Sunny Day

This weekend was my first cottage experience and it was fun. My roommate and I ventured our way up to her cottage where there was major partying going on. In the end there wasn't anything particularly wild that occurred except a lot of drinking and reminiscing in which we did not partake. The weather was pretty good, except for one evening where it rained like mad...We still sat outside under a tarp. The highlight was probably people shooting off pink and green roman candles into the water. Pitch black and reflections. It was quite beautiful. I wish something could have capture that more permanently.

We read a lot. We wandered into town. There were visits to shady yard sales. I saw the greatest table ever at a reasonable price I could not afford.

Here are some photos.

Great Television

I'm not going to lie, I am impressed by this.

picasso brother sister

The Dispossessed

I don't usually post political things, but this is somewhere in between and a little bit personal. I'm sure most people are somewhat aware about what has been going on way off there in the middle east. In my opinion, which is not that substantiated (i.e. I'm not a poli sci major) everything would be fine if politicians didn't get involved. The people of both sides are just regular people and get along just fine until extremists (on both ends) and politicians (also, on both ends) are the most heard voices.

from here

The Dispossessed

By ELIE WIESEL
Published: August 21, 2005

IN 1991, when Saddam Hussein's Scud missiles fell in a deafening din on Tel Aviv, some Palestinians danced in the streets and on the roofs of their houses. I saw them. I was in Jerusalem, and I could see what was happening in the Arab quarter of the Old City. It happened again later, each time a suicide terrorist set off a bomb on a bus or in a restaurant. I evoke these scenes with sadness, and for a reason: we have just seen them repeated in Gaza.

Forum: Op-Ed Contributors
The images of the evacuation itself are heart-rending. Some of them are unbearable. Angry men, crying women. Children, led away on foot or in the arms of soldiers who are sobbing themselves.

Let's not forget: these men and women lived in Gaza for 38 years. Successive governments, from the left and the right, encouraged them to settle there. In the eyes of their families, they were pioneers, whose idealism was to be celebrated.

And here they are, obliged to uproot themselves, to take their holy and precious belongings, their memories and their prayers, their dreams and their dead, to go off in search of a bed to sleep in, a table to eat on, a new home, a future among strangers.

From far away, we watch them on television screens and in the pages of newspapers. Some have behaved in an offensive and undignified manner. They insulted and wounded soldiers; they spat on officers - including some who are decorated heroes, all of them ready to give their lives for their country. But the majority have responded in a dignified way: with tears. As though united in the same despair, soldiers and evacuees cried together, even to such an extent that certain commentators have reproached them, saying: our warriors of yesterday and tomorrow shouldn't give way to easy emotion.

On a strictly military level, the operation is a success. For that, and for his brave decision to pursue future peace even at present political cost, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon deserves praise. But starting now, Israelis and Palestinians must face the question: What next?

And here I am obliged to take a step back. In the tradition I claim, the Jew is ordered by King Solomon "not to rejoice when the enemy falls." I don't know whether the Koran suggests the same.

I know only that in my opinion, what is missing from the chapter now closing is a collective gesture that ought to be made, but that hasn't been made, by the Palestinians.

Let's imagine it, if you will. Let's imagine that, faced with the tears and suffering of the evacuees, the Palestinians had chosen to silence their joy and their pride, rather than to organize military parades with masked fighters, machine guns in hand, shooting in the air as though celebrating a great battlefield victory. Yes, imagine that President Mahmoud Abbas and his colleagues, in advising their followers, extolled moderation, restraint, respect and a little understanding for the Jews who felt themselves struck by an unhappy fate. They would have won general admiration.

I will perhaps be told that when the Palestinians cried at the loss of their homes, few Israelis were moved. That's possible. But how many Israelis rejoiced?

And now, where are we? A lull is imperative. The tears must be allowed to dry and the wounds to heal. Haste, in this delicate moment, is dangerous. Any pressure from outside risks being counterproductive.

Why these words of warning? Because last May, at an official dinner offered by King Abdullah II of Jordan, I spoke with the Palestinian prime minister, Ahmed Qurei. When I asked him what he thought of Mr. Sharon's courageous decision regarding Gaza, it was with a wave of the hand that he objected, adding with disdain: "All that is worth nothing, means nothing. If Sharon doesn't begin right away to negotiate definitive borders, a great catastrophe will be the result." He repeated those words: "right away" and "a great catastrophe."

The optimist in me wants very much to believe that those were just words. Gaza, after all, is but one chapter in a book that must ultimately be about peace.

no sleep-o

There was very little work done this week. On Tuesday two friends from out of town finally made their way out here. I was really glad to see them both, one I hadn't seen in four years and the other in two. Since the former had never been out here, there was some major sight seeing to be done. I also realised how much my French sucks, I can't speak for beans, though I can't really in English either.

We did the usual CN Tower, etc. in the city.
The following day we headed to Niagara which was fun. We also paid $15 for hamburgers and saw people who were attached to slot machines. So Niagara was also slightly depressing.
As per always, here is the photo documentation for the events.


