Johnny Depp

I love great actors, and there are more then a few out there. A great actor takes you away from the subliminal and puts you inside of what they are doing. They make life worth living for many who have dull lives or are otherwise restricted from the best of what the world has to offer. Then there's Johnny Depp.
I for one am annoyed that Disney kept him all to themselves with the pirate movies, I understand the money he made but his talent was wasted after the first one. He is the one person I can look at and say,
"hey I'm not the only one" that's crazy. He has an incredible gift at what he does, many movies he has been in would not have been made were it not for his incredible acting. And I for one can't wait to go see "the Lone Ranger" with Johnny playing Tonto. As he said on Letterman he wanted to set the record straight on what we have done to these first nations people at the same time entertaining us to death. Something only he can do.
Anyways happy birthday Johnny, at 50 you still look like you are 29 and I hope you have manny more "good films" to do before you call it a career!

The "N" word

What is it about this word that stirs so much emotion? It's a lot like swearing, the "F" word just rolls off your tongue so easily, I can think of a few more that are the same, but the "N" word is taboo. You are not allowed to say it, think it, or otherwise use it unless you are black, in which case you get to use it anyway you want. I did see someone on TV the other day saying that he wished the word would just disappear, and I understand that. The persecution that the African Americans has endured and still endures is mind boggling. It ranks right up there with what the Jews must have felt after the war. It's just like trying to quit smoking, when you see someone smoking you conjure up all those moments when you were addicted.
Maybe one day everyone will get that we are ALL made from the same DNA and that we are all equal in most ways. That is the most wonderful thing about science, it dispels most of the bullshit.
7 billion, equal in all ways, and counting

Catastrophes

The best news items are usually a catastrophe of some sort, be it a volcano, hurricane or fire. These are the most exciting for us to watch, as we must all be thinking what it would be like to be caught in one. No one catastrophe is worse then the next as loss of life and possessions are usually the result. This week Calgary, a city 200 miles south of where I live, got hammered by relentless rain to the point where most of the downtown core was flooded. The storm was rotating counter clockwise dropping all it's rain up against the mountains where it rolled back faster then the cars on the adjoining highway to all the lower lying areas. Two or three towns were completely evacuated stranding hundreds of thousands.
It has occurred to me that many cities and towns were built in low lying areas where settlers had put up stakes in the past. Unfortunately many of these places were not the best place to build. They were convenient at the time as water was handy to get with minimal work getting it back to their shacks. But today, with the spread of these cities and all the land being paved over it has lead to these kind of things happening.
I feel really bad for our neighbours to the south, and wish them the best in dealing with what can only be a massive mess not to mention power outages and ruptured sewers. No, not something I would want to deal with. If we needed it, the work would have been great. But this provence is already short of skilled workers do to our oil industry, it will take a long time to dig out of this one for sure.

Cheating

The games we play in life make us all cheaters, and bullies, and hypocrites. It would appear to me that this is instinctive, as a means to existing. Yet this is the very thing they try and stop, the cheaters and bullies.
In China apparently it's you're right to cheat. If you paid good money to cheat then that is your right. As witnessed at the state exams for entrance to university. They searched all the students for radio and cell phone devices, confiscated them and forced the students to write their exams without cheating. The parents were so upset they trapped the officials in the building and were tying to "get them" when police finally arrived. To them, it was their right to help their kids cheat and what these people did stopped them from doing so, and I suspect that a great deal of money was wasted as the cheaters could not communicate with the students. A truly "ironic" moment don't you think?
So how is it we keep falling for these scams? How is it we want so desperately want to believe everyone is on the up and up? It's a strange life we live, sure hope their are answers in the afterlife.
7 billion, pulling one over on you, and counting

