Her proudest moment...Princess Kamlyn and the new babies, Caiden and Jacob 

"Don't you wish there were a knob on the TV to turn up the intelligence? There's one marked 'Brightness,' but it doesn't work." ~ Leo Gallagher

The weather has turned cold and you can smell *it* in the air. September is coming. There is a distinct smell that comes with the change of this season, yet it is hard to describe...it is crisp, frosty, kind of tinny smell. It is the smell of yellow leaves falling...of a long, arduous winter ahead. It is the smell that triggers the anticipation of planning for back to school. Makes me want to buy new clothes and binders and get me some new cool pens.

This is the time of year when visitors go back home from their holidays. Goodbye Cherie and OTC, I will miss you more than you know. Leighanne leaves in 2 weeks too. Every time I say goodbye, I wish I was on the leaving end and not the staying end.
Only 2 more years.

Over the last 5 days I have seen more TV than I ever thought possible. What with the Olympics on every channel (although I find myself constantly landing on the French channel, which is weird) and spending time at friends' houses where digital cable is readily available. Well, let's say I have seen enough "Futurama" to last me for a while now. I also got my first glimpse of 3 shows I had only ever heard about. The first was "Da Ali G show".

"Mother of God" I thought, "is that Newt Gingrich? Oh my God it *is* Newt Gingrich."

Ali G interviewing Newt and it took him 10 minutes just to get the name spelled right...Then Ali G talks in studio with a Drug Enforcement Agent. This long table was loaded up with every drug know to man and he's asking the Agent how he mixes his drugs and how many ecstasy he would consider the limit. Of course the Agent scoffs and says he would *never* even ingest one tablet which promts Ali G to launch into this anecdote about his friend who took 23 at one time. At the very end he remarks, off-handedly, that the table full of drugs would only serve a *small party* and the look on the DEA's face was priceless.
If you have never seen it, wear your Depends(TM), it is literally *that* funny.

I also caught an episode of "Trailer Park Boys" (who knew that Bubbles would be the *smart* one)and an episode of "Orange County Choppers". Glad I don't have a father like that...cripes. But they make some pretty wicked choppers...kind of a cool show.

So yeah, mindless fun. The best part is really hanging with the boys and listening to their commentary on these TV shows...which is far more funny that the shows could ever be.
Is anybody else tired of all the Olympic commercials? Ronald McDonald diving and synchronized swimming? Puh-lease! I hope the irony of that made you laugh like I did.

Thank God school starts soon...and I'm grateful I had that meeting with the ladies at the International Centre...or my mind might just turn to mush soon. We are thinking "Making Poverty History" as a theme for I-week. It feels good to have a project to focus on!

"Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence." ~Robert Frost

Well I had a visitor from Texas on my blog!! Hi April, thanks for stopping by! And April has an interesting link on her blog to a report called: Fifty-nine Deceits in Fahrenheit 9/11
This just proves that when the truth is on your side don't screw about or you will lose credibility.
There is a lesson about critical thinking behind all this. Always consider the source. Don't you wish that you could trust Moore as a credible source? I don't trust anything I read anymore. I want the lies to stop. I would like to know I am getting *all* the relevant information so I can make up my *own* mind. But with all the spin, I'm just getting dizzy. And we wonder why people are apathetic....

I had a great conversation with my Aunt last night about politics, education and apathy. I study international relations and I have a tendency, I'm told, to talk over the head of my friends and family about this stuff. Most of my friends find it frustrating and esoteric. For example, we went to Julio's the other night and I was embroiled in a great conversation about the upcoming American election with my good friend Greg Bennett. I was defending Kerry and Greg was saying that Kerry was in the pocket of the labor Unions and was just the lesser of two evils when it comes to voting. (I'm abridging his much more eloquent argument for brevity) My other friend, Tim, was also sitting at the table listening to us was getting more and more angry about our conversation, to the point where he asked us to stop. I often get this kind of visceral reaction from my friends. So why is it some people can debate issues and learn something from that debate, like me, and other people listen to a debate and just want you to shut the fuck up?

