Zen Silence

Yes people, it’s 2008 — hell it’s practically 2009! So why do we still hold onto laws and regulations conceived for 50 years ago?

I’m talking about simple things, like public transit. Does it have the same relevance as 50 years ago? Hell no. It’s an integral part of our economy for a large percentage of people in any city with more than a few thousand people. It has a direct impact on our economy — if you can’t get to work, everything slows down. That’s certainly not what we need right now. Despite the obvious, the motion to make public transit an essential service was quickly shotdown in council chambers. Good job, gub’mint. Vote against something that helps millions and stimulates the economy in the wake of a recession.

Sigh.

It’s hard for me to believe that the same people whom voted for Bush — TWICE — actually made a sane decision. Obama took 349 EC votes to McCain’s 162! On the other hand, 56 million people still actually voted for McCain/Palin. Yes, 56 million people voted for a VP that says nucular.

You know, the US is a really confusing country for the rest of the world.  I mean, they did RE-elect Bush — more people voted for Bush in 2004 than in 2000! Can I know what went through their mind? “Oh wow he did such a great job in those 4 years.” Need I remind you that this was the man you kept reading gradeschool children a story after hearing that planes crashed into the WTC and the Pentagon? “I was so impressed by that, I’m gonna switch my vote and make sure he gets re-elected!”. Sometimes, a face-palm just doesn’t quite cut it. Well congrats, douchebags, look how well your economy turned out.

Hopefully this is the start of the US actually realizing their mistakes. I mean, could they finally see all the damage they’re doing? Will they really learn to think for themselves instead of listening to propaganda and start doing what’s best for their country and the rest of the world?

No, they’re just gonna go back to eating Cheetos and try to figure out why they voted for a frozen cake.

Holy flying’ Christ! I am glad I made popcorn for this!

While watching the VP debate, I decided that I must start writing down the stupid things that Palin said. I admit it was difficult to write all this while laughing so hard.

It was also hard because half the time, Palin wasn’t even answering the questions she was asked, she was just repeat herself (often in blocks of several sentences) or telling the moderator she’d rather talk about something else. Jack Cafferty said it well: The thought of this woman being one 72 year old man’s heartbeat away from being President of the United Stated is scary. It’s very, very scary, and god help us all of it was ever to happen.

Here’s a list of the top 10 (+1 bonus), in no particular order:

• Can I call you Joe? (blondie voice)
• Nucular (10 TIMES!)
• Drill baby drill!
• Senator O’Biden
• Akmadinejad (4 TIMES! — admittedly, Biden said this twice as well.)
• We both love Israel
• Eye-ran / Eye-raq (it’s ee-ran / ee-raq, biatch!)
• Say it ain’t so Joe [...] dog gone it!
• Shout out to the 3rd graders at [...] elementary, you get extra credit for watching this debate
• You walk the walk, you don’t just talk the talk
• Finally also [...]

Honorable mention from the announcer:

• Perhaps the headline tonight is that Governor Sarah Palin did not embarass herself

I’m not sure what else to say other than I am really looking forward to the polls tomorrow!

The concept seems simple — linear time. Things that happened before now are in the past, things that haven’t happened yet are in the future, and we only exist in the present.

But how can you explain time without using temporal words? Just look at my last sentence: now, past, yet, future, present. That’s five temporal words to explain time — not counting verb tenses. Basically, I just told you that time is time.

Of course, you understood what I said because you understand the concept of linear time. Now what would you do if you had to explain the concept to someone who could not grasp linear time? Could you explain time without any temporal nouns or adjectives? Well I tried to do it, and failed. I also ask several people whom I considered intelligent… and they failed.

Yet we grasp the concept at a very young age — probably 1 or 2 years old, maybe even earlier.

Odd, no? That we may need quantum mechanics to explain concepts we can grasp as soon as we can shit in our diapers?

I’ll leave you with one of my favorite quotes on time travel:

This is no time to argue about time… we don’t have the time.

Think about it… if you have the time…

This is completely ridiculous.

Gas prices shot up 16 cents overnight on the presumption that Gulf oil rigs would be damaged by Hurricane Ike. This is despite the fact that oil is under $100/barrel right now. At these prices, gas should be closer to $1.00/L with premium hitting $1.10.

So WTF is this $1.32/L I saw on my way to work this morning? Someone threw sand in the Vaseline last night, so bend over and prepare to take it like cheerleader.

The solution? Yes, there is one. Oil should be classified as an “essential service” and become regulated by people with common sense. The sad part is that our government doesn’t have any, so even if it becomes regulated, we’ll end up getting screwed.

It’s lose-lose folks. Welcome to America’s hat. Our government means nothing, doesn’t matter who’s in power, we’re at the mercy of whatever happens down south. The only thing our government is good for is wasting money. Your money, and my money. If I could opt out, I would. Anyone in Europe want to adopt me so I can get citizenship?

It’s been too long since I posted something here.

Looks like it’s Pirates and Mexicans for our honeymoon. Here’s a quick rundown for the interested:

First off: a 1 week Caribbean cruise on the Crown Princess:

This looks pretty good! Apparently we’re hitting up some popular spots that use to be favorites among the old-timey pirates, like St. Thomas and St Maarten. Someone should really build a pirate ship and start boarding those cruise lines. You could make a killing!

