this morning i heard on the radio that south africa is considering raising the legal drinking age to 21 in order to reduce alcohol-related crime, in spite of all evidence suggesting that that will have the opposite effect.
and now we're going to stop piracy? the best thing for musicians that's happened in recent history was steve jobs forcing artists and labels alike to charge $1 per song. music piracy has actually been shown to *help* sales, at least of merchandise and concert tickets.
what we need is to see the same thing in books and cinema, because if you give people reasonable prices then... *GASP*... they will pay. and everybody will win.
our governments need to stop trying to control shit and start trying to manage everything constructively. if you're not a part of the solution, then you're part of the problem.
Wednesday, May 18, 2016
Sunday, May 15, 2016
after bedtime
saturday 30th:
deliberately doing nothing
the woodworld expedition on the worst possible day: through the old biscuit mill traffic only to find our destination closed... so we went to the old biscuit mill. i got road rage just from walking through that insanity
nooka ftw! phenomenally good humus, proper israeli style
trying to take advantage of the gorgeous weather by taking gd and mr smear to camps bay beach, where we were greeted by a sudden cold wind and a series of assholes
coming back home to our own issues (while trying to relax), a visit from my sister with some disturbing news, my mind being shot and an unnerving liquor store experience
watching most of the first episode of game of thrones after putting mr smear to bed...
sunday 1st:
... which set the tone for a long, inexplicably sleepless night (excess karvol? too hot or too cold? teething? bad dreams?)
a shit morning, surprise else heart.break() download, an interesting decorex experience with my mom, knead and visiting my great aunt
puking poison (floor flakes) and parent panic, then some more game of thrones
monday 2nd:
mr smear actually sleeping
epic, weird dreams including hiding out in the magic users cabins while being hunted, inspiring adam sandler to do a spoken word performance
being the first out of bed after a good night's rest
vacuuming followed by a badly timed haircut: equipment fail, burning legs, a soiled diaper, hairs everywhere and an unexpected visitor at the worst possible time...
... but an excuse to take mr smear into the shower with me, which was a fun experience, a long nap time for all (a very sore gd)
a slow afternoon and evening, mr smear's routine, a little bit of jealousy over nystire's freedom to rapidly prototype an idea of mine
a little prep for the new job, more game of thrones and a reasonably early night
tuesday 3rd:
a decent night, an early appointment with the tax consultant / dancer / jiujitsu teacher / mercenary, the hospital visit, plant lunch and familiar faces
baby city parking failure, serious headache
t'was my first night contracting again / and all throughout the house / not a creature was stirring / all one could hear was my mouse
wednesday 4th:
3am freezing, gd letting me sleep late, all the wrongs foods, knead for breakfast and giving the owner bad news about canada, dis-chem rush, the acupuncturist, pooping on the way home, mom down, laptop hunting, insane drivers all the way to the hair salon
a cup of tea until mr smear woke up angry (just as gd finished), back home, quickly shopping for us and my mom, back to work
i cannot understand why a product that doesn't list any dairy ingredients but says "may contain milk" and calls itself "lacto vegetarian" gave me the indigestion that i only get when i've consumed a lot of cheese. my aren't the dairy ingredients listed?
thursday 5th:
not the most productive of nights, tax pressure, an irrational morning followed by a surprise visit from the building's angry handyman, a nap, small victories, a lot of dishes, a lovely walk along the promenade, shopping while hungry
good food eaten twice, mom visit and workstation purchase (delayed pickup due to misunderstanding); the salesman messing with me when i walked in and my response which could only be appreciated in a country where people face race
listening to safm on the way home: no, south africa, co-ed universities are not the reason for the high number of campus rape cases
friday 6th:
taxes (late already) and installations into the night, getting stuck on the former and being pretty successful with the latter, a rough night for mr smear and a fiery dawn windstorm
a disappointing ultrasound result with mr smear entertaining the waiting room, a great plant breakfast
taxes, taxes, taxes - long phone calls to canada only to discover that ufile's data import is severely flawed
an early night unable to focus on work
saturday 7th:
a good night for all, meeting the maid, urgent early morning tax printing and trying to inform my uncle about nutrition, grandma babysitting and acupuncture drop off and standing in the post office and realizing that i'd forgotten to print some important documents
lunchtime awkwardness (we did it all wrong), the baby city mission, building a changing table to awful instructions, carrying a heavy trestle table alone under a magnificent sunset sky, mom pharmacy mission, coming home to a sleeping child and preparing to pick up a delicious dinner from kushi (authentic spicing!), GoT: i have to say, though, that as good as this is - and it is GOOD - it really makes me itch to see a similar-quality translation of the wheel of time series, or the sword of truth, or the book of words, or the belgariad. those would be AMAZING.
