26 September 2010

Atlantic Film Festival

Last year at the AFF I saw two movie that were both really good for very different reasons: An Education and Dead Snow. This year, the two movies I saw weren’t nearly as good as those two, but they're worth seeing.

20 September 2010

Cape Split

Yesterday some friends and I got out of the city and hiked the Cape Split trail. I've been wanting to do this since I first heard about it. It's officially on the list of things people who visit me should do, along with tidal bore rafting and the farmer's market. 


15 September 2010

Dusting off the soap box

One of my big problems with the commercial fishing industry is the way the fish are killed. Or, rather, the way they are left to suffer and die. Terrestrial commercial animals are killed as humanely as we know how (short of, you know, not killing them), but fish simply suffocate. Would you eat chicken if you knew someone locked it in a room and sucked out all the oxygen so that it died gasping for breath? No. Even I wouldn't. So why is it okay for fish?

There is research that suggests that fish feel pain (of course they do) and that they may even be sentient. History has taught us sentience won't be enough to keep them alive, but maybe it will earn them a more dignified death. Unbeknown to me, there been a whole group of people in the UK advocating for humane commercial fisheries.  I suppose since my vision of a world where no one eats fish is never going to happen, humane fisheries seem like a step in the right direction. 

The group (Fish Count) has produced a report on the welfare of wild caught fish. They have also generated what they claim are the first estimates of annual world-wide fish catches. It's pretty staggering: 0.97-2.7 trillion fishes.  Now, the fact that it doesn't look like any of this has been published in a peer reviewed journal raises some red flags for me, but I'm not going to let that stop me from telling y'all about it.

09 September 2010

Does it come with crayons?

George W. Bush has a book coming out. I wonder who wrote it? Ha! I'm funny. Really, though, can you imagine what the track-changes looked like on his first draft!?

Dance Dance Research

Someone did a study on what aspect of a guy's dance style is most appealing to women. What I wouldn’t give to read their grant applications. This is how they describe the implications of their research:
“If a man knows what the key moves are, he can get some training and improve his chances of attracting a female through his dance style.”
I have nothing against science for science sake. Not every study has to save the world, but this seems like research that will only end up being used in those classes where guys learn how to psychologically manipulate women to get them into bed.

07 September 2010

This may be even better than Death Bed

Do you ever hear about a movie and, like, three words into the description you've already decided you have to see it? Sometimes, all it takes is one word (Sharktopus anyone?). So, when I read about Rubber and the description was "sentient killer tire" I was in love. Finally! A schlock horror movie about my most secret biggest fear. I mean, am I the only one who stares at tires and fears the day they achieve consciousness? Well, me and the guy who wrote this:

Sheet Ellie Says

So, I just read this online
"swearing, by common agreement, is a nasty habit that should be given up by the age of 30."
Okay, I don't agree to anything. You're telling me that in 6 months I've got to whip out my list of Things I'm Too Old For and put "Swearing" on it, right after "Binge drinking" and "Anything by Stephenie Meyer"? Screw that.


I’m of the mind that swearing, when done right, can be both expressive and entertaining. I point you in the direction of Deborah Morgan on Dexter, or the entire movie In the Loop for my evidence. That being said, I know that some people dislike my swearing so I try to keep it to a minimum in certain company. And it's not as if I go around swearing in front of my sibling babies either. I may be crass, but I'm not completely without sense. (Links, btw, are not safe for work. Or Cricket).

05 September 2010

Earl

When I went to bed Friday night Earl was a tropical storm that was going to hit the Bay of Fundy. When I woke up it was a hurricane again and expected to make landfall in Halifax. I love how unpredictable these things are. In the end it didn't get us directly, and - from my perspective - it wasn't that bad. We lost power for the afternoon and evening, but now it's back on and now the sun is shining and it's not so disgustingly hot. My friend's wedding in the midst of the storm turned out really well and ended up being the perfect celebration for them. I don't think the wedding would have been as great if Earl hadn't come. 

03 September 2010

Way to cover ALL your bases, EC


And I totally missed the chance to get a screen cap of it, but earlier in the week one of the projected paths for Earl (via Stormpulse) had it veering through Michigan then up into Canada. That same model now has it hitting Portland before terrorising Quebec and perhaps Labrador. That is now my favourite forecast model. It's called "Extraoplation using past 12h motion." It seems to be based on the philosophy that you can't really predict these things, so why try too hard?

Which brings me to the CBC posting of the week, in an article about how Earl is heading towards NS and people should monitor the weather reports and be prepared (this is verbatim, because the spelling mistakes make it that much better):
" Run and tell the king. The sky is falling"
This is fear mongering like I have never seen before.
All the EXPERTS and their predictions. In accuallity.....they have NO IDEA where it is going. Nowhere likely!!!!!!
Okay, I know EC is being excessive in its warnings (see: above) but fear mongering? And not just run-of-the-mill everyday fear mongering, but the worst this guy has ever seen. I must have totally missed the EC information statement that said "Everyone in Nova Scotia is going to die. DIE!!"

While we're on the topic of fear mongering, sign this petition and STOP Fox News North. Contrary to popular belief, we really don't need our own version of everything the Americans have.

01 September 2010

Yesterday I said it was spontaneous combustion hot. I'd like to upgrade that to shave-off-all-your-hair-and-find-a-root-cellar-in-which-to-curl-up-and-die hot. It's in the 40s with the humidex! And hurricane season is starting. Hurricane Earl is due to hit us on Saturday (what is with all the hurricanes come to NS on weekends? I can't get a free day off work if the city is shut down on a Saturday!). Sadly, Saturday is also my friend Danny's wedding day. They say that one thing always goes wrong at a wedding, I suppose a hurricane would count (aside: at my parent's wedding my grandma's hair caught on fire! They also weren't technically married, but that's another story). I'll keep you updated. Although, if I don't have power I'll be using my precious laptop battery to watch The Wire and not write to you lot. I'm going to go stand dangerously close to my ceiling fan now.