My Aunt posits that she doesn't talk about accounting (her vocation) terms and such in front of me because I wouldn't be interested in that, so when I talk about the details of my "vocation", I do it without realizing it is super boring. She also thinks I do it to make other people look stupid, and she could do that too if she wanted to. She could talk about fixed assets, long-term receivables, and amortization but peoples eyes would glaze over. She likens this to my blathering on about the I.M.F and structural adjustment policies, third world debt, and the AIDS pandemic. I don't speak about these issues to be arrogant, but because I deem them important. But it clearly comes off as educated arrogance.

I had never thought about it like that before. Just because I study something that effects people every day does not make it any less boring to those who could care less. Then you have Michael Moore who took politics and made it funny, albeit frightening, and then engaged a lot of people who didn't really pay attention before. He's reached people. People who, like me, just want the truth, instead of wading through the lies that are fed them by the mainstream media or political spin-doctors. Then you find out he's peppered his commentary with lies and he's as bad as the rest of them.

I figure I want to be like Michael Moore without the lies. I want to be able to talk about these complicated issues that don't reach the average person to let them know these issues exist. I find this more and more difficult though and perhaps I should stop talking about my vocation and just talk about "regular things" like how much shit costs at Walmart or what is happening to Nikky Hilton.

Is it interest or education that allows for good debate?


Song Du Jour: Mary, Mary ~ Run D.M.C.

"Meeting dates should be set by the committee well in advance so that students can schedule around them." M. Mustafa Hirji

Hear, Hear!!!

I shall be forced to discuss Council matters in this blog post. I know, I know...look away if you are not interested by the intricacies of internal reform or the committee system and its faults. (and you hacks will find this colloquial rant frustrating, I'm sure....)

I have some thoughts and can't comment on POI, so I chose to come here, although Webboard would most likely be a better place, but nobody has started a thread there on this topic. Whatever, it's my blog, and this is on my mind.

First off there is a CRAP meeting on Monday at 4 p.m. and I would encourage all councilors to show the fuck up. If nobody goes to committee meetings it sort of defeats the purpose of committees altogether now doesn't it? (although this will only serve as a reminder because those who read this blog are most likely all probably going to CRAP, you diligent councilors you...)

Committees, I found out, are where all the 'action' is in our governance system. I did not understand that when I first became a councilor and it was James Knull who encouraged me to get on as many committees as I could. I sat on six committees last year and enjoyed it immensely. So thanks James for that heads up.

Mustafa has done an excellent job of reviewing the committee system as it stands and has given his educated opinion on how to best "fix" the system itself so that it can be more effective. I am grateful for this review and would like to thank Mustafa for taking the time to write up his recommendations. Thank you, Mustafa.

I shall digress here for a second....This type of council issue highlights one of the reasons I did not pursue a council seat in March. I feel that council spends far too much of it's time focused on internal review and not enough time doing what *I* thought was more important work. I came to realize that what *I* deemed important is actually outside the purview of council, so I just shut my cake hole and focused on internal review. This can be very frustrating for Councilors though, and I hear ya! Who the hell cares if our committee system has a few glitches!? Isn't this a waste of time!? Does it really need to change?

Yes. For the love of Moses, YES!

So back to Mustafa and his recommendations.

I like how the paper addresses the role of Student's at large. I enjoyed reading the circular argument that S.A.L.'s are not "ordinary." It seems that if you care about student politics, which would lead you to get, even remotely, involved you go from "ordinary" to somehow become extraordinary and no longer a voice of the masses. It is like a catch 22...the only way to be remain an ordinary student is to stay out of student government, but to be an SAL you have to engage thereby ending your desirability as an ordinary student. Wha? Huh? Yeah...it is very confusing. By that argument all those who get involved in student government are extraordinary...just myopic and out of touch with regular students. That's good stuff.

I agree that Councilors are best suited for the job and on most committees I think that S.A.L.'s can be replaced by a councilor; an elected person, who is most likely better prepared to speak on behalf of their representatives. I never used to think that, in fact when I first heard that they wanted to get rid of SAL's I was against it, shouting "but what about accountability and accessibility?" After some experience I understand the difficulty of the question and the reasons why, on *certain* committees, they should be eliminated. Can't 'ordinary' students attend any meeting if they'd like?

I personally would say "Buh-by" to S.A.L.'s on policy committees because of the nature of the committee itself. But what is wrong with having S.A.L.'s on The Eugene Brody Committee? Some student's want to engage in the process but do not like the political nature of some committees so they apply for others. We can have a balance there. I think that is reasonable.

