Well, my old dedicated flash unit seems to have packed it in. I'll have to see if I can find a deal on one at the photography swap meet in January. And I was hoping to use the flash to do some experimenting with my "toy"...oh well. Guess I'll have to get my artistic ya-ya's out with the paint brush instead. There are a good half-dozen canvases begging to be finished...

I just got Excalibur in from Netflix. It is my second favourite movie about King Arthur. It certainly has the most interesting cast. Helen Mirren (purr!), Patrick Stewart, Liam Neeson, Gabriel Byrne (MEGA PURR!!)...and, with the exception of Helen Mirren, these guys all have small parts in the movie!

My favourite King Arthur movie? Monty Python and the Holy Grail, natch! It was one of the first movies I bought when I got the DVD player (along with "MP's Meaning of Life" and the best MP movie, "Life of Brian" and "Slapshot"...which has nothing at all to do with the Pythons).

Sounds like a double-feature this weekend!

Ni!

Took the last of my finals this morning! It was easier than I thought it would be...or maybe I was just better prepared this time. Now, comes the wait to see what grades I've ended up with.

A federal appeals court said that Team Bush cannot detain Jose Padilla (the "dirty bomb" suspect) without actually charging him with a crime.

From the article:

In a 2-1 decision, the court gave the government 30 days to release Jose Padilla, a Bronx-born Muslim who allegedly conspired with Al Queada operatives to detonate a "dirty bomb" in the United States.

The judges did not say Padilla must go free. Instead, they say the government must charge him with a crime if it wants to hold him.

The White House spokesman, Scott McClellan, said the decision was "troubling and flawed," and the administration said it would seek a stay of the ruling.

OK, I find that statement by Scott McClellan extremely disturbing. What the hell is so "troubling and flawed" about telling Team Bush they actually can't arrest and detain an American citizen without charging him/her with a crime?!?

If Team Bush has the goods on Padilla, then present this evidence, lay down the charges and let's get him tried! Jose Padilla is an American citizen...and the last time I checked, American citizens have a right to a fair and speedy trial (that's the Sixth Amendment, BTW).

What is troubling and flawed is an administration that believes it's okay for them to deny AMERICAN CITIZENS their constitutionally protected rights.

I'm not a scrooge, and I certainly don't begrudge anyone their holiday cheer. But I just have a fundamental disconnect with what the holidays have come to be about.

Even as a child, I didn't particularly care for Christmas. It had nothing to do with the fact that I wasn't raised in a Christian household (there was no "religion" in my home at all, though my mother gave me the freedom to go to any church I wanted to). I just found it distasteful that "Christmas" was all about the loot. THE topic of discussion when we got back to school in January would be, "what did you get?"

And it wasn't that I didn't get anything, or I only got crappy gifts, not at all. I got wonderful presents from my mother. But I always knew that she nearly killed herself every year trying to be sure I had a Christmas. That knowledge always cut an edge off of my enjoyment of the season--it didn't diminish my appreciation of the gifts, though. There were just always pangs of guilt that my mom had to work so damn hard so her stupid brat could unwrap presents Christmas morning.

I remember that I wanted so badly to believe in Santa Claus. If for no other reason than it would be great if there really was some benevolent old man who distributed the perfect presents to kids so their parents wouldn't have to work extra hard to get them. But I knew at a very young age that such a kind old man didn't exist.

And I absolutely cringe this time of year when I hear a parent warn their child to be good or "Santa won't bring you any presents!" What the hell kind of sword is that to swing over a little kid's head? Is this the kind of "holiday memory" these parents want their kids to carry through to their adulthood? And who defines "good" anyway? Does "good" mean, don't piss mom and/or dad off or they'll call Santa and tell him to give my gifts to a "better" kid? Or is there some old man watching me 24/7 who knows everything I do? How creepy is that?

In my house, there was also the problem of making sure I reacted with just the right amount of enthusiasm about the gifts. Every reveal had to be a "Kodak Moment". Kind of a difficult pace to keep up when you've gotten up too early and you're starting to crash after an hour or so. I remember a few times when I really love the gift, but I didn't get the reaction quite right. I could sense the "no matter what I do it isn't enough for you" resentment from my mother.

When Christmas becomes nothing but pressure--pressure to give the right gift (and the right number of gifts) and pressure to give the correct reaction--it ceases to be a time of celebration. Which is what I always was told Christmas was: The celebration of the birth of Christ.

So, why do we start with the pressures and expectations in OCTOBER? When did it become all about gimme, gimme, gimme?

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

OK, so I guess I'm not completely doing away with the holidays this year. After all, the furkids will get a visit from "Sandy Paws" just because they're good kitties and they're about due for some new toys and treats.

I attended a hockey game a few weekends ago. The San Jose Sharks played the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 2-2 tie. It was a thrill for me because it was the first time in my life I've seen the Leafs play in person...something I had always wanted to do.

After that game, there was an exhibition indoor lacrosse game between the San Jose Stealth (a "new-to-San Jose" team) and the Anaheim Bullfrogs (I think that's what they were called).

I have to say, I really enjoyed watching the NLL (National Lacrosse League) game. Indoor lacrosse is fast-paced and exciting with just enough of the rough-and-tumble to keep fans jacked up (yes, there were fisticuffs...just like in hockey). And, frankly, the guys playing were just yummy, and that always scores points in my books! I'd go to more of their games, if it wasn't such a pain in the ass to drive to San Jose (I-880 is the Ultimate Moron Parade...but that's for another blog entry).

