referring to female Police Officer's as “sugar tits”. I also found it very interesting that you had the presence of mind to consider your image. You splashed cold water on your face and fixed your hair prior to having your mug shot taken. You did this by your own admission because you were thinking of Nick Nolte’s mug shot and you didn’t want one like that, of yourself, out there. I see Mel, we are to believe that the words you were spouting were not you, or a reflection of the man you are, because you were drunk and therefore; not in command of your faculties . Yet you were in command enough to fix your hair for your mug shot. Mel again, whatever.

I am reminded here of a quote from Maya Angelou. “When someone shows you who they are, believe them”. I believe you Mel.

OJ - the drink...

Tony, from Oro Cafe, just dropped off an OJ smoothie. I love it, what a nice part of the day. It's an odd concoction however. It is made with fresh squeezed orange juice, milk and ice. All blended together in a blender. Yum. I must say it feels so good to drink. So healthy and refreshing. I have a new drink. The old one, a grande soy no water no foam tazo chai, is just so heavy and fattening. I think I will move on.

Okay back to grooming. One dog on the table one more to bath. I should be done by 1ish...looking forward to that.

Understanding

I read this article, which I discovered on a fellow blogger’s blog. I must say that I do not understand world politics and world economics. We seem to act as if this is something that is beyond our control. Like the stock market is some kind of living entity and try as we might we simple cannot predict it or control it. Did we, mankind, not create it?

The article talks about world leaders and the UN. It talks about coups and killings and university professors. It mentions oil and New York City gridlock (which I agree why is the UN in New York?). It talks about madmen running countries. Why is it that we human beings insist on electing madmen? What is with the leader of Iran that has him denying the Holocaust? One of his statements is “why 6 million” what does he mean by that? I would truly love to get to speak to these people, one on one, for an hour. I doubt I could take much more than that but it would be a great opportunity to find out what they really think if they think at all.

Still I find myself confused. There were parts of the article I did not even follow. Like why it is that certain economies are doing so well. The writer quotes percentage increases in certain economies and I recall that the US was at 5%. There was a comparison, to say, Russia that was 49 or 50%. I have a feeling that the growth of these developing nations is large and the US is small has something to do with a lesson I once got from my personal trainer. He told me that my gain (muscle) would far out reach his. Why? Because his body is so developed that his gain would obviously not be as great as mine. It would take him a lot of work to increase by 1 or 2 points but me well I would gain by leaps and bounds. I am not sure if I explained that properly but it makes sense to me. It is always tougher to lose the last 10 pounds than the first.

Connecting this back to the economy question. The US is not going to gain that much. It is thriving and developed. So maybe 5% is like Russia doing 50, I do not know just a guess. I am still left wondering why, if the world is made up of basically good people, we have countries laundering money, killing Bankers (which by the way is a nice way of candy coating the death of a person, he may have been a Banker for a living but he was a human being and he was murdered) denying horrific atrocities not to mention the wars we engage in. I suppose, when it comes right down to it, we are all to busy in our own little worlds to stand up for what we believe in. How inconvenient to have to educate ourselves and participate. How scary it is to take on these large issues. Much easier to go home and lie in bed and watch some so called reality show.

Janet

All weekend long, as things happened, I thought I should Blog this. Of course, now that it is time to Blog I have nothing to write about. I find myself wondering what did happen over the weekend? I recall going to Fran’s for a really late lunch or perhaps it was a really early dinner. I groomed a couple of dogs on Saturday and a friend dropped by. Oh, it’s all coming back to me now. It was a good weekend.

Yesterday I watched Oprah. Oprah’s guest was Janet Jackson. When the interview started I thought it was going to be pretty lame. One of the first questions Oprah asked her and Janet did not answer it, directly. I got the feeling she (Janet) did not understand the question. I stuck it out, however, as I have never seen Janet interviewed and I was sure Oprah would ask her about Michael. I think I may have been more curious about that then Janet her self.

By the end of the interview Janet had won me over. She seems to be an intelligent funny woman. She is very soft spoken and I found it hard to hear her, which seems odd on TV. Oprah came through loud and clear but I had to turn the volume up to hear Janet. Odd.

Janet performed twice and even though I enjoy the dancing and her music I did not watch the performances. It is a sound thing. For some reason I do not like the sound when any singer performs on a talk show. So I fast-forward though those parts of the show.

There you go. That’s my Blog entry. Nothing very exciting I am afraid and certainly not life changing. You will have to read the archives for that!

A World of Devils

All I have to say is: Takes one to know one.

Click the link for details. The Devil.

Fight clubs....

Here we go. In this TO Star article it is uncovered that young school students are in fight clubs. They punch each other out and video tape it using their cell phones. Then they post the video on the web. Some do this for profit some for fun. Now the "authorities" want to find a way to arrest them. Of course this must be stopped it's wrong! Whatever.