another early night,
sunday 8th:
but getting up around 4am to setup my workstation
6am wakeup from a cold morning, the mistake of presenting my mother with unwrapped gifts, meeting up with my sister's family and driving out to philadelphia for a great mother's day breakfast, driving back with vomit and a full diaper, coffee and a conman at the holocaust centre, gd's visit and mr smear's first rope climb (kind of)
fancon! the trouble parking (and the shame of leaving the window open), running into shadowslight and an old friend, meeting great illustrators, rushing to pick up my mom with a lucky ten in coins to get us out of the parking, home and shopping and putting mr smear to bed, dinner and GoT and early to bed
monday 9th:
a long, unintentionally sleepless night, a foggy morning (both inside and out), tax document printing, hellkom visit, lunch and tax paper shuffling, finally mailing the documents (mail and pray service), driving out to canal walk to buy wall panel heaters at game but after finally getting ourselves ready to shop (after feeding and changing mr smear, failing to find a good tailor and grabbing a cup of coffee; plus gd's cheese and spinach muffin), finding the store to be shut down for three days of stock taking
quick 'n heavy pharmacy shopping, giving my mom (who still wasn't feeling well) a hand, and getting to work. hitting pure exhaustion about halfway through the night...
the building manager floor story twist
tuesday 10th:
a much better night; early rising, high stress landlord response, the rush to game and bumping into a big man's license plate because the gear slipped into reverse instead of first... TWICE, the quick purchase on the wrong card, a splendid job by the electrician installing our heaters, high tension cleanup, positive illustrator response, badly synchronized lunchtime events (??), the lone wolf at the waterfront, mom's falafel pickup and tax talk, a long night with shitty computer problems
wednesday 11th:
mr smear sleeping soundly after taking half an hour to go to bed, expensive cheap heating, dell's crap backup software
my first pram jam, shopping, lunch and a pleasant chat with the south african consulate in israel
the chiropractor's no show, quick-ish pharmacy visit and a great talk with the illustrator
getting work done, playing with paypal (and learning that fnb still holds details on me from when i was a teenager)
thursday 12th:
an especially sour start to the day, so no chance of resting
frustrating work, a visit to the doctor, an emotional visit to the other doctor, taking laundry to my mom's in the cold
friday 13th:
sleep deficit, my son's method of soaking every ball he plays with, a long meeting with the tax consultant, groovy lunch, the chiropractor, quick pharmacy run
roadkill wiki is awesome!
a lovely little shabbat dinner, game of thrones, a steady stream of software updates
did you know: leave laptops with lithium ion batteries plugged as much as you can to preserve battery life? (verify that with your manufacturer, but dell is pretty clear about it)
saturday 14th:
getting to bed at 4am after finally enjoying some success, at which point mr smear decided that *he* was done sleeping...
banking statement mismatch
mr smear drunk on boob
running into airplane's fiancée
dr's woo - crystals don't do anything to protect from emf radiation, but that's damned-near impossible to find out if you're relying on a simple google search.
me and mr smear on the merry-go-round
the herbal patches: at least they smell nice, and they're certainly making me posture-conscious
double trunk diaper change, nooka humus, speeding home and passing out, the dream-state parking switch
waking up with a sensation i haven't felt since i last was operating in the early hours of the morning
beginning GoT season 2: very cool, very, very cool
an early night for all
deliberately doing nothing
the woodworld expedition on the worst possible day: through the old biscuit mill traffic only to find our destination closed... so we went to the old biscuit mill. i got road rage just from walking through that insanity
nooka ftw! phenomenally good humus, proper israeli style
trying to take advantage of the gorgeous weather by taking gd and mr smear to camps bay beach, where we were greeted by a sudden cold wind and a series of assholes
coming back home to our own issues (while trying to relax), a visit from my sister with some disturbing news, my mind being shot and an unnerving liquor store experience
watching most of the first episode of game of thrones after putting mr smear to bed...