I agree that the Committees should be less Exec centric. We should have standing committees for Budget issues, Legislative drafting, Auditing, and Political Policy creation. But the major Policy Boards tend to become "Kitchen-sink" committees and their mandates are to broad to actually fulfill. I see the importance of removing Exec as chairs too. Mustafa argues that point very well and all of the irrationalities behind it. I agree with everything he so eloquently said.

There is one place that Mustafa and I disagree.

"Just as every bylaw is passed through the Internal Review Board for drafting and making coherent with the rest of the Students' Union's body of legislation, so too should all but the most trivial motions and emergency motions pass through some committee for thorough vetting, analysis, and improvement. Only then will Council be exploiting the benefits of committees to their fullest.

By integrating committees into the handling of Council's business, a true committee system will arise, a system against which Council can lean for improved handling of Council business."

I don't think that motions should come up through the committee system first, and I think this would reflect the same flawed system GFC has, no? I think they should come as motions to council and then be referred.

I would be worried that nothing meaningful would ever hit the floor of council. I would be concerned if no motion began *in council* because sometimes you need the impetus of council behind the motion. To use an example from my experience moving the Advocacy motion last year, I think the motion would have never made it through to council if I had submitted it directly to EAB or AAB or FAB. With that approach only one councilor is moving the motion and a small committee can too easily dismiss a motion. Council liked the motion and passed it because it could be referred to committee and then assigned a specific date for the committees to report back to council.

I think that process worked well and I think it would be terrible to limit councilors trying to move motions to the floor. Would Councilor Debenhams motion on sunset clauses even made it to council if had to go through committee first? I wonder? Would that approach limit new ideas?

So there are some of my thoughts...I put them here as a person who felt like sometimes the whole process could be taken over by "hacks". Sometimes I felt that the issues were so esoteric (**cough, *separation of Powers,* cough**) I wondered if I could ever add anything to the discussion. I felt like I couldn't get my head around it and it took a lot of work to figure that shit out.

Anyway...I look forward to seeing what council comes up with. And in the same breath, I am glad that I can just leisurely browse though this stuff, and add commentary from my experience, and not be in the middle of the fray. Being a good councilor really involves a shitload of work. It means you have to give a rat's ass even when you don't. I hope all my councilors will apply the same level of research that I did when I was in their position even if they don't want to.

Edit: There is a discussion on Webboard

"The life of a Canadian Sports Minister is only slightly longer than a fruit-fly and almost as glamourous" ~ Jonathon Gatehouse

Should Canada spend more money funding olympic athletes?
This article suggests we invest at least $50 million a year.

"Well, I *know* I have caughten that bus before.."~Idiot

Caughten? Bloody hell....

Right Ma'am of course you have *caughten* that bus where no bus runs and never has, I am obviously lying to you just to make your life more difficult. Your head must be full of caughten....

Sorry, but that one really made me laugh...I just had to share.
I love my job.

"I got me a car, it seats about 20 so come on and bring your jukebox money..." ~ Love Shack by the B52's

Went out stomping down Whyte last night with The OTC and Keepin' it real Neil (Kirn) and a bunch of Kirn's boys. Haven't seen Kirn in a long while and he's still keepin' it real. We headed out the The Elephant and Castle. It had that weird 'Cheers' effect because there were so many people I hadn't seen in a long time. Kirn was buggin' the bartender whom he kept referring to as "Sam Roberts". He was giving him a hard time about his sexy hair. He kept calling Sam's hair his "Achilles testicles". The ensuing discussion about testicles took a turn for the worse after we fought about the definition of hermaphrodite. They didn't believe me when I said it was a person having both genitalia. Sam Roberts set them straight and was my backup. After the brief discussion about Jamie Lee Curtis OTC took pictures with his cell phone from the future which takes wicked little pictures. It even has photoshop built into it. The he showed a slide show of pictures he had taken along his worldly travels. It is quite the phone and pretty much does everything but wipe your ass. But rest assured, says OTC, the next model will come with that feature...

After a few pops the boys decided it was time to Karaoke. We walked down to H2O which is a bar I have never been too. I didn't even know it existed. Besides Karaoke it had pool tables and VLT's, so the ambiance was kinda trailer trash...but in good way. There certainly was an interesting cast of characters. There was "stuck in the eighties guy" who wore his tattered Bon Jovi t-shirt, his Top Gun style sunglasses, and had one sweet mullet. There was "Paul Schaeffer" the pool shark, who would only let Kirn play his special lady. It was like he was some kind of Pool Pimp...weird. Kirn kicked her ass. Watch out or you'll get the Buzolt...
Then the night turned interesting because the boys started ordering up double gin and tonics.

