Losing your sense of humour

Did I ever rant on about my thoughts about interconnectivity and coincidence that's too common to be coincidence. I think so.

It's happening again. Maybe it's because I have so many ideas on the blotter waiting to be edited and posted here that it's just a matter of time until blog thoughts and ideas criss-cross or meet with current events. When they do, the result is oftentimes a more potent message that the subject presented individually.

Comedy, humour, the lovely laff.

I've finally got my head into podcasts. What was the immediate attraction for me was the comedy content, especially from my home country. I loved watching the Secret Policeman's Ball ages ago when there were wonderful acoustic performances by the likes of Pete Townsend intertwined with laff splatters of Pythonesque. I had assumed the Ball had gone away (maybe it never did), but now it's back and can be enjoyed via a(free) podcast subscription. Some great stuff and even some American comedians getting some air time. Weird how American accents seems so "foreign" and strong when mixed with a majority of British voices !

Funnily enough, what I really found interesting was a comment made by Chevy Chase of all people. He wasn't really funny at all, but what he did say, I loved.

A sense of humour is the same thing as a sense of perspective.

I like that. I like it a lot. (Chevy went for the easy laff by saying that of course George Bush was lacking in this area !)

The other standout snippet I've heard so far was Steve Merchant (of The Office fame) taking the mick with Jimmy Fallon (of SNL fame) - funny stuff.

So working backwards a little, I've got to provide some comment on Borat. I haven't seen the movie yet, but I've only heard great things. What I like about it is Cohen's utterly convincing alter-ego, which he's done previously with the brilliant Ali G character and has another one waiting to be fully introduced.

But this is where I'm going to tie-in to this blog title. The anti-semitism humour. Is it just too real for some (unknowing) observers ? I say unknowing because Cohen apparently follows his own Jewish faith quite seriously. Or should this make a difference ? They always say it's ok to laugh at your own kind ! Is he perhaps too convincing or have people lost their perspective ?

Unfortunately I have to end with the most recent news of an off-the-rails comedian. Michael Richards. What he said earlier this week on stage was just plain racist and completely inexcusable. But you've got to wonder where those hateful words come ? I think he lost his perspective somewhere along the way. I loved watching his physical comedy even from early appearances on Fridays to the brilliant Kramer on Seinfeld (which, in my opinion is the best ever American comedy TV show). Now, the idiot's gone and ruined it all.

So getting back to Chevy. Perspective and don't forget....timing - the secret of good comedy.

The music downloading wars continue

Yes, I'm still downloading music and yes, my pseudo-illegal habits are quite controversial in this house. But isn't that one goal of a blog - to spark controversy and get a healthy argument going ?

Every now and again I check on news about my vice - allofmp3. I just noticed there a number of blog threads hosted by allofmp3.com. Some of the things recently discussed include:

• The actual cost of producing CDs
• The decreased value of your music collection when DRM (digital rights management) is being enforced
• The controversial blocking of allofmp3.com by Visa and Danish ISPs - what line does this start to cross ?

Note that the blogs do cover a broad spectrum beyond just allofmp3 and do include outspoken comments against allofmp3 !

Shall we play a game ?

Some of you may remember that famous movie line, boy have things changed in the computer gaming world.

Today was the North American launch of Sony Playstation 3 (PS3).
Sunday is the launch of Nintendo's Wii.
I think Microsoft Xbox have something planned for January.

My son wants them all.

I'm not helping the situation, because I've got caught up in the hype.

The pictures are from the Game Fest happening today at Yonge Dundas Square. Yeah, I was there, looking over shoulders at the latest in game technology and trying to win a PS3 for my son.

PS3 HD graphics are fab and it plays Blu-Ray - more reasons to break the bank for the HD TV.

Wii interactivity is definitely worth talking about. Get those lazy kids off the couch (although that's not a prob from my son - latest count: basketball 3 times a week; soccer once a week, swimming, house-league game-of-the-week and full live action game replay of every Raptor, Leaf and NFL game on right now). The latest marketing angle I just found is brilliant.

I'm sure previous releases have been as big, but perhaps it's the attention of my son that is focusing me a little. Although, all us guys like a cool toy ! Here's a a little snippet on the sub-text of the line-up story this week.

But all isn't oows and aahs, I recently caught a segment on Toronto's edgy Edge 102 radio where the guys were wooping it up about the latest fight/war game - "the new weapons are so cool; pretty graphic stuff; you can really do some damage with...". That's when this phenom starts to grind a little - how easy is it to cross the line of fiction and end up as a CNN moment ?

