courtesy of taavi, i've got a nifty link for you that lets you pseudo-vote in the upcoming american election. the results will be released the day before, as a sort of "this is what the rest of the world thinks" thing for the americans to consider before heading to the polls themselves. not only does the test ask who you'd vote for, but who you think is going to win and whether or not you have any right to vote in the first place.

don't hate me, i voted nader.

the day started just plain ugly. the fog had come in overnight and i woke up to a grey, grey city. then while i did some (failed) geeking, it began to rain and the day got uglier... even though it reminded me of home. but then, like so many days in this province, the rain just "went away" (very much not like home) and gave way to a really pretty afternoon, when dark finally came, a warm south wind was blowing through the streets of toronto and i was pumped full of romanticism from my favourite movie: moulin rouge.

so what did i do in this wonderful mood that made me forget all the stupidities going on at work? i took pavel up on his invite to his place to hang out with friends. "maybe i'll meet some cool people" i thought. well i showed up and there was one russian couple and pavel. emily hadn't even shown up yet and they were already drinking. the plan for the night: "we'll drink some vodka and smoke some pot" ...o how fascinating.

when i had a few minutes, i walked on to the balcony, stared out at his killer view, breathed in the strangely clean air and thought to myself: "what am i doing here? why am i blowing this amazing night with a bunch of people who love to do all the things i hate?"

by the time i got out of there, the wind had died down and my romanticism high had worn off. i don't really even want to go to the masquerade with them tomorrow night. if it's anything like tonight was, i think i want to be alone -- i'm not alone enough lately i think.

angela found this and pointed it out to me over msn this morning. it's a collection of subjects some guy often fights with his girlfriend over, and some of them are just priceless:

I eat two-fingered Kit-Kats like I'd eat any other chocolate bars of that size, i.e., without feeling the need to snap them into two individual fingers first. Margret accused me of doing this, 'deliberately to annoy her'.

Which way - the distances were identical - to drive round a circular bypass (this resulted in her kicking me in the head from the back seat as I drove along).

She wants to paint the living room yellow. I have not the words.

Margret doesn't like to watch films on the TV. No, hold on - let me make sure you've got the inflection here: Margret doesn't like to watch films on the TV. She says she does, but years of bitter experience have proven that what she actually wants is to sit by me while I narrate the entire bleeding film to her. 'Who's she?', 'Why did he get shot?', 'I thought that one was on their side?', 'Is that a bomb' - 'JUST WATCH IT! IN THE NAME OF GOD, JUST WATCH IT!' The hellish mirror-image of this is when she furnishes me, deaf to my pleading, with her commentary. Chair-clawing suspense being assaulted mercilessly from behind by such interjections as, 'Hey! Look! They're the cushions we've got.', 'Isn't she the one who does that tampon advert?' and, on one famous occasion, 'Oh, I've seen this - he gets killed at the end.'

kinda makes our little mail argument pretty sad eh chrystal?

found these links on this modern world. this is so very sad:


this pamphlet was being distributed in various milwaukee black neighbourhoods. is this desperate or just plain evil?. another good link is a short audio commentary by jack hitt (realplayer required (linux, windows, osX)). it covers in considerable depth, the tricks being played on both sides... and contrary to what you may think, the republicans are playing way dirtier.

so yeah, i don't feel too well right now. actually, the room's spinning a bit and i'm feeling pretty warm for a guy who's in a tshirt pants and no shoes next to the office window... i'm thinking it's stress though. been having some problems with someone here @work saying bad things about me behind my back. i'll say more once i learn how to encrypt the traffic on my blog.

so just now i think to check my voicemail on my phone... maybe someone/thing interesting will be in the voicemail. turns out the only message i got was from the sustainableliving lady wanting to send me more stuff.

so, the above message and my shitty feeling (probably related to the fact that i woke up before dawn to help out at a soupkitchen) are absolute proof that no good deed ever goes unpunished.

and i'm here for another 3hours...

'cause it's right up his alley. rated pg-13 ;-)

it doesn't matter if you don't like him. watch the video.

it occurred to me on the way to work today that i've not had much in the way of frivolous postings in my blog lately. as a result, i think it's getting to me and making me stressed. not that not posting frivolous stuff makes me stressed, but more that not having anything frivolous to post about is doing it. so, today after i met with some of the activists i met at the premiere last night, i decided to go home and do something that didn't matter -- then blog about it. ...so here i am.

i watched the rest of hellsing tonight. an anime series julie from work lent me on dvd. can i just say this? holy shit that was fucked up. i watched the whole thing, didn't miss an episode and i still have no idea what went on, why things happend, or why they ended it that way. but unlike some of the other movies i've seen and not understood, this one manages to stay in my good books because it's just so well done. really graphic, and even disturbing or scary at times. good series if you have the time and/or the bandwidth.

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well the premiere of the take was fabulous. both lewis and klien attended and did a q&a after the show. there was even a gettogether at a nearby bar afterword where i took some pictures. i wanted to get this down though before i went through them and posted what i found. maybe i'll edit this post later to put them in.

so what's this flick about? the take is about workers taking their jobs out of the hands of owners and stockholders and taking the responsibility on themselves. a documentary covering the cultural and economic revolution in argentina, this flick follows one group of workers after they were laid off due to lack of profitability, starting 3years later, they're still out of work as they band together and re-open the long closed factory. it has been done over and over across the country, and the authors follow it step by step. i'd go into detail but there's no need... because you should see this movie.

think of it like this: the corporation opens your eyes, and points to the problem, while the take points to a viable solution. imagine a company that works to produce a product that everyone can use and therefore maintains jobs, instead of lining owner's wallets. decisions are made democratically, one worker, one vote and all workers are paid well... in some cases even equally regardless of position. sounds crazy and even impossible, but it's being done.... all over the country and the world. as the saying goes: "those who say it cannot be done, should not interrupt the person doing it"

i also bought a tshirt there: "stop asking" it says -- a prelude to "just take", a reference to the way such victories often have to be appropriated rather than patiently waited for. i've added my name to a mailing list for local activists of this type and hope i'll be able to help them in the future. one of them i met is even from vancouver... no more than 4blocks from where i used to live... kinda cool. i hope i'll have more interesting things along this thread soon.

the movie starts in the following cities on the 29th

• vancouver at tinseltown
• toronto
  • varsity vip
  • the camera
  • carlton
• montreal
  • excentris (french)
  • amc forum (english)

ottawa has one and only one week to see the show, november 5th at the bytowne.

as i understand it, whether or not the show gets another week is wholly dependent on the first week at the boxoffice. if it goes well, there's a second week, if not, "sorry, gotta make room for gili 2" so do go see this when it's in your town. it's an excellent film and a great way to learn about what's happening in other countries and economies. ...and i promise that it'll make great dinner conversation.

i'm available if you need someone to go with ;-)

a new movie by avi lewis & naomi klein premieres tonight in toronto and has already shown in vancouver. montreal is set for the 27th, with it appearing in theatres everywhere on the 29th. called the take, it looks to be along the same lines as "the corporation". if you're interested, details can be found on the website. tickets for the premiere can be bought in advance at various locations around your city.