It's been awhile since I threw out a one of my random posts with interesting (to me) and funny links, commentary on music/books, and other such tidbits
My work has been keeping me very busy, but one of the real 'joys' of my job is my interactions with some of our more colourful patrons, some of which have been regulars for years and years before I came on the scene. Obviously, I will not name names in order to protect the guilty, but I still get surprised some of the characters who tend to frequent Central. So, when I saw this website, I could relate completely. I feel slightly mean-spirited by laughing at this, but I can relate because it's very similar to what I'm exposed to day in and day out. My job is never boring...
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I have been listening to a lot of CBC Radio 2's 'Concerts On Demand' and have had the joy of listening to live shows by Neko Case, Great Lakes Swimmers, Luke Doucet & Melissa McClelland, and Daniel Lanois, among others. There are a number of others I am excited to get to, including Stars, Kathleen Edwards and the "Neil Young Live at Massey Hall 1971" tribute gig.
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I have been connecting with my Scottish heritage lately (I don't even know how much there is back there, but I'm pretty sure there's some since my mom's side of the family is from Nova Scotia!) and reading How The Scots Invented The Modern World by Arthur Herman. It's actually a fascinating piece of work and within a few pages, this well-read history major had learned a whole score of new and interesting facts. It has the same kind of feel to it as does Thomas Cahill's Hinges of History series, which I, personally, enjoy a great deal. I love reading history and I wish I had the time to do more of it!
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I find it disturbing that the word 'mortgage' contains the French word for death. The irony of that is not lost on me because I'm going to be paying this place off until I'm in the grave, I'm pretty sure...
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The other night Caitlin and I played Ultimate Frisbee for the first time in about four years (on a damp field with no cleats!) and had a pretty good time. I took it fairly easy, didn't huff and puff too badly, and only had a few Kurt Browning moments out there where I essentially pirouetted to keep my balance due to the slickness. The fallout: a day or two later, despite post-game stretching, we were both incredibly sore! A week or so later, I'm still feeling it. I certainly do not have the kind of recovery time that I did as a young lad!
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I find the idea of privileged suburban white kids walking around in Che Guevara t-shirts to be hysterically funny! I wonder how many of them really "get it" because my hunch is...very few. I would not have the nerve, to be honest, considering who I am and my material conditions. The irony of Che's visage as a cultural icon here in North America, helping to spur on a consumer culture, is not lost on me...
It's hard to believe it is already September--what happened to the summer? I did not accomplish some of the things I would have liked, but all-in-all it was a good summer. I enjoy the Fall very much, however, and I am especially looking forward to this month and October as lots of good stuff is happening: concerts, traveling, and hanging out with some of my nearest and dearest friends. I'll try to post here and on the Binghams' blog as much as possible. Once the pre-season fires up, look for my Leafs blog to kick into gear as well! Cheers!
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2 comments:
re: Walmart. Isn't that site so funny? No matter how pset you are, I guarantee it will always cheer you up. (Minus the woman with the kid with a plastic bag on her head...)
re: Che. No kidding. My sister went to Cuba and brought me a backpack with El Che's likeness plastered across it. The mere fact that the face of the Cuban Socialist Revolution was emblazoned upon a piece of merchandise and sold in the very land that had rebeled against that same Imperialism that the bag now represented was far too much for me to handle.
I gave it to the Salvation Army.
Problem Solved.
Yup ... the 'Che' thing is probably the closest thing we have to a definition of "marketing irony" . Though, being a good Christian kid, you've probably already seen this...
http://www.churchads.org.uk/past/index.html
As for the Scots ... big fan of Robert the Bruce, but strongly dislike the Enlightenment influences of David Hume and Adam Smith. One of my favourite present day philosophers is Alasdair McIntyre (but now I'm beginning to show off my nerdiness).
Randy
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