But, what's more fun the gyrating your pathetic excuse for a bod trying to beat some malformed head of an animated character hitting a phosphorous tennis ball trailer at you - in the comfort of your own home with a beer in your free hand ?

What ever happened to pong or a good board or parlour game - charades anyone ?

A Great Waste of Time

YouTube

WARNING - massively addictive - like channel surfing through time and across the world !

I've probably lost your attention already (oy, back over 'ere).

There is just so much great stuff on YouTube. Yes, there's lots and lots or crap too, but there is really good stuff too. For instance, can't remember where that mime of Torn is - here it is.

A few of my fave's (but I keep finding new stuff):

Music Video - gotta be Ok-Go. This one was so big, this single is now playing on top 40 radio !
Comedy - A Warm Welcome. I'd only heard this one on CD previously.
Made-up - Male Restroom Etiquette.

Get this sidenote - I actually heard these snippets of CONVERSATION between two chaps in their stalls in the office loo this morning - the cost of flying, Kyoto and LG televisions. Forget the etiquette from the vid, that surely has to break some basic low level rule of decency.

And a few big categories to browse through at your leisure:

Anything by Dane Cook - gotta be one of the funniest, visual American comedies today (even my wife thinks he's funny). He's hosted SNL at least twice with great monologues. He made a weird reference to in the last one - "you'll find anything on YouTube, just randomly bang on the keyboard, get A:F6 and search for that in YouTube and you'll get...".

Anything from The Secret Policeman's Ball. For those not familiar with this event, it's a great charity benefit that has some top notch musical performances and the best of Brit comedy - all for a good cause. The podcasts are available here too, but more on that later.

Anything by Jon Stewart. Arguably American's funniest. Smart, topical, observational.
Anything with Ricky Gervais. Arguably Britain's funniest. Smart, irrelevant, awkward.

Plus lots of great TV commercials, car stuff and sports.

This posting took a little while longer to write because I got caught watching a lot of videos while doing the "research".

Enjoy.

Updates

The Soup Man is back and my belly has never been happier.

Schumi didn't win the F1 world championship. Spaniard Fernando Alonso won his 2nd. Get a load of this tidbit I just saw !

I got to play a few final games of golf over the last week. Saturday's game for my buddy's 40th was the worst weather I have ever played in - about 3c , windy, rainy (wet hands by the end), swamp-like conditions (wet feet after the third hole) and we almost lost daylight ! Lots of laffs though and a few decent shots here and there. Next up some golf with Micky in Disney in January.

Latest great movie - The Departed.
Latest great TV - Life on Mars (BBC link, just premiered on Showcase in Canada).
Latest great music - John Mayer - Waiting on the world to change.

A belated happy anniversary - celebrating one year of blogging

To me, well my blog.

I posted the first entry on October 3rd, 2005 and 84 posts later I'm here.

I'd like to thank....

Well, thank the world for being such a crazy place and giving me lots to comment on. Special thanks your comments, always welcome and it gives me an audience to write for.

The pace of posting has slowed a little, but I'm still committed to sharing my thoughts on subjects near and dear to my heart and hopefully causing a laff, a moan or a yeah (he's right you know) !

A reminder that this blog is not indexed on the web, so if you think another friend may find this blog of interest, please feel free to forward the link http://pjmixer.blogspot.com/.

I'm going to take this opportunity and recent surge of topics to extend an invite to some newer friends and remind others that the creative musing of their old friend is just a click away.

Remembering war veterans

I attended a Remembrance Day Ceremony with my son's class at the university of Toronto earlier today.

It was a moving and beautiful ceremony.

I believe Remembrance Day is a day for remembering the sacrifices of so many people during wartime in the last 100 years, incl. the Great War, WW II and the Korean War.

But somehow, it's harder to think of today's wars in the same sense. The great world wars that serve to tell stories of valour, national pride and steadfastness are ones I am proud to tell my children about and make sure we remember those that protected our families and friends for all time. Can we say the same about the Gulf War, Kosovo, Afghanistan and dare I say Iraq ?

I was in Halifax, Nova Scotia this summer for a business trip and during one of the mid-morning breaks I went outside to the harbour (famous for the massive explosion in 1917) for some fresh sea air. At that moment, HMCS Athabaskan was returning home from the Persian Gulf (a colleague of mine who's father had built the ship helped identify her and a few locals I talked with told me where her mission had been). The local lady emotionally said "it's good to have the boys home (her son had served in Kosovo in years past)". Her simple words and seeing the sailors proudly standing rail side onboard was a moment I don't want to ever forget - a proud moment to be a Canadian.

