Newmindspace has a bunch of cool stuff happening this weekend that I thought I'd share. For starters, their documentary is premiering tonight at the Bloor Cinema as a fundraiser for The Toronto Public Space Committee. I might even be in it if you watch the people in the background :-)

On top of that, this Friday night marks the return of the Great Urban Capture The Flag Event. Bring a flashlight, a cellphone and whatever else you like. I'm going and it'd be good to see how many others might show up.

This is also the weekend of Sheena's Birthday! So I'll be heading over there to say hello and celebrate at the Pennywhistle. As the last weekend before Primus puts me back on call for 168hours straight, I hope it goes well.

I've been thinking a lot about my time here. Not just in Toronto, but in Ottawa as well.

I left home with a simple premise in mind: The world needs fixing and I can't honestly say that I know how to do it unless I've left my corner of the country to see what's out there. The thinking was that I needed to learn about "how the world works" before I could fix it and so I came out East to find out.

Unfortunately though, since having moved out this way, I have become more pessimistic, more realistic, and sadly, more pragmatic -- traits that do not necessarily embody the visionary I wanted to become. My faith in humanity has all be disappeared and my cynicism surrounding our future grows thicker with every community event I attend. The problems of the world are two fold: On one side you have smart people exploiting the planet and it's inhabitants, and on the other, you have hordes upon hordes of apathetic or just plain stupid people who either don't know what they're doing or just like to hear themselves talk. Sometimes, I am even afraid that I am part of this latter group -- I suppose that there is hope for my ego yet.

The problem appears to be my fading Faith in humanity. Sure, some people care, but not enough of them and even those who do care often can't Do Right because of factors like costs and that painful urge to eat. What's more, I've found that the problems of the world are much broader than I had initially assumed. While not surprising, the idea that anyone can "fix the world" is beginning to sound so foolish that even someone as idealistic as myself is having trouble with the concept. Indeed, I often wonder if I can even make a dent in the various issues I've run into here -- even with the hordes of like-minded people around me.

I've also recently come to realise that not only is this Path an embittering one, but that it's also full of distractions like having a life of my own. Striking a balance between having a social life, ie. the Why We Fight line of thinking, and getting work done is a continuous problem. On the one hand I have people I care about and personal joys that I've put on hold, and on the other, I have, what Al Gore so elegantly articulated in his movie: The Whole Planet. How can I be a Good and responsible citizen and still go to choir practise when more work needs to be done?

Maybe this is what I needed to learn more than anything else out here. Maybe I needed to develop a healthy disdain for people and the democratic process... but I don't want to believe that. I came here to understand the world better, and I'm afraid that I've learned the wrong lessons.

I'd finally had enough of the spammers hammering my site peddling their crap. I've installed some custom anti-spam code that will hopefully keep them from doing any more damage.

What does this mean for you? Well if you're not "whitelisted" (my server recognises you as a real person who's commented before) your comments will be put into a queue for me to review before they're visible. I've already added a bunch of people, but obviously there will have to be more. If you want to make sure that you don't get moderated in future, leave a comment here and I'll make sure that that doesn't happen.

I'm sitting in my cubicle, slowly coming to realise how very screwed we all are.

Not more than 10' from me, a bunch of my coworkers are engaged in yet another conversation about cars. This makes no less than 5 car worshipping sessions in one day. As much as those of us who despise cars might fight against them, the fact is that the overwhelming majority of people outside of downtown areas not only love their cars, but they've made them a permanent fixture in their culture. Even if gas climbs above $2, these people will have to be dragged kicking and screaming out of those thrice-damned machines.

On a happier note though, Spacing Wire has mentioned a nifty bike ride happening in Toronto tonight in light of the festive occasion. I can't attend it myself, but if you're so inclined, I suggest you check it out.

This is what rich people should do with their money. Richard Branson, CEO of the Virgin megacorp, is trying to save the world from global warming by contributing 100% of the profits from his airline and rail companies to fight the Good Fight.

So you might have noticed that my site was down today (apologies go to the Public Space Committee who needed my server to be working). I got to work and my computer, which had been working when I left for the office was not responding.

So I call Rogers to ask them if there's some maintenence going on on their end. "Nope, nothing special today... oh wait, here's the problem" the operator said, "Your modem's not responding, but according to our records, it's been up for 173 days... that's probably it. It doesn't like to run that long."

So yeah, my site disappeared because my modem got tired. Sigh. Maybe I should be looking into hosting it somewhere a little more dependable than my apartment eh?

I remember way back to when I was dating Michelle all those years ago. She'd lectured me on the right celebratory moments in a relationship. Her reasoning at the time, I assume, was likely based in the limited length of relationships for people our age. You have to take note of the 3month mark, 6month, and then every following year... Seemed a bit nuts at the time, but who am I to turn down a reason for good food?

So how did we celebrate? We went to Lola Bistro where I consumed a 24oz steak and some absolutely FABULOUS bernaise sauce. (Melanie did the research to find which steak houses in Toronto actually serve the stuff -- you'd be surprised at how many good places just don't) The chef was friendly and talented, and he even let me take the remainder of the sauce home!

Mmmmmmmm. Beef Coma.

Conversation between my best friend and I

Chris	So what're your plans when you finally move back home?
Me	I'm not sure really. I think I'd like to run in municipal or provincial politics but I'm afraid that while a lot of people might like what I have to say, I'm just not likeable enough publically.
Chris	Hmmm, well then I have and idea. I'll run in your place and be your puppet. You just tell me what to say!

I have awesome friends.

Ripped from Eden's blog.

I want to know 20 things about you. I don't care if we've never talked, never liked each other, or if we already know everything about each other. I really don't. My thinking is that if you're reading my blog, I should get to know something about you too ;-)

1. Your Middle Name:
2. Age:
3. Single or Taken:
4. Favourite Movie:
5. Favourite Song:
6. Favourite Band/Artist:
7. Dirty or Clean:
8. Tattoos and/or Piercings:
9. Do we know each other outside of teh intarweb?
10. Whats your philosophy on life?
11. Would you have my back in a fight?
12. Would you keep a secret from me if you thought it was in my best interest?
13. What is your favourite memory of us?
14. Would you give me a kidney?
15. Tell me one odd/interesting fact about you:
16. Would you take care of me when I'm sick?
17. Can we get together and make a cake?
18. Have you heard any rumours of me lately?
19. Do you/have you talk(ed) crap about me?
20. Do you think I'm a good person?
21. Would you drive across country with me?
22. Do you think I'm attractive?
23. If you could change anything about me, would you?
24. What do you wear to sleep?
25. Would you come over for no reason just to hang out?
26. Would you go on a date with me if I asked you? (You know, if I wasn't already dating someone awesome (Hi Melanie!))
27. If I only had one day to live, what would we do together?
28. Will you re-post this so I can fill it out for you?

Melanie just told me about Jesus Camp, a frightening new documentary about the Christian indoctrination in America. The trailer is quite scary and I'm bent on going when it opens next weekend. Who wants come?