sunday 1st:
... which set the tone for a long, inexplicably sleepless night (excess karvol? too hot or too cold? teething? bad dreams?)
a shit morning, surprise else heart.break() download, an interesting decorex experience with my mom, knead and visiting my great aunt
puking poison (floor flakes) and parent panic, then some more game of thrones
monday 2nd:
mr smear actually sleeping
epic, weird dreams including hiding out in the magic users cabins while being hunted, inspiring adam sandler to do a spoken word performance
being the first out of bed after a good night's rest
vacuuming followed by a badly timed haircut: equipment fail, burning legs, a soiled diaper, hairs everywhere and an unexpected visitor at the worst possible time...
... but an excuse to take mr smear into the shower with me, which was a fun experience, a long nap time for all (a very sore gd)
a slow afternoon and evening, mr smear's routine, a little bit of jealousy over nystire's freedom to rapidly prototype an idea of mine
a little prep for the new job, more game of thrones and a reasonably early night
tuesday 3rd:
a decent night, an early appointment with the tax consultant / dancer / jiujitsu teacher / mercenary, the hospital visit, plant lunch and familiar faces
baby city parking failure, serious headache
t'was my first night contracting again / and all throughout the house / not a creature was stirring / all one could hear was my mouse
wednesday 4th:
3am freezing, gd letting me sleep late, all the wrongs foods, knead for breakfast and giving the owner bad news about canada, dis-chem rush, the acupuncturist, pooping on the way home, mom down, laptop hunting, insane drivers all the way to the hair salon
a cup of tea until mr smear woke up angry (just as gd finished), back home, quickly shopping for us and my mom, back to work
i cannot understand why a product that doesn't list any dairy ingredients but says "may contain milk" and calls itself "lacto vegetarian" gave me the indigestion that i only get when i've consumed a lot of cheese. my aren't the dairy ingredients listed?
thursday 5th:
not the most productive of nights, tax pressure, an irrational morning followed by a surprise visit from the building's angry handyman, a nap, small victories, a lot of dishes, a lovely walk along the promenade, shopping while hungry
good food eaten twice, mom visit and workstation purchase (delayed pickup due to misunderstanding); the salesman messing with me when i walked in and my response which could only be appreciated in a country where people face race
listening to safm on the way home: no, south africa, co-ed universities are not the reason for the high number of campus rape cases
friday 6th:
taxes (late already) and installations into the night, getting stuck on the former and being pretty successful with the latter, a rough night for mr smear and a fiery dawn windstorm
a disappointing ultrasound result with mr smear entertaining the waiting room, a great plant breakfast
taxes, taxes, taxes - long phone calls to canada only to discover that ufile's data import is severely flawed
an early night unable to focus on work
saturday 7th:
a good night for all, meeting the maid, urgent early morning tax printing and trying to inform my uncle about nutrition, grandma babysitting and acupuncture drop off and standing in the post office and realizing that i'd forgotten to print some important documents
lunchtime awkwardness (we did it all wrong), the baby city mission, building a changing table to awful instructions, carrying a heavy trestle table alone under a magnificent sunset sky, mom pharmacy mission, coming home to a sleeping child and preparing to pick up a delicious dinner from kushi (authentic spicing!), GoT: i have to say, though, that as good as this is - and it is GOOD - it really makes me itch to see a similar-quality translation of the wheel of time series, or the sword of truth, or the book of words, or the belgariad. those would be AMAZING.
another early night,
sunday 8th:
but getting up around 4am to setup my workstation
6am wakeup from a cold morning, the mistake of presenting my mother with unwrapped gifts, meeting up with my sister's family and driving out to philadelphia for a great mother's day breakfast, driving back with vomit and a full diaper, coffee and a conman at the holocaust centre, gd's visit and mr smear's first rope climb (kind of)
fancon! the trouble parking (and the shame of leaving the window open), running into shadowslight and an old friend, meeting great illustrators, rushing to pick up my mom with a lucky ten in coins to get us out of the parking, home and shopping and putting mr smear to bed, dinner and GoT and early to bed
monday 9th:
a long, unintentionally sleepless night, a foggy morning (both inside and out), tax document printing, hellkom visit, lunch and tax paper shuffling, finally mailing the documents (mail and pray service), driving out to canal walk to buy wall panel heaters at game but after finally getting ourselves ready to shop (after feeding and changing mr smear, failing to find a good tailor and grabbing a cup of coffee; plus gd's cheese and spinach muffin), finding the store to be shut down for three days of stock taking
quick 'n heavy pharmacy shopping, giving my mom (who still wasn't feeling well) a hand, and getting to work. hitting pure exhaustion about halfway through the night...
