Downhill Hockey Death Race

For some reason, I'm really suspicious of new sports. If a sport hasn't been around for at least a hundred years, I tend to look at it with incredulity. Especially since most "new" sports aren't really that new. Like, parkour is cool and all, but it's just running, jumping, and climbing. What's so innovative about that?

This is a completely illogical stance, I realize. I mean, every sport was new at some point. But, had I been around in 1891 when my maybe-ancestor started tossing balls into peach baskets, I'd be all, "WTF, James? Aren't cricket and football good enough for you?"

So when Oz told me about this new sport called Crashed Ice, it just sounded like hockey players racing each other. But as I learned more, I discovered it's hockey players racing each other. Downhill. To the death.

My favourite part, however, is that the course takes over part of Quebec City. Have a look, it's actually pretty wicked:



Much in the same way that badminton is a sport for boring people (e.g., myself), Downhill Hockey Death Race is a sport for the clinically insane.

News

A while ago, I pledged to give up the news again. But it's hard, man. It's hard to avoid information - it's everywhere. They give it away for free.

Besides, if I gave up reading the news, I wouldn't get to see gems like this: "...It was the third suspected homicide in Edmonton this week." On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being "meh" and 10 being "holy crap, that's alarming" I put that statement at about a 8.9. I mean, if it was any other city (aside from, say, Murderpeg) I would probably be more shocked. If there were three suspected homicides in WhooVille this week, then I'd be surprised.

Also, giving up the news would mean that I wouldn't have noticed the new, creepy trend of murder suspects having Facebook pages. My dislike of Facebook is well documented (by me), and I dislike it even more now that you can look up murder suspects and become their friends (William is feeling incarcerated; See my Arraignment photo album!). I would think the fact that murderers like it should totally count as a Facebook con.

I don't have a logical end to this post, other than the fact that it's nearly impossible to avoid news or information. Oh, and never, ever, ever read the Comments sections on the CBC.ca stories. Ever!

Send an email form letter to your MP today!

For those of you who are loving the government drama we've got going right now: you too can be part of the action. You can show your support of the coalition by visiting Make Parliament Work [For You!]. You can send emails to your MP (whom, if you're like me, you didn't actually vote for), and make plans to go to rallies.

If you happen to not want a coalition (as is your right, however wrong), then I suppose you could check out the anti-coalition site. If you're so inclined.

Also, this site already has the answer to the question on everyone's lips: Is Stephen Harper Prime Minister?

When Politicians Attack

Short of a food fight in Parliament, this is about as exciting as Canadian politics will ever get. As I understand it, 3 of the Big Four are joining together and plan to oust Harper. Which, apparently, they can do. There's no law against them going over the head of the Prime Minister and getting him fired. This is pretty sweet when you think about it. I wonder why they waited so long?

Too good to be true

Shout out to Deb who sent me a link to what has to be the Best Cardstore Ever. It's like every single card was made with me in mind.

Behold:

The Christmas Cod:

The Easter Cod:

The Halloween Cod:

I think maybe Halloween Cod will be my next tattoo.

Even Winter hates it here

It's been some time since my last post. I really don't have anything to write about. I can't even complain about the weather, this is the best Edmonton Autumn ever! It's so mild, and dry! Apparently, even winter is sick of Edmonton. Winter & I should get together and bitch about all the things we dislike about the city.

The bunnies have been enjoying the mild fall too. I think they took their time turning white this year. At one point, I saw a bunny that was mid-change and it looked like a brown bunny covered in freezer burn. So cute.

I'm really going to miss those bunnies. They've provided me with a remarkable amount of entertainment. When I walk through campus, a constant bunny story plays in my head. Recently, there's been some drama in that the bunny ("Steppy") that hides under the stairs of the construction trailer has been stepping out with the bunny ("Busy") that sleeps in the garden outside the Business building. Scandalous!

Best. Picture. Ever.

I have a new Best. Picture. Ever.

