Some things I forgot to mention

Re: the election
My previously stated reasons for voting democrat failed to mention perhaps the most important one. This is a less definable overall need for change in the USA. Obama has been branding himself as the candidate of HOPE - and for all the vagueness of the assertion, I think it identifies a real need. This is a little difficult to guage, living outside of the country (there is definitely a desire for change in the USA from this side of the border).
But I do think that there is certainly a place for HOPE and a place for dreams - and it seems like at this particular point in time, a healthy dose of optimism is necessary. I think people are waiting to see if America can change for the better - and I think we have a candidate who is calling for such change. Whether he can deliver on any of his claims remains to be seen, but this doesn't take away the need to believe that we CAN change.
Anyway - enough about that. Remember to vote.

Re: a movie we watched
Don't Come Knocking is a pretty cool movie. It is sort of a bit of a western... about a washed up cowboy actor who finds out that he has a son. It is the kind of movie that I really like - character driven, with not a whole lot of action, and a somewhat stylized treatment of characters and photography.
And the soundtrack is kinda cool.
And Sarah Polly is in it.

Lunchtime

Today at lunch I mailed my absentee ballot. As mentioned before, it is my first time voting. I am generally not eligible to vote where I live, and this is the first time I applied early enough for my ballot to come to me.

I am pretty ignorant when it comes to politics, so voting for somebody to lead 300+ million people is sort of scary. Here are some things that I do know:

Denying the human rights of enemies and suspected enemies of the USA is extremely worrisome. It is unAmerican, and violates rights protected in the constitution. Rights which we believe to be unalienable and god-given should surely be granted to all people (of all nations) even if there is a chance that it compromises national security. Otherwise we could, for example, have rounded up Japanese americans and held them in camps during WWII, on the grounds that they might be a threat. (Oh yeah, we did that too... but that doesn't make it OK.)

Healthcare in our country is ridiculous. Having seen the system in Canada, I can assure you that it is better - even with the higher taxes. When people make decisions about whether or not they will see a doctor based on whether or not they can afford to, then something is wrong.

A hands off approach to the economy seems a bit dodgy. I don't know much about economics, but I don't trust humans enough to do the right thing without regulation. If left to our own devices, greed would have us borrowing irresponsibly, lending irresponsibly, and the freedom of the market would lead us all into a big economic crisis. Hypothetically, of course.



Anyway - like I said, I'm not an expert, so I feel a little unqualified to be chosing a leader. That being said, I still think you should vote for Obama.



Also at lunch, I bought the new Mt Eerie CD (featuring Julie Doiron - hooray), to which I will now listen.

Weekend

Friday:
Leah and I headed to the rehearsal studio for a good 3-4 hour practice.
Saturday:
We went over to the Kelly's for brunch. It was fun.
That evening, Jen came over for dinner and then we headed to a party at the Bowser-Huang residence. There were 4 floors of party, with the most popular being the giant projected rock-band floor. That game is ridiculous.
Sunday:
We did loads of laundry in the morning.
After church we went to David and Jen's for dinner. Their lizard is steadily growing.

Obama Mix 2

I posted this Obama mix a while back...
If you want more Obama themed tunes, check out the Yes We Can Mixtape [Sendspace]

Week Update

I spent last week on vacation - but stayed in T.O.

Highlights:

My parents visited from Thursday to Sunday.
We ate a couple of Thanksgiving meals to kick off the week.
We went to Hamilton for an afternoon.


Today I am back at work - and I left my headphones at home... =(

Party for Change

If you've got the bandwidth, check out this Probama dj-mix.

I tend to be pretty politically ignorant. This is perhaps partly due to the fact that I've never lived anywhere where I could legally vote (I have legally paid taxes a lot though!)

To be honest, it probably has more to do with ignorance and laziness. I did make the effort to register to vote from abroad this time around.

Anyway - what prompted this (unusual for me) post about politics was a message on my church bulletin board linking to a YouTube clip (which, to be honest, I didn't bother watching) about how Obama supports letting babies die. I responded with a link to an Obama interview where he talks about this exact bill...

So - I figured I'd link to that interview here too...

Moonlight Shadow

For the last week I have been taking transit to work. The back tire on my bike needs a new tube, and I haven't had a chance to replace it. Also, the weather has gotten colder, so my motivation to get the thing fixed is waning.

As I was rushing out of the house this morning, I stopped to grab a book from the bookshelf. I didn't have anything in mind, and ended up with Banana Yoshimoto's Kitchen. This book is on my list of titles that I have read, and will read, over and over again.

I started with the short novella in the back, Moonlight Shadow, and I finished it at lunchtime. This story makes me want to make films. Actually, not films in general - it makes me want to remake this story in film. Yoshimoto translates feeling into hues and images, and translates those into written words. I can only imagine that reading her stories in the original Kanji is even more magical.

busy weekend

On Friday, Kate and Tim came over for dinner. Afterwards, we went to see Laura sing in the semi-finals of a bizarro Gospel Idol type TV show. The mash-up of church and contest show was completely ridiculous (not in a good way), but is was cool to see Laura do her thing (very well).

Afterwards, we were able to stop by the rehearsal studio and play music for about an hour.

On Saturday, we went to pick up a rental car, and then drove with David and Jen out to the Niagara region for Karl and Nicole's wedding. They were married in the back yard of a BIG house, with vineyards in the background. The ceremony was great, if a bit cold, and the reception (in a huge heated tent) was super fun. Justin DJ'd for hours, and I think the party went a bit longer than the parents expected...

We got home around 3am, and didn't feel up to going out to Nuit Blanche.

On Sunday, we had to get up around 9 to take the car back. Afterwards, we went to Mars for breakfast. Anne and Joel picked Leah (and her amp) up for church... They also came over for dinner afterwards.

zzz

Last night I slept for almost 10 hours