the building manager floor story twist
tuesday 10th:
a much better night; early rising, high stress landlord response, the rush to game and bumping into a big man's license plate because the gear slipped into reverse instead of first... TWICE, the quick purchase on the wrong card, a splendid job by the electrician installing our heaters, high tension cleanup, positive illustrator response, badly synchronized lunchtime events (??), the lone wolf at the waterfront, mom's falafel pickup and tax talk, a long night with shitty computer problems
wednesday 11th:
mr smear sleeping soundly after taking half an hour to go to bed, expensive cheap heating, dell's crap backup software
my first pram jam, shopping, lunch and a pleasant chat with the south african consulate in israel
the chiropractor's no show, quick-ish pharmacy visit and a great talk with the illustrator
getting work done, playing with paypal (and learning that fnb still holds details on me from when i was a teenager)
thursday 12th:
an especially sour start to the day, so no chance of resting
frustrating work, a visit to the doctor, an emotional visit to the other doctor, taking laundry to my mom's in the cold
friday 13th:
sleep deficit, my son's method of soaking every ball he plays with, a long meeting with the tax consultant, groovy lunch, the chiropractor, quick pharmacy run
roadkill wiki is awesome!
a lovely little shabbat dinner, game of thrones, a steady stream of software updates
did you know: leave laptops with lithium ion batteries plugged as much as you can to preserve battery life? (verify that with your manufacturer, but dell is pretty clear about it)
saturday 14th:
getting to bed at 4am after finally enjoying some success, at which point mr smear decided that *he* was done sleeping...
banking statement mismatch
mr smear drunk on boob
running into airplane's fiancée
dr's woo - crystals don't do anything to protect from emf radiation, but that's damned-near impossible to find out if you're relying on a simple google search.
me and mr smear on the merry-go-round
the herbal patches: at least they smell nice, and they're certainly making me posture-conscious
double trunk diaper change, nooka humus, speeding home and passing out, the dream-state parking switch
waking up with a sensation i haven't felt since i last was operating in the early hours of the morning
beginning GoT season 2: very cool, very, very cool
an early night for all
Saturday, May 14, 2016
thought for the week
i don't remember where i heard it, but i think i read somewhere once that a stretch limo with tinted windows is making a statement: "look at me! but don't look at me!"
as cute as that is, that's not what it's saying. it's actually describing the western ideal: all status, no identity.
we're better off riding bicycles.
as cute as that is, that's not what it's saying. it's actually describing the western ideal: all status, no identity.
we're better off riding bicycles.
Friday, May 06, 2016
another tax year, another tax headache
filing tax returns is a horrible thing. it gets even more horrible when everything fails because the "let's import your slips for you" function only imports 80% of the data and you spend hours on the phone trying to figure out where the numbers went wrong, and then takes a sharp turn to the south when it turns out that not only am i filing late*, but that because my address is outside of canada i can't use netfile. of course not! it's a whole different thing now that we're on different sides of the internets. how would they know which online account to update? how could they be sure that the post wouldn't get lost along the way?
at least the tax return we're owed is going to good use... paying off the cost of submission...
* lots of valid excuses that nobody cares about
at least the tax return we're owed is going to good use... paying off the cost of submission...
* lots of valid excuses that nobody cares about
Thursday, May 05, 2016
what's worse than finding a worm in your apple? the holocaust.
interesting - i didn't realize it was holocaust memorial day until after i gave my wife a copy of MAUS to read this morning. and twice this week i found myself discussing the influence that the holocaust has had on israeli society. and just yesterday i found myself arguing with someone spouting offensively ignorant drivel about the jews and whether or not we have the right to call ourselves a nation.
look where we've been, and look where we are; we've come a long way through a dark night, but we're still nowhere near to being anywhere in the light.
look where we've been, and look where we are; we've come a long way through a dark night, but we're still nowhere near to being anywhere in the light.
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