Sports like hockey

I witnessed what can only be described as the most sickening video ever of a 16 year old hockey player getting beat up so bad he had a two black eyes, a broken nose and a concussion. Laying on the ice unable to defend himself he was hit ten times with roundhouse punches that would make you squirm in your seat. The parents were there as they filmed all his games and had to watch in horror as their son got this beating.
They took this video to the police and showed it to the league officials who basically said, "it's part of the game" and they should go on with their business. They did however suspend both the puncher and the poor kid who did not partake in any way in this fight. The police are not taking this seriously and it looks like it will end up under the rug. Even a lawyer who has taken on cases like this said it would go nowhere in court.
It has made me very glad I never put my own son in this game, but then it occurred to me that the parents of this boy could take him out of it as well. They never once said anything like this. If the brutality of the game is not to your liking then walking away is the right thing to do. These sports are all getting out of hand, taking shots to the head by well conditioned athletes is doing real damage. Most of these kids will never play professional and are risking brain trauma just to play a game! Then there is the "overprotection of players" that is happening. Little league players with so much protection on they can barely move.
All I know for sure is that this is going to stop one day, there will be a death so gruesome it will kill these leagues with lawsuits up the ying yang. I'm just glad this was not me at this game, as I would be in jail for taking revenge on someone involved. I know I would have gone off the deep end if that was my kid getting beat up, further showing why I'm sick of the game and not interested in watching it anymore. For the record, I played a lot of hockey when I was young, and loved the sport till I was signed for "rep hockey" when the fun was taken out of it for me. I stopped playing at 14 years old and do not regret it.

Bangladesh

The CBC did a profile look at the aftermath of the building collapse that happened in Bangladesh. As sad as it was I couldn't get over just how well dressed these people were. Even though they were paid very little to work in those factories making what can only be described as VERY CHEAP and not very good looking cloths, they themselves were dressed in very colourful silks. It made me want to go out and buy some for myself. Did they miss a chance to do original styles of their own, export these beautiful and colourful robes to wear?
All I know for sure is that these cheap cloths they produce do not last long and for the most part are ugly. I try to put myself in their place and wonder just how unstylish the people are that ware this shit I'm making! But this is the market Wall Mart has made, cheap cheap cheap. I purchased some socks at Super Store (Loblaws) that leave a trail of fabric on the carpet and fall apart so quick I can't keep up with replacing them. I of coarse do not buy this crap anymore, but then when I try to find decent cloths to buy it becomes very hard, or the price is astronomical do to low demand.
When was it that all these stores decided that only the lowest priced goods were what we wanted? Like sheep everyone did the same thing producing crap at the absolute lowest price possible. You all know what I'm talking about, to go out and find anything that is made decent is hard to do. I remember buying a shovel at Crap Tire once, lasted for less then a day. The rivet used to hold it together bent resulting in it's unsuitability. Of coarse I could take it back but when I tried to find a better one all I found was the same kind of crap.
The final thing I want to say about this is something they do not report on. It was revealed in the piece that there was a big rush to put out the "Joe Fresh" order and this was why many died in the collapse as they were working overtime to get it done. All these big buyers put time limits on delivery of the goods, and when they fail to get it out on time they get even less money for the work. Wall Mart does this to trucking companies that show up late with a trailer, no matter why they were late they fine the company more then they make on the load. I know this for a fact as I've been in the trucking business for many years. The post Office does this as well, with the poor owner operator getting stuck with a loss, I mean even 5 minuets late gets you fined. This is the reason for catastrophes like this, way too much pressure to get things done. This needs to stop, everyone needs to take a breath and relax a bit.
7 billion, taking a moment, and counting

The Truth

Ha, like I know what "the truth" is. The better question is does anybody know the truth? There is spin put on spin to the point that the spinners are confused. Not only are they confused, they really don't care  about the truth, so help me god!
It's that line, so help me god, that always intrigued me. By swearing on a bible you somehow were compelled to tell the truth, that once you "solemnly swear" on a bible what you said was in fact the truth.
Fact is is that the "facts" are always in dispute. That any two people will see something totally different or interpret "the facts" completely different from one another. I mean how else do you explain the Republican Party in the USA. (lol)
Then we get to morals, are morals the same everywhere? Even if some people have "different morals" do they understand each other's morals? Ones beliefs in the order of things is at the heart of what the truth is. But why is there such inflexibility between differing opinions? The answer to that is we are all spoiled, that we all want what we want and you are wrong and they are right. No, okay then lets fight about it and I will beat the truth into you. Yep, lets start a war on this because I'm going to get my way if it kills every last person in my country!
As it stands I see many of these kind of dictators disappearing of late. The masses are better educated and better informed. Like looking for the common denominator in a math problem, the world is slowly moving to one side or the other. Left, right, Muslim, Christen, Catholics, well I don't see an opposite to them. They are in a arena all by themselves. You get my drift here, and really I think many would argue that this is where we are right now. Seven billion people on one side or the other ready to annihilate one another. Makes for a scary place to live for sure as the means to do this are in place. All it will take is the wrong person to push the wrong button.
7 billion, with fingers crossed, and counting

Is a cashless society coming?