I found myself feeling a bit melancholy as the game got underway. I watched the crew lay down the turf over the ice and saw the game night operations staff scurrying around making sure all the entertainment (not just players, but the music, the anthem singer, the between-period activities, and such) was in place and ready to roll on schedule. Well...the turf proved to be a bit problematic, but I'm sure they'll have it sorted out after a couple more exhibition games.

As I watched the crews working, I remembered the first exhibition games and first regular season home game we had when I worked for the San Francisco Spiders (of the now-defunct International Hockey League--I actually predicted the league's demise...despite the fact it had been around and healthy for over 50 years). I remembered the scurrying, the running around, making sure everything and everyone was in place. And I remembered seeing all of us office staff either in our Spiders polo shirts or wearing red and black (the team colours).

I remember how exciting it was. It was new. It was all OURS. We did this. The first home game in front of a big crowd (unfortunately, the last big crowd we'd ever see at the Cow Palace, a.k.a. Chateau du boef) was just unbelievable! I know I felt such a huge rush...I can't imagine the rush the players must have felt. But at least THEY could burn off that nervous energy playing the game. I literally had to run laps on the concourse to bring myself back to a normal, functioning level (by the time the players were out for warm-ups, I couldn't even speak full sentences, I was so jacked up). The first time the crowd let out a cheer for the Spiders, I had tears in my eyes.

I saw the same energy and pride (and relief!) on the faces of the staff of the Stealth. And I really missed that feeling. I missed the stress, the nervous energy. I missed the feeling of seeing something kinda big--that I had a hand in building--come to life. I remember an acquaintance of mine at the time commented that I was absolutely glowing for the six months or so up until that first game.

Hopefully, I'll have another job (soon, please) where I can feel all those feelings again. But I am grateful that I had the chance to even experience that in the first place.

Hmmm, right over in the neighbourhood of Ghandi and Mandela...but even further to the left from Dali Lama!

Here you can see where you land on the quadrant.

I live in an apartment. My upstairs neighbour is a nice guy for sure...but he walks very heavy on his heels. He's not a particularly large man...I'd say somewhere around 6'0 - 6'2 and reasonably fit. He just has Very...Heavy...Footsteps.

A couple months ago, I was making my supper and I heard THUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUD and thought at first he had bought an exercise tape or something. Then I thought, "he just doesn't seem like the 'Jane Fonda Workout' type..." and realised we were having an earthquake! I'm not kidding! We were having an earthquake and I thought the guy was up there sweatin' to the oldies! How messed up is that?!?

I don't know why, but for some reason it's just really started to bother me lately. I don't know if his footsteps have gotten heavier, or if I've grown more sensitive to it (I don't know what he drank the other night, but I sure didn't appreciate him hitting the one squeaky floorboard right over my bed at least a half dozen times during the night on his way to the loo).

Argh! He's doing it again! He's up thud thud thud thud thud thud into the kitchen thud thud thud thud thud thud THUD into his la-z-boy, then up again and thud thud thud thud thud thud back to the kitchen and so on! Gaaaahhhhh!

I swear, one day I'll live in my own home and it'll be a feckin' Ranch house with no upstairs! Or if I have an upstairs, I'll occupy it so I don't have people stomping on my head!

Crikey! He's off again! GAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!

Billie likes catnip again! She's started to actually eat it again.

A couple years ago, when she first came to live with us, she had to visit the vet (she's a bit susceptible to UTI's). I thought I'd put some catnip in her carrier, so that she'd associate going to the vet with getting one of her favourite treats...and then going to the vet (or being put in the carrier) wouldn't be so bad.

Unfortunately, that backfired. She associated getting catnip with going to the vet. And she wanted nothing to do with catnip for a looonnnggg time. Eventually, she'd sniff the container; then she'd sniff the container and rub her head on it (essentially giving the container a "snoodgie"). Last night, when I gave Simon his catnip, Billie was really interested in the container...to the point of dunking her nose in it! So I put some out for her and, after rolling around in it for a couple minutes, she started eating it!

It's really good that I have another treat I can give her...she's extraordinarily picky. Other than her dry cat food, she only likes deli-sliced turkey and petromalt. (Simon, on the other hand, eats anything that doesn't eat him first.)

Now, if I can only get her to not hate Simon so much...

This is certainly good news! I expect to see him brought to justice and expect nothing less than a completely above-the-board, legal and fair trial. Which is a hell of a lot more than he ever gave his people, and likely a hell of a lot more than he deserves. But I want no loopholes, no loose ends, no doubts that he was tried fairly. History is watching how this all unfolds, after all.

Does Hussein's capture change my mind about the war on Iraq? No. Team Bush's "justification" for this war was that 1) Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and 2) he was about to use them against the US. There also was just enough innuendo fed to the American public to make a significant portion of them believe that Saddam Hussein was responsible for the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center despite the fact that there has been NO verified evidence of such! Zero, zip, zilch, nada, noneatall.

So, let's see if Hussein leads Team Bush to those WMDs...and let's see, provided they find said WMDs, just how close they were to being fired on US targets.

By the way...I'd like to take a minute to point out that Osama bin Laden, the "leader" who actually is responsible for 9/11, is still at-large. And, I believe, much more likely to pose a threat to the American people than Saddam Hussein was.

But at the end of it all...my thoughts are with the Iraqi people. I am glad that they are no longer ruled by such a demonic creature. And I look forward to the day when they are truly free. Free to choose how they want their country run. Free from interference from the war lords and overlords--including George W. Bush. It's time to pull out Team Bush's "interim" government and let the Iraqi people decide how their homeland is going to heal from decades of brutality, chaos and destruction. My hopes and prayers are with them today.