Power station




The drive home was smooth until we hit the city again. It was fantastic to see the lightening and hear the thunder. The rain was incredible. There was immense flooding. We have photos.




This is interesting. Thanks O. Apparently this whole Lego art thing is catching on. I might become a modern art fan.

my favourite movie

I've been meaning to post this for a while as it has been since it has begun to consume my life. Anyway, someone please promise me that they will see to it that this becomes a movie, a classic movie. I am not that crazy, am I?

The Decemberists - "The Bagman's Gambit"

On the lam from the law
on the steps of the capitol
you shot a plain
clothes cop on the ten o'clock
and I saw momentarily
they flashed a photograph,
it couldn't be you
you'd been abused so horribly
but you were there in some anonymous room

and I recall that fall
I was working for the government
and in a bathroom stall off the National Mall
how we kissed so sweetly
how could I refuse a favor or two
for a tryst in the greenery
I gave you documents and microfilm, too
And from my ten floor tenement
where once our bodies lay
how I long to hear you say

no, they'll never catch me now
no, they'll never catch me
no, they cannot catch me now
we will escape somehow
somehow

It was late one night
I was awoken by the telephone
I heard a strangled cry on the end of the line
purloined in Petrograd
they were suspicious of where your loyalties lay
so I paid off a bureaucrat
to convince your captors they're to secret you away
And at the gate of the embassy
our hands met through the bars
as your whisper stilled my heart

no, they'll never catch me now
no, they'll never catch me
no, they cannot catch me now
we will escape somehow
somehow

And I dreamt one night
you were there in force
head held high
in uniform

It was ten years on
when you resurfaced in a motorcar
with the wave of an arm
you were there and gone

Sinker

This is to make up for the fact I am a spaz (for lack of better word) and didn't make sure the link on the last post worked and also that I have absolutely no recollection of how I got there and can't forget that I can't come up with anything good myself.

canadiana

This month vice is the photo issue...Check it out all you camera loving people (I was going to write something obscene, but there was no need)

more amazing photos.

tasteful comic (thanks S.)

random quote generator

That should hold you over for a while.

truth be told

culture jam

Slightly disturbing. Not for small children.

addiction

cameras

This is a rendition of what I would be like as a useful member of society: me as a superhero, "Hana the (super)* Linguist." Kind of catchy, I like it. (drawn by JMM)



My Vince carter lego man. He actually shoots the ball.

*of course any type of linguist is super.

Second Guess

Things have settled back down, for the moment: since about 5:42 pm this evening. This was quite the busy week with some hobo-ing on my part, but that's nothing new.

After being home briefly yesterday, I was out again to check out Magnolia Electric Co., which were quite a good show. Lee's Palace is such a good venue for mellow shows. This being the second show I've seen there, but I definitely like it. I will be heading out there again August 30 for Of Montreal, a show to definitely check out (and at a super ridiculous cheap rate of $11!). Since there have been a few links in the paragraph, I recommend Sufjan Stevens and Panurge.

That's all for now, I am exhausted. Check in later.

Some good reads

MySpace is being taken over. Read all about it:
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8795370/

This one was sent to me with the caption:
"Don't ever question my sanity."

Article

Imagine being told this by someone who has been drinking, this sounds
absolutely ridiculous.

Discount DNA

Yes, that's right no 'The' preceding the title, I thought it was time to give that up. We'll see how long that lasts.

More talk. I apologize.

I have been spending much time with my brother lately and I think he has had a great impact on me. He always has, good or bad. About a month ago he had an episode of something that happens to people sometimes and it is nothing serious but results in one passing out. This caused him to freak out about things because he had this impending feeling that he could pass out at any given time. Having never passed out before myself, I understand freaking out after passing out. Anyway, that is just a lead in. So his freaking out, say every other day for a week, really didn't bother me at first because I would just rationalize with him. The past few days, I have been freaking out in a similar way, just that there was no instigating moment. I have no idea what it is. Part of it is this perpetual feeling of nervousness, I hope that goes away after the exam. The rest of it is just hopes that contstly get rubbed into the ground in an instant. The regularity of these hopes coming up and down is just becoming annoying because I keep falling into the hole and not learning from my mistake, which is rather unlike me, I think. There are a few people that I want to say things to, but really don't have the guts to (don't worry it's no one who reads this). Maybe I should tell them vicariously through the blog and then I won't have to actually talk to them. Though it might be more effective if I just tell the one party directly that they're being terribly inconsiderate and rude; and tell another party that they should hang out with me because I'm more interesting than I appear and those other people are more superficial in nature, though they will be around and I will not. I would never say anything though because I'm a coward and I really doubt any of that would accomplish anything other than to make me feel better, but it probably won't because people don't enjoy being confronted and will probably lead to my never seeing them again on grounds of awkwardness and not distance.

Now I understand how things get so complicated so quickly, it's because everything is in my head. I am way too vague, I should stop doing that.

Tell intensely emotional stories in a numbered sequence of events.