The highlight of the evening was Jordan's hilarious rendition of the B52's 'Love Shack' with the birthday girl. It was sawesome!
On the way out of the bar there was a Japanese couple yelling at each other. Wasted OTC perks up his ears at the sound of Japanese discussion and can't resist. He starts yelling back at them in Japanese. He's yelling "Crazy Gaigin" (foreigner) at them and they are completely shocked that this crazy, drunk Gaigin is yelling back in Japanese to them. The look on the woman's face was priceless. On our walk home, which is only about 7 blocks or so, we must have been stopped and asked for spare change about 12 times. (and I'm not exaggerating). It made me think of Sammers and her blog post about that very same thing which has provoked discussion about what is wrong with the world.

Kirn spots some cute girls and yells at them from the other side of the Avenue, "I'm right here ladies!" and then " Look no further ladies, we are right here..."
At that very moment we came up past the bus shelter where an older, toothless, disheveled man was pushing his cart/home along the sidewalk and he turns around and starts yelling along with Kirn.
"I'm right here ladies!... Look no further, we are right here..."

I nearly pissed myself laughing.

One lost soul, stumbling past us on the trek home, had track marks all up her arms and was clearly wasted, leans into us and slurs, "schpare some schange?"
I politely shake my head and mumble, "sorry" but Kirn takes one look at her and says, "No way!"

Ah..Kirn he's always good for a laugh...
Keepin' it real Neil is like the 'Paul Welke' of my early 20's.

"All wealth is the product of labor." ~John Locke

What an odd week. Indicative of life in general, this week my life has been touched by both birth and death. This has caused many of us to stop and ponder on the big questions of life (and blog about it that oh so esoteric nature of blogging). I took the opportunity to reevaluate my priorities and I've realize that I am stuck in a rut and that rut is deceptively comfortable and cozy. Don't you hate that, you think you are doing the right and sensible thing and then you realize that all those excuses you were making really just was the "easy" way out?
Then again is any thing important ever 'easy'?
The sacrifice is simply not worth the 'reward' in this case anymore, so it is time to mix things up a bit. Scary. Yet, it is time for me to put aside the fear of walking away from comfort and into the realm of the uncomfortable, in hopes that it will be more rewarding. I hope that is esoteric enough for ya.

My friend 'Lina went through hell, and by 'hell' I mean 3 days of ridiculous amounts of labour pain, to have her baby. Jacob was born this morning at 10:56 a.m. and was 9 lbs. 8oz. The strength and courage that it takes to give birth amazes me. I am in awe of it. Today my friend Caroline is the wealthiest person I know.

I'm so tired. So very tired...

Song Du Jour: This Woman's Work ~ Kate Bush

"I'm going back to New York City I do believe I've had enough..." ~ Bob Dylan
 

"A community to meet the 'right' person..."

Today my friend Lina (no, sadly, still no babins) calls me up, all excited, to tell me she heard about something for single girls on the CBC and thought I would totally be interested!

"It is for people who like politics, like you," she said, "so I even waited until the end of the show and wrote down the internet address for you"

"Okay" I said hesitantly, but willing to hear her out, I got a pen and paper, "go ahead..."

"it is www-dot-republicansingles-dot-com..."
My pen stopped on the paper and I started to giggle...

"and they have another one too..." she continued, "it's..umm...oh, here it is; www-dot-democratsingles-dot-com..."

"Well, thanks Lady," I said, "err...I'll check them out..."

I didn't have the heart to tell her I am neither Republican or Democrat, or explain my disdain for political parties in general, but I checked out the sites. I just had to! Then I killed myself laughing at the slogan for the republican site...too funny.

But wasn't that sweet? She wanted me to find the "right" person. (and all for the low, low price of just $9.95 for the first month and $14.95 for additional months...)
Hrm..I wonder if the Green Party has an internet dating service? Perhaps Nanners and Mr. Speaker should initiate www.ndpsingles.ca...

Song Du Jour: Pass That Dutch ~ Missy E