Next up is the Mayan Riviera in southeastern Mexico.

How can you say no to THAT? Looks like a really nice spot and close to the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza. Not to mention the all-inclusive swim-up bar

I don’t think I can complain at all, and the fact that we got everything at a bargain just makes me happier. More money for shopping!

Oh Canada, land of hypocrisy and maple syrup.

Let’s all extend a warm welcome to Northern Peaks, Canada’s first pornography channel. Recently approved by the CRTC (that’s our FCC for you Americanos) since they promised 50% Canadian content (keep an eye out for that!). Well now, many people have a problem with this. They think it encourages immoral activity in our saint little country. I have a problem with this too. But not for the reason you’d expect.

You see, it’s illegal to pay or offer prostitution in this country, but it’s perfectly legal to make adult movies — including being paid for starring in them and purchasing them. So I ask you: what’s the difference? This is hypocrisy at it’s finest my friends.

Let’s say you’re an “independent producer” and you’re “pro-actively recruiting”. Would that get you a ticket? Does it make it legal if you offer to video tape the encounter? In this world, probably not. But I would like to see someone try it and document the results.

In the end, I’ll respect your beliefs if you are for it or against it, but don’t be a hypocrite.

Remember that VISA Security article I write 2 weeks ago? Well they finally decided to acknowledge my message. Here’s their e-mail:

Mr. Lapierre

We thank you for bringing this matter to our attention and appreciate customers
like yourself, who help us keep the Visa Infinite web site running seamlessly.  We apologize for any problems you are encountering accessing information from
our web site.
We will contact the appropriate Visa site administrators to advise them of the
situation.  If they need any further information or have any additional
questions, they will contact you directly.
Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Visa Infinite Product Team

Though worth noting, their website is still not actually fixed. Let’s see how long that takes.

Weddings are a simple thing to many people. They show up, put a gift on the table, congratudulate the bride and groom, eat/drink and go home when they please. How wonderful that must be!

From the other side of the table, putting all that together has probably been the biggest pain in the ass I have ever had in my life. Worse than buying a house. Much worse. Unlike people in any other industries, anyone who becomes a part of your wedding has only one chance to make it right. There are no returns or exchanges here.

Still sounds simple? Let me remind you of how many people are going to be a part of your wedding: Decorators, Photographers, Videographers, Florists, Bakers, Caterers, Waiters, Bartenders, DJ, Dressmakers, Jewelers, Travel Agents, Drivers, Deliverymen, Location owners (halls, parks, etc), Bankers, Rental agencies, Officiants and Salesmen. Notice how all of them are plural, and how I likely omitted many. Now picture yourself confirming all of the details with all of these people months, then weeks, then again days before your wedding. Consider half of them are dumber than the average person (basic math!). KILL ME NOW!

This brings me to WTF #1: Not hiring a wedding planner. Looking back, this is something we should have done. Luckily one of my cousins used to be a wedding planner and helped us out, though we still did a lot of leg work. ADVICE: We thought it would be too expensive to hire one, but looking back, it would have been worth it. Keep your sanity and spend more time relaxing.

On to WTF #2: Guests who RSVP and don’t show up. If you’ve never been through wedding planning, you may be interested to learn that you pay for your evening by foreseen headcount, so you still need to shell out a decent amount of money for people who don’t come (usually about $100 a head at the lower priced venues). Aside from that, it’s just rude… the very least you can do is to give a week’s notice to let the bride and groom adjust their numbers. ADVICE: Don’t do it, it makes you look like you really don’t care. In today’s world, you can call, e-mail, text message… there aren’t any excuses unless something happens to you on your way there. If you really can’t help it, at least redeem yourself as soon as possible afterwards.

And finally WTF#3 (and this is the worst one): Unprofessional contractors. As I said earlier, you are in a business where you have no room for error, and many of you are in the wrong business. What would you think of decorators who ask for cash payment with 24 hours notice before the wedding without an invoice? How about entertainers who can not follow directions that have been given to them a half-dozen times (literally), both orally and in written form? Venues failing to provide the most basic necessities without being pressured (ex: electricity)? ADVICE: Delegate to your bridal party or to anyone you know won’t take any shit from people you’re paying.

Scared yet? Thinking of returning that ring you bought? Hehe…

I don’t mean to paint a negative picture of the whole process… it certainly is worth it! With a firm hand, we were able to straighten out most of the problems beforehand, and we got nothing but compliments on the entire day. One thing to remember is that most people don’t know what you planned, so they won’t notice many of the things that don’t go as planned.

Overall, we had many more goods than bad. Our florist, photographers, decorators, officiant, caterers and service staff were all without complaints, and many more were very good.

Pictures will be up soon!

Amidst the collection of nuisances that plague everyday life, there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow (well.. except for that lady I posted about last week).

For the first time in over 2 years, a new song from Marit surfaces. Check out her MySpace page to give it a listen. Can’t wait to hear the rest of the album!

Congrats Marit… hope you come back Canada some day!

Edit: Here’s an awesome unplugged performance Marit did on a train. What an amazing voice!