Now, a few months have passed and debate is heating up on the mission in Afghanistan. Canada's troops are supposed to be there until 2009 and casualties and fatalities are becoming weekly occurrences. The battles and dangers seem to be ever increasing. The latest comments centre on whether the war can actually be won ! Shouldn't this have been part of the decision process to engage in Afghanistan ? What made the military leaders think they could win ? What has changed ? Personally, I am not a fan of the military, but It think it is an important investment for world security. So if we're doing a good job and making a difference we should be there to help with the fight against terrorism. Are we afraid to show the Taliban they may have won this time ? Have we made it worse by challenging them in the first place ? Canada has always been known and respected as a conscientious ally in world concerns, and I don't think we should back down from that commitment.

Sitting hear in my comfy office, about to head home to my wonderful family in my safe and secure world, I wonder about the men and women out there putting their life on the line for us.

So today is a time for me to remember those who have served their country in the past and also recognize the dedication our troops have today to securing our world.

Some interesting historic links - British military conflicts; List of wars; and the Military History of Canada.

Nice cuppa

Yes, the car is resting on teacups !

SEH found this beauty on a great photo blog site called Daily Dose of Imagery.

The Middle East - simplified

I've had enough horror movies for a while, so I got around to watching Kingdom of Heaven tonight. I really enjoyed it and I think I actually got a little more understanding of the Middle East and the everchanging face of the religious war. I am sure I'm grabbing too much from this, but here goes...

What "should be" important is what is in the minds and hearts of people, not what a piece of land means (or once meant). Jerusalem is worth nothing...and everything.

Wow, that's big. But I'll leave it at that.

Yes, lots more ideas (and big topics) scratched down and waiting for an impulse.

I hope I have a few readers left, please stay tuned.

Further analysis

The last post got some good honest feelings out there and added lots of fuel to the discussion so I might as well continue the discussion of violence in our society.

A couple of letters in the post today echo Suze's comments from the last blog - letter#1; letter #2.

Suze also got a chance to pose a question on this subject to good old Sheila Copps on her online chat today.

Is this blog (even with very modest readership) falling into the same trap. As Sheila comments, do we need to see and hear about this violence so we may understand it and begin to address the problem ? Closing our eyes to this horror may be the worst thing we can do.

CBC are covering a related topic on The Fifth Estate in a hour that I think I'll watch. Saving this draft for now...

Report was pretty interesting, surprisingly open, but seemed to be tainted by TV melodrama. Story kept coming back to the problem of troubled kids keeping it on the straight and narrow, being unable to shed troubles of their upbringing and economic plight. Quite a lot of frightening gun show. In an interesting situation, one of the troubled kids (men) was being considered as a community centre worker with his street experience being the primary skill he brought to the job. His buddy was also shown doing some community service work in a school, wearing a Violence Shatters Lives tshirt and a later scene shows him beating up a so-called friend to teach him a lesson. When pushed to explain, he said violence was the only way to show his friend that what he was doing was serious and could get him hurt/killed. It appeared to get thru to the criminal wannabe !

The full story is at: http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/lostinthestruggle/

Other thoughts on J&F - Troubled community has heart, soul; Jane-Finch.com

[Side note, Jane and Finch even has a entry in Wikipedia. Actually, every part of Toronto has an entry. Probably, any of anything now has an entry.]

p.s. Bro - was any of this "violence in the 21st century" part of that movie "A History of Violence" ? If I recall you hated the movie, but maybe it did try to say something ?

Deep thinking wiki-links - Aestheticization of violence; Media Influence(not verified)

Header artwork found at http://jane-finch.com/artwork.htm

Difficult problems and interconnectivity

Apologies in advance for more questions than answers.

What can you say about the horrible shooting at Dawson College in Montreal or the hostage taking in Colorado yesterday ?

Should we focus our attention on protecting our children from the madness of the modern world or should it be with the root cause ?

It appears that the authoritative majority claim that adding extra security measures to our schools is the best solution. Rarely do we hear from those that are brave enough to suggest that something is wrong deeper in our society. And that is definitely a major intersection point with many of today's big problems: global terrorism; the religious and oil wars in the Middle-East; global warming; 3rd world poverty and AIDS.

You may be in the opinion that most of the frightening incidents in our schools today are isolated with no real connection, however I've believed for a long time in the interconnectivity of all things. Although I'm not suggesting coincidence is in play in this case, I also believe that coincidence occurs too often to be just coincidental chance. There are reasons things happen.

Do we have smart enough thinkers and people with enough influence trying to solve these problems ?

