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The NDP is extremely geeky. And not always in a good way. Their web site SUCKS. "What's wrong with it?", you ask... well:
Posted by Me @ 11:38AM [Link]
So last night I went down to the newly repaired Bloor Cinema to see The Corporation. It was less over-the-top and obviously manipulating than Micheal Moore, and much more flashy and exiciting than Manufacturing Consent (although I don't remember MC as being particularly boring my sister and another lady in line did).
The Corporation left me feeling sad and enraged and inspired to get off my butt and do something all at the same time. Pretty impressive. But I also felt slightly manipulated. It was sponsored by the NDP (New Democratic Party) and there was a little talk by the party's new (and most un-sexy in a bathing suit - sorry Jack!) leader, Jack Layton. It seemed a little too convienient that here was this inspiring, anti-corporate, anti-globalisation, pro-social-justice, pro-environment movie and outside you could sign up to work on all the NDP campaigns, and go to all the rallies for the causes and join the NDP. I'm sure it was just a happy confluence of ideas and inspiration and not a cynical manipulation of naive Toronto Annex lefties. I'm sure. Yah. It couldn't have been manipulation could it? Nah.....
I joined the NDP anyway. Dave won't give up on teasing me, I'm sure. The NDP is extremely geeky. And not always in a good way. See my critique of their site (coming up in a few mintues). But they are the very best party on virtually all of the issues I care about. I think they are really the only alternative and I'm desperately hoping that they do well in the next election. I think that Jack Layton is the best, most charismatic leader that the NDP has seen in years and I really really hope that translates into more members and more votes. We'll see what happens in the upcoming election.
Posted by Me @ 10:44AM [Link]
Well, actually, I try not to care. Jeff Veen manages to explain why not caring is a good thing in his essay I don't care about accessibility. I just wish I worked like that. Things seem get a bit more complicated down here in the trenches though.
Posted by Me @ 04:06PM [Link]
My parents are renting out their house this summer. It's a gorgeous house for rent on Palmerston Blvd. in downtown Toronto. It's a short-term rental - May to September 2004. Go look at the Web site and see how beautiful the house is.
Posted by Me @ 08:55PM [Link]
This started out as a response to an evolt email. But lots of people wrote in and said similar things - so I decided to put it here instead. These points are by no means original, but it's amazing how many web sites - even professionally designed web sites - have these problems.
Posted by Me @ 05:10PM [Link]
"The Leafs SUCK!" has a catchphrase of mine for years, especially since my husband has become a rabid hockey fan. All fall/winter/spring and half the summer (yes the hockey season is the longest of all the sports by about 6 months) you can hear screams, shouts and curses coming from the basement TV room. Dave is so loud he shakes the whole house each time the Leafs score (which isn't often thank goodness).
So this year, I did the impossible and bought him two Leaf tickets to a sold out game for his birthday (thanks ebay!). I managed to keep the tickets a secret from him for ages. This is no mean feat since he's a present poker and shaker. He always seems to ask probing questions about his gifts that I am powerless to avoid or lie about. But this year I was very devious. I threw him red-herrings, I lied, I hid, I obfuscated. And it worked. And for some strange reason he decided to take me with him to the game.
So we travelled down to the ACC. We took our seats up in the nosebleeds (Section 322, Row 13 and 14). It was so steep that it made my knees shake every time I stood up. I'm not too good with heights - standing on a chair makes me nervous. Every surface was plastered with ads. Flashing, screaming, dancing ads. Pounding music over the loudspeakers. I was dizzy. We waited for the game to begin.
I discovered that I actually like hockey. The game is way better live than on TV. It's much easier to see the puck - even from the cheap seats. Everything makes way more sense. Somehow with all the cuts and camera angles on TV, the game gets so broken up that it can be hard to follow when the play is really quick.
I'm not sure what came over me. By the third period I had turned into a jumping, yelling, cursing Leafs fan. I bought a flag. Even though the Leafs lost "to the worst team in the league" (as Dave was moaning all the way home), I had a great time. The tickets were worth every over-priced penny. I'd totally go again. Maybe I'll even start watching the Maple Leafs on TV with Dave. Maybe.
Posted by Me @ 10:58AM [Link]
The RGD Ontario publishes their Salary Survey every year. And it's always chock full of amazing pricing, salary and other information. If you want to know what you should be charging, or what you should be making, or how much it should cost to get your signage designed, then read this survey.
I can't believe they publish this stuff... it's like giving gold away for free. Astounding. Thanks RGD Ontario!
Posted by Me @ 04:13PM [Link]
I think that the Kadhr family story has got to be one of the craziest tales since 9-11.
A Canadian family embroiled in Al-Qaeda. The patriarch, a firm believer in the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, pushes his family to be true believers. He sends his sons to training camps; he tries to convince them to become suicide bombers. But one of the sons is the "black sheep" of the family and refuses. He likes Western ways. He likes to party.
After 9-11, the family is killed, captured or on the run. The black sheep of the family is captured and goes to work for the CIA. His mission is to infiltrate Al-Qaeda in Bosnia, in Guantanamo, in Pakistan. This young man is working for "the enemy" and getting paid! But he could get killed if someone finds him out. He realises that this isn't a game. He finally gets fed up with it all and calls it quits.
He phones his Grandma in Toronto and gets her to speak to the press. He tells her to say that he's been trying to get home by asking for help at Canadian Embassies in several countries and they won't even let him in because he doesn't have a passport. He knows that this news, coming in the middle of the Sampson and Arar scandals, will get lots of play over here and put pressure on the Canadian government to bring him home instead of handing him back to the CIA. The CIA, knowing that he'll be no use to them anymore, gives up on him, and drops him off at the Canadian Embassy. Kadhr is flown home.
He tells his wild, wild story to a Canadian journalist. The CBC journalist, after hearing his many lies and stories, doesn't really believe him. Although this story does have a ring of truth, Kadhr is clever - too clever. So they subject him to a polygraph, which he passes with flying colours. The CBC tells his story to the world. It sounds like a spy novel. Who knows - maybe it is all lies - but it's a crazy, crazy story.
Posted by Me @ 09:42AM [Link]