There are many people who would be terrified of a CL, (cashless society) as it would make cheating a whole lot harder. Not to mention who would control the credit system that would replace it. But I really think as a race we are poised to evolve to the next level, and at this level the current system would be useless. Robotics can do pretty much anything that justifies it's use. The rich are as rich as they are going to be, without a middle class they will run out of customers. That is where I see us at now, with the middle getting wiped out.
You have all this tension everywhere in the world that is ready to explode, and is exploding. By taking cash out of the equation many of these protests would fizzle out. Then you make all governments transparent in their operations, making it a service you need to do for your country like being in the army. After all, their is an app for running these things as well as robotics to do all the disgusting things we don't want to do. Make up a great logistic trade program with bar code tracking seen right on your personal device. Add some kind of capitalistic component to it all for people that want more but protect those that do not. We have the technology to run everything, we have the internet to connect it all, and we are close to having sustainable power sources to power it up.
Having fun in life is what most want, some meaning and some accomplishments with no stress and healthy life styles. We can do this, it's not that far out of an idea. Do we have the will is the only question that needs to be asked.
7 billion, singing John Lennon's Imagine, and counting

How Nice!

I've been thinking more on all the communication that the US government has been recording, and wondered why I bother to back up? Would seem they have a super size back up that is always on. Now if only they had the capacity for pictures, hmmmmmm.
Best 2 for 1 of the day, a small aqua-farm that grows food. A small self cleaning fish tank that grows food for only $60 this product needs to be in every big box store there is. The kids get to have some fish, and you get to grow some food. See it at, backtothewoods.com. Built by two graduates this is a terrific idea.
Raised bed gardening. As I've told you before I garden a lot. This year I built raised beds for all of my plants and I'm here to tell you this is the ONLY way to go! I have twice the growing space with about a third the work. It makes it very easy to take care of everything including the weeds. If you use "Mel's Mix" from square foot gardening and add in all that the internet has to offer on the subject, growing food becomes real easy. And clean as well, you can walk among the boxes and not disturb the plants I for one am completely sold on this method. Google images of raised bed gardens and you will see what I mean.
Apple back in the spotlight. I still have a hard time understanding how everyone treats this company. I compare it to a sports stars like Tiger or Labron, they are so good that we come to expect way more from them then the rest. Anyways I really like what they are doing, the polish they are putting to their operating systems is nothing short of fantastic. If only there were more companies that cared as much as they do about making the best stuff they can.
Vegetarian Thursdays. My oldest, Maxine, just told me about a lady in a town outside of Belgium that has got the whole city to sell and prepare vegetarian meals only! Wow, what effort that must have taken. I immediately thought of "fish Fridays" that the Catholics used to practice. It would seem that in Europe sustainability initiatives like this are far ahead of North America. Of coarse they are under more pressure to do these things as living space is at such a premium but to be so cool as well. I think a movie could be made out of the effort that it must have taken to get everyone on board, I'm sure it would be a great comedy hit.
7 billion, eating green one day a week, and counting

Control

The exposure of government surveillance should really not be that surprising, we have been fascinated with this since the first Bond film. But this is the march we have been on with the invention of the internet. Add in Google, Facebook, Apple and yes even Microsoft and you can only conclude that privacy is pretty much non existent. We are exposed to all that care to look. But can you imagine sifting through all that data? Can anyone think that they have really have any privacy in their lives?
To me this paints the real story of what most live for, and that is control. Even money and power do not stand beside the notion of control. The husband controlling his wife, the religions controlling their flocks, and of coarse the governments controlling their people. In every situation you are in it's about control. When I sold cars for a living is was about controlling the customer. We all want things to go our way, and we go the extreme lengths to do just that.
But I see this as a good thing, with the speed of the internet and the over saturation of devices connected to it we truly are exposed. Meaning we are all becoming more equal, not less. If we can all see what everyone else is doing then control starts to diminish. I think this is the one thing that will save us in the long run, the freedom to see everything, to learn about what everyone else is doing. As with the Borg on Star Trek next generation, you will be assimilated, it is inevitable. But the one thing they cannot control is thought, what goes on in your head is yours and no one else's. Even with the Borg pure thought won out in the end, being an individual was what triggered their downfall. I see it this way, how else can you see it? Believe what you want, and think about what you want. That to me is what freedom is, going deep in thought.
7 billion, knowing what everyone is doing, and counting