How about the problem of money, never enough and everyone wants more. Back to schools, not enough money to properly pay teachers or for adding metal detectors in our schools (if that would help). Do the school unions add too much cost to the equation (on-ramp to the troubles of GM and Ford) ? Charity ? Who needs our charity the most and who are we, and our governments the most responsible for - the homeless of our own cities, starving children of a foreign land, or the victims of the latest natural disaster ?

As you can see, this could go on and on and probably connect with 80% of the posts on this blog. My point exactly, everything's interconnected, except...

Dual Citizenship

Ok, it's been a while since I blogged, but I'm coming back with a big topic - dual citizenship.

Dual citizenship is something near and dear to my heart and family and now, it's being debated on a daily basis in the news here in Canada (and abroad - see Economist article).

I've already read a few comments that match my original thoughts on the topic - perhaps the problem isn't with allowing dual citizenship, but with how applications for Citizenship are provisioned. The closing comment of the Economist article is something new, and has quite interesting possibilities -

Canada is far from the only country to grapple with the complexities of dual citizenship. Around 90 countries, including the United States, allow it. Unlike Canada, though, the United States requires its citizens to pay American taxes no matter where they live. If Canadians did the same, they might grumble less about the cost of rescuing their embattled brethren from Lebanon.

In case you don't know me very well, I am a dual citizen. Born in England, and since 1996, a dual citizen of Canada and the UK/EU.

The questions my (Canadian) wife and I contemplate quite often these days are:

Which country do you expect to provide you safety in a crisis ? Is this different on whether you're at home or abroad ? Traveling or residing abroad ?

To which country are you most responsible ? If I was a younger man, who would have rights to enlist me in their armed forces ?

For more reading on this complex, political and emotional topic, have a look at the comments and examples in Wikipedia.

Time to get back on the F1 bandvagon ?

I haven't watched a lot of F1 over the last x years, but it appears we may have a decent race to the finish of this year's championship.

In case you're not a fan or you've been out the loop, Michael Schumacher has announced his retirement, but there's lot of speculation, rumours and controversy around the decision which should make the last few races pretty interesting.

Dad found this good article on Schumacher's career which does a good job of telling a few different sides of the story.

I've never been a big fan of Schumacher, but I've got to say he's bloody good at his job.

What does this mean ?

Warning - unedited late night comments and movie spoiler.

Just watched Fight Club. I hadn't seen it in a long time.

Always remembered that it was a great movie. Now, I'm not sure if I like it.

What the character becomes is something that he eventually hates.

Is that what the movies are doing to me ? Am I getting to a point where I need to stop watching ?

What's the point ? The value ?

Or are they teaching me something about myself ?

(no I'm not drunk)

Cool stuff (for race fans anyway)

I Just popped downstairs to see some lunch time jazz at Dundas Square...but I think I got the day wrong...but I timed it just right to see a pit contest and promotional session for the American Le Mans Series race happening this weekend at Mosport.

We have plans this weekend, otherwise the event would have jumped to the top of my list of todos (Speed channel are showing the race). I think I'll try and mark it in the calendar for 2007 though.

This was just a great chance to see some fabulous race cars up close. They had the teams from Dyson Racing (LMP1 class) and Corvette Racing (GT1) there doing pit stop demonstrations and they had our local boy Ron Fellows driving the Corvette in for the pit stop - loud and beautiful. They had a number of other race cars on show, including that wonderful Audi TDI diesel car that I put in this blog back in March - for car lovers.

Now you don't get to see stuff like this if your office is in the burbs. Yoohoo for working downtown in the great city of Toronto.

Some recent, interesting and funny newspaper items

Take a holiday, companies tell worried American workaholics - take a break folks, I am.

Dentist who cheated workers wins 'Bad Boss' contest - bah "humbug" ?

Making your mortgage tax-deductible - could this be possible ? Could someone do the math for me ?

Filipino 'dwarf' judge loses case - obsurd.

City bulldozes shack - sad sign of the times.

Final World Cup thoughts

I went kind of quiet there post World Cup didn't I...well I've been hanging on to this picture to post here since the final (I couldn't find a better online version, so this is a scan from the newspaper).

I think the pic sums up the true great thing about the World Cup. I think it clearly shows how wonderful it is to make your dreams come true. You can definitely say the same for the top honours in many sports, but the sheer number of players and fans of football in every corner of the world make this one extra special. You can see it in their faces and you know it's in millions of kids dreams to someday play in the big game and win the World Cup. Who'll be the player names you hear in the school yards now, I'm Tevez, I'm Koller, I'm Cole ?

And what about some of the teams:

England. Typical mix of proud patriotism, a decent talent pool, close calls, bad boys, damaging injuries, heartbreaking disappointments and some beauty goals. Good effort boys. One day (hopefully in my lifetime) we'll get it back.
Italy. Worthy champions. Very entertaining footy and not as sleepy as usual.
France. Great final 3 games and final. Tough loss, missed Z glory.