Before I reveal it, let me share the previous champion. This picture held the crown since...let me think... 2003. It's Danny and Celine, in the lab we co-oped in, in Moncton. They are expressing their enthusiasm for our work.

Our work was stomach content analysis. This picture makes it seem like more fun than it was.

But that picture is no longer the best. The new Best. Picture. Ever. was taken by Eva this past week at Lake Louise. We were really, really happy to be there.

The rest of my photos can be seen here, and I'm embedding a slideshow below.

Crackpot theory, FTW

I think if I was part of a culture that worshipped multiple gods, I'd totally worship the Gods of Sleep. Not only because I really, really like Sleep, but because maybe if I worshiped them, the Gods would actually give me some real sleep. And it's not just me. I think, given the chance, most people would worship the Sleep Gods if it meant actually getting sleep.

My BFF hasn't been sleeping lately. She calls it "cancer of the sleep." But I have a new theory about why everyone I know is always tired. My idea is that our ability to sleep, and the good things that sleep does for us, has not evolved as fast as our society. Current sleep is a restorative process meant for the kind of lives we would have lived, say, 300 years ago. Our way of life has changed so much, and so quickly, that Sleep can't keep up and is insufficient to meet modern demands. I think that after a certain age, we all live in a perpetual sleep deficit. There is no way, in our society, to make up this deficit, and it simply grows as we get older.

On the plus side, caffeine comes in many great forms and flavours. I think I'll make a trip to Timmy's this afternoon...

Happy Dance!

The last time I did an election-themed dance was Nov. 27, 2000 when I did the "Liberal Majority Dance" in the hallway of my dorm. That may have been the last time election results made me gleeful. Until last night, that is.

I had planned to not hope for a positive outcome. I did that last time around and it ended badly. But then so many people were saying that Obama would win, and at some point I got all psyched up for an Obama win. And, for once, America did not disappoint. (Does this mean that we have to stop bashing America now? Because the map still looks fairly Jesusland-y, there's still a lot of red, so they aren't all logical people who make good choices. Some of them are still batshit crazy).

Speaking of The Map, Canada and the US should really get together and come up with a consistent colour scheme for political parties. In Canada, red is good. In the US, red is bad (red as in Republican, not red as in Communist - which they also think is bad). And every time I look at the map I have to tell myself: "Blue is good. Blue is okay. Blue is not Harper." I also don't like the election results map because my geography skills are horrible and it took me an embarrassingly long time to find Minnesota to check on Al Franken's results. Apparently he's tied with the Republican, and it hasn't been called yet. I hope he wins. He's funny.

The CBC also has a map of all the Propositions that people also voted on yesterday. I don't know a lot (or, really, anything) about them, so I find some of them ambiguous, and some of them sad. For example, in California, the majority voted Yes to "Treatment of Farm Animals." What does that even mean? Sadly, California also voted in favour of the gay marriage ban. What does that mean for all those couples who recently married in California? I think they also voted against renewable energy generation. WTF, California? Arkansas voted in favour of adoptive parents. I really wish I knew what these propositions actually were! Missouri made English official. You go, Missouri! It looks like Massachusetts decriminalized pot, and banned dog racing, all in one day. Maryland voted in favour of VLTs. That's bad, they should be proactive and start the gambling addiction awareness campaign today. Awesome, Michigan voted in favour of stem cell research. Two states voted in favour of "defining marriage." Don't we have OED for that? I wonder if the definition will be gay-friendly?

Okay. I'm getting off track. Obama is going to be president, and that is what really matters. And, even more importantly, Palin is not going to be VP. Happy Dance!

Waiting for the bombs to drop

I haven't written much about the US election. Partly because I'm kind of electioned-out, and partly because I'm sure everyone is sick of my feel-good-Green-Liberal-save-the-planet pontificating. And also because the only Americans I know of that read this are voting for the right candidate anyway, so why waste energy preaching to the secular choir?

However, in the infinitesimally small chance that some Republican stumbles upon this page before the polls close tomorrow, I would like to ask this person: Is this the man you want running your country?