Month: December 2003

Okay I knew that photo of me with the gun would raise some eyebrows. It’s only a b-b gun. (Bee-bee gun? Whatever). Mr. Woods got it through the mail because he’s a crazy fool. But I love him so.

The photo is meant to be ironic. I would never touch a real gun. Back in 1993 or 94 we were “on tour” and we were staying at a friend of Warren’s in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The people who lived in the house got out a gun to show Warren and Devon, and I went into the other room. They then went out to shoot things – I think at a firing range. Tara and I stayed at the house and watched Wile E. Coyote. That’s the kind of violence I prefer, by far.

Life is strange and wonderful in many ways. Thank you, my friends…see you soon.

I had an amazing weekend with Chris & Angie, Yvonne & Anghold. I spent almost no time on the interweb. A trend which I will continue tonight.

Tomorrow: swimming.
Wednesday: VGG Meet.
Thursday: Mutants & Masterminds

Stephane pointed out this cinema in town: Placebo “Sofa Cinema.” It’s 3 Blocks West of Commercial Behind Grandview Park and I am dying to see what it’s all aboot. Double bills are $5 and this month they are showing:

Monday Dec 15 – O Brother Where Art Thou
Wednesday Dec 17 – The Iron Giant (one of the best films ever) + The Hulk Monday Dec 22 – Groundhog Day
Friday Dec 26 – Akira + Mars Attacks
Saturday Dec 27 – 12 Monkeys + Last Night
Sunday December 28 – Princess Mononoke + The Dark Crystal

If you live in or near Chilliwack, come and see me in Bob’s short film Unrecoverable Error

Date: Saturday 6 December 2003
Venue: Chilliwack Arts Centre, 45899 Henderson Avenue
Time: screening begins at 8.00 pm, doors open at 7.00 pm
Cost: $5.00 per person

I surf the web for fun and education:

Wal-Mart bashing.

Do with these reported facts what you will. They are taken from a PBS documentary.

Musicians are at the mercy of Wal-Mart’s stringent content rules, forcing many to create “sanitized” versions of their albums specifically for the discount chain.

The rapid turnover – 70 percent of employees leave within the first year – is attributed to a lack of recognition and inadequate pay. The majority of its employees with children live below the poverty line. The health insurance package is so expensive (employees pay 35 percent – almost double the national average) that less than half opt to buy it.

“Buy American” banners are prominently placed throughout its stores; however, the majority of its goods are made outside the U.S. and often in sweatshops. By taking its orders abroad, Wal-Mart has forced many U.S. manufacturers out of business. In 1991, labor inspectors found labels for Wal-Mart brands being made in Manhattan’s Chinatown. There, 16 and 17 year-old Chinese immigrants without permits had been working for one month without being paid.

I thought of another good band name: The Invisigoths.

Kids, if you’re ever on Fir and 7th, there’s a really good French restaurant on the northwest corner. Kitty corner to the Diane Farris Gallery. Poutine and hot goat cheese salad for all.

Yesterday Marlo, Mr. Chris and I went to Opus to buy art supplies. I went to the till twice inside 10 minutes and was served by the same clerk – she didn’t recognize me. In fact, inbetween trips, she mistook me for Mr. Chris. I deem her an idiot. Hmmm. that could be a good ESL dialogue. I bought pencils and paper and some really neat pens. After we got back we played Scrabble. Then I went to Coquitlame to enjoy late night swimming with Ang Hold and then I raided her fridge. She drove back and we played Conquest Beyond.

You know…for fun!

I think I have finally caught Mr. Chris’ cold. The good news is: I am a cute girl – KISS

Mr. Chris AKA Stewie AKA my roommate got the Firefly complete series on DVD yesterday in the mail FOR FREE! He also got free movie tickets in the mail today. I’m waiting for him to open the envelopes to see what movies they’re for.

I think everyone should be like me: when you pay $5-13 to see a movie, and you’re sitting in the theater, and then they start rewarding your patronage with Coke and car commercials, close your eyes and stick your fingers in your ears and go LALALALALALALA.

Or better yet throw things at the screen and yell BOOOOOO!

I think if everyone yelled BOOOOOO during commercials they’d stop showing them and our quality of life would improve. Or we could go on hunger strikes.
Well, not me, of course. But you guys could.

We have cable again! I learned something from the cable guy today, the wisdom of whom I shall pass along to you. You know those coaxial cables that come with VCRs (the black ones) that you don’t need to screw in, you just push in? They have weak shielding that allows interference on channels 17-22 (the frequency of which is used for ambulances and police). So if you like your channels clean, don’t use them.

Did anybody see that weak, alarmist news article in the past 10 days or so about the return of bedbugs?

Speaking of news: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California proposed cutbacks in therapy for the mentally disabled and in AIDS and poverty programs. Administration officials let it be known that President Bush has decided to back down and repeal his illegal tariffs on foreign steel in order to avoid a trade war with Europe and Japan. President Bush showed up in Iraq for Thanksgiving wearing an Army tracksuit; Bush stayed in the country for two and a half hours, the same amount of time spent by President Lyndon B. Johnson in Vietnam, in 1966. It was revealed that the Queen of England often eats cornflakes for breakfast out of a Tupperware container and that Prince Andrew loves to play jokes on the servants, especially by hiding a puppet called Monkey in a different place every day. U.S. forces fought a major battle with guerrillas in Samarra and killed up to 54 Iraqis; American officials said the casualties were members of the Fedayeen but local residents said that most were civilians who fought back in self-defense. Neil Bush, the president’s brother, has admitted to enjoying the sexual favors of strange women who simply knocked on his door while he was visiting Thailand; Bush said he didn’t know whether the women were prostitutes but noted that they did not ask for money. Georgia’s new rulers, who overthrew Eduard Shevardnadze because they were tired of living in one of the most corrupt nations on earth, began hiring their friends and relatives for important government positions. The Bush Administration approved a research project to develop low-yield bunker-busting nuclear weapons, or “mini-nukes.” American security consultants were using Iraqi guerrillas to test nonstandard “limited-penetration” ammunition that punctures steel but shatters when it hits “soft targets” and creates untreatable wounds. Advanced Digital Solutions announced that it has developed a system to use subdermal implants to make credit-card payments using radio frequency identification, or RFID. Privacy advocates were not amused: “If we establish a robust credit-card network based on RFID chips implanted under the skin,” said one, “we are also creating the infrastructure for potential government surveillance.” A Wal-Mart shopper in Orange City, Florida, was trampled and knocked unconscious during a stampede at a Wal-Mart Supercenter; the stampede occurred at the 6 a.m. opening of a big sale. The victim, who was first in line, was found clutching a DVD player. [The sale offered $29 DVD players. One of the stampeders was heard to say “I’d kill for one of these!”-T] Astronauts on board the international space station reported hearing a weird noise, and scientists figured out how to make trees grow faster. Researchers in Australia were preparing to test a new ultra-convenient female contraceptive spray, and infectious-disease experts suggested that Alexander the Great died of West Nile fever. A serial horse rapist was on the loose in Bigfork, Montana.

Where is Georgia (the country)?