I've still got the bug, for the first time in a quite a few years, I've signed up for some fall footy her in TO. Nothing too serious, but a chance to apply all tactics and wizardry 've been trying to teach the kids for over 3 years now.

I'll be Pele.

Pastime or crime ?

We spent a few days "up North" with my in-laws a few weeks ago. It was truly a Northern Ontario experience, especially since we made the trek to my brother-in-laws remote cottage on Rufus Lake (about 120 Kms from Kapuskasing, 80 kms of which was on dirt road).

Now, I must say I'm quite a man of the world, experienced in many pastimes, sports and cultural events, from skiing in the Canadian Rockies, to playing cider-drunk darts with more drunken lads from Somerset, skateboarding in 15' deep (empty) pools, eating dim-sum, scuba diving after an hour lesson in Barbados, sea kayaking, driving around Marble Arch in London, negotiating the Tube...but I'd never fished ! Actually, I always add an asterisk to that comment, because I do have faint memory of impaling my finger with a hook (now known as a "lure") when I was a wee lad at the "spinny" in Bedworth.

So, me and my 7 year old daughter (who had already been introduced to fishing by her enthusiastic big cousin a few years ago, and so already was far more experienced than me) accepted the offer from my man-of-the-wild, brother-in-law to go fishing when we were up North. And so, a few weeks ago, I went fishing for the first time in my life.

After a few practice casts off the dock, I actually caught a small perch ! Wow, instant gratification ! Then after dinner, we were out on the boat for a long ride out to one of my brother-in-law's favourite spots. Along with the joy of fishing, I must say I felt truly cut off from the populated world, a real feeling of being remote and in the wild - what a great feeling. My daughter was of course, the "reel" star, catching her limit of four good sized (15" plus) pickerel (walleye). A may not be running out to buy some tackle any time soon, but I definitely began to understand the attraction of fishing. Some good quiet time with family or friends, enjoying the beautiful surroundings, and the challenge of out-smarting a tasty fish (as long as someone else can handle the bait and unhooking the catch - just kidding, I'll do that job next time). Her catch made up most of the fish fry dinner the next night - great stuff !

So, now I'm back in the city with some good fishing tales and what do I see in the paper last week...me and my daughter may now be targets of PETA. Gimme a break, they're stupid fish for crying out loud, what next insects ? put down that fly swatter mister, easy !

And so ends my fishing story, I caught a massive pike you know, about 20", it got away, but I really did, no kiddin...

More links: http://nslog.com/archives/2003/12/18/peta_vs_angling.php http://www.petakillsanimals.com/article_detail.cfm?article=134

[thank you Ninja Bob for the pic of Rufus Lake on flick]

A funny old game

Golf.

Spending a (too) quiet Sunday afternoon watching Tiger murder the field at the PGA Championship. We're praying for the jinx, hex and booga boo gods for some miracles so our boy Mike Weir can make a come back but it's not looking good.

I've played the most ever golf this year - 20 outings, but I can't say the hours (and dollars) spent are making much of a dent in my humble score. I'm still ecstatic if I can get into the 90's. Meanwhile, my 9 year old son is posting better and better numbers and has now beat me fair on 3 occasions. Yes, he's playing from the reds, but that's only fair for a little guy. He shot a 45 a few weeks back at the course up north in Moonbeam. His CJGA scores are getting better too with a decent 12th place (of 16) this week and only a stroke out of the top ten. Added bonus was that we had Jim McKenny from CityTV caddying (interviewing and filming) one of the other kids on our group.

Time. Always looking for more of it and admittantly (sp) hoping to get more golf in, but after a poor game or seeing Tiger win yet another one, you go - well, I'm not getting those 5 hours back ! But you I am to complain, right !

Got to admit Tiger is good though - a consummate player, cool headed champion and perfectionist.

I've heard a few people say that golf is the ultimate sport - a fine balance of body control and mental concentration and a soulful attitude. Tough competition from your oponents and more importantly yourself. I'm sure there are lots of arguments waiting in the wings here, so I've leave it at that.

Golf. Great game. Looking forward to the glorious optimism of my next tee shot.

Am I still a blogger ?

Just a quick test to see if I can work myself out of a google hole. My bad - I haven't been blogging in a while and it looks like Google may have cancelled/reset my account. I'm having trouble logging in from a few other computers in the house, but seem to have a active connection here ! Weird techie situation and account password reset dilemma. Wish me luck, and I'll hopefully be blogging again shortly.