First I have to laugh at parents. Always so surprised that little Jonny or Suzie are into something like this. The Mother in the article states that they do not condone violence at home. Okay, but her son is in the cadets and she is proud that he has learned to use a gun. Hmmmmm. I also find myself wondering who supplied these teens with the cell phones. I wonder if it is the ever popular indulgent parent. I wonder.

I figure we need to have an open rapport with young people, actually talk to them and listen. Listen being the operative word here. Often we only hear what we want too. We need to be open to what they are saying, truly hear them, then we can start to support them in a truly meaningful way. I can't imagine engaging in a "fight club". Although if I thought I could win I might have gone for it. Hell why not? Think back to 15 years old and what a school yard is all about. Why do we as Adults always want to control. Let's arrest these young people. They are wrong and bad and we need to stop this, we need to be in charge. We know what's right and what's best. We need to get over ourselves. We need to realize that we do not have control, never did, never will. We can however, listen offer our support and create alternatives. Of course that takes more effort and is far more time consuming then arresting them.

Too skinny, what???

I heard on the radio, I think it was this morning, that the genius’s that run fashion shows have decided that models are to thin. Really, I hadn’t noticed. On the surface I think this is a positive change. Models can lay of the drugs and have a bag of chips. The rest of us will see realistic bodies on runways and magazines (well maybe not realistic but closer to the truth).

What gets me, however, is that these ultra skinny models are no longer being asked to model. Suddenly they are to thin. Without any warning the industry shifts gears and drops all the girls that have purged and starved for them. The industries righteous attitude once again causes damage the models. What’s that all about; it’s all about a lack of integrity. How so you ask? Glad you did.

If those in the industry that make these decisions acted with integrity and professionalism they would work with the models. Prepare them for the change. Let them know that they can go to rehab and hit the junk food isle at Loblaws or Vons. Give the girls a chance to put on a few pounds. In the mean time let them model.

These girls strut and starve all to show off some gowned only 1 percent of the population could ever hope to afford. Sure they get the big paycheque but stop with the head games. It’s like an abusive parent, slap them down and then hug them. Those poor girls, is it any wonder…

To shave or not to shave

Last night, in the wee hours, I was reading an article on body hair. I would have added the link here, however, it was on sympatico/msn’s home page and I cannot locate the article now. Anyway, it talked about lots of hair no hair and what to do with hair. It talked about how some women love a man with a big furry chest and others do not. It did not, however, talk about the fact that some men love a big furry chest. We still live in a homophobic world. Why not just write in a genderless fashion. Of course, that is likely to difficult for mainstream media. But I digress.

What I have learned over the years is this. Lots of hair no hair, tall or short it really doesn’t matter. As I attempt to pair myself off I always find that I am either to tall or to short or to fat and believe it or not, not fat enough (that was a real kick in the teeth). The truth of the matter is we need to just be what we are. When that “right” person strolls along they will love us because we are hairy or smooth tall or short. Truth be they will love us for who we are not our physical appearance. Okay I get that our appearance is what gets their attention but that wont last.

So pluck and primp pull and tug all you want. Your potential mate might just pass you by because they love furry chests and you shaved yours off.

A little inspiration

I just read the Wonkitties Blog and there was a mention of Patricia Kennedy Lawford’s recent death. I clicked on the link to the article and after reading it I realized that that is the kind of life I want. And I don’t mean being married to a hot actor and having kids. Although, I would not turn down the hot actor part but that’s a different kind of Blog entry! I thought it must have been fulfilling to have given so much and participated in so many things that helped so many people. I think I am, yet again, in the wrong career stream. I tend to get into things and then discover that they are empty and meaningless. I mean imagine working 11 years for a large Canadian Bank!

So, I sit here at work, in my store, and wonder and wait. Right now I am hoping for the next 30 minutes to pass by so I can head out for lunch. I am still a bit tired from being sick and I want to get up and move around. I read Rondi’s Blog and now feel informed and maybe a little bit inspired as well.

I wonder if, at 40, one sees 82 (Patricia’s age at her time of death) as much closer and that makes every thing seem more urgent. Not much time left to achieve all the things one dreamed about in their youth. One day 20 the next day 40. Time to get on with it. I think I’ll go get a Chai Latte now.

Email

I just sent up a new email address for myself at home. I have gone without the Internet, at home, for the past few months so I have not had email directed to my home. I recently set up the Internet again and just today got my email working properly. I set up a new email address and sent it out to my friends. No one has sent me an email yet! I keep checking to see if I have any new messages. None. How can that be? Funny, I have had email for years. One would think the novelty would have worn off. But nope, I have new “toy” and I want someone to send me email! I need new friends. :)

Proportions

Crap.
The light fell
spilling across the floor
it exposed the bottom
the secret place kept hidden
under the bed.

I inhale.
just outside range
frozen now in the dark part
of the room; my life flashes
held there I wonder
Am I a victim?

Danger.
passes around me
the light rolls the other way
a deeper shadow, light crawling up the wall and
I see the top now

and it is strange and out of reach.