Budget Election

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: there will be an election triggered by the budget. The Liberals have just said they won't support it, putting all the onus on the NDP. If you're Jack, you've got two options: wait for the Liberals under Dion craft a carefully managed, fully green campaign centered on the environment; or, force an election while you still have a chance to win seats as an NDP that stands for the environment and strong social policy. The longer Layton waits, the worse the retuns will be come election time as the Green Liberals (perception, at least... we'll see if it's true) eat NDP seats in all the urban centers. To say nothing of teh NDP not wanting to give the Green Party a chance to raise money.

Links are important, both for amusement and tying people down

I feel an obligatory need to apologize for all of the links that have been cropping up in the past few posts. There are many reasons: the overabundance of entertaining web content thanks to the Time Persons of the Year that are contributing to Web 2.0; my profound laziness; other things.

I'm sure people read blogs for insightful thoughts, fleeting glimpses into the souls of other human beings, and the odd bit of humour. Not me. I read them for the links. I try and post most of them on Facebook but every once in a while there's something so fantastic, so unbeleivably awesome, that it earns a place of honour in the blogosphere (whatever the hell THAT is).

I have a secret desire to dress up in old-timey clothes all the time--not just on special occasions. Really, I just want to live in Gattaca world, but without the social evil. Failing that, I'll settle for Victorian-era old-timeyness. I've recently been informed that there's some sort of movement called, I don't know, steamwhistly punk? Steamytime Punk? Anyway, they dress up like they're extras in The Time Machine (the shitty Guy Pearce version).

And this is where they shop.

There's your link-feast for the day. Also, I never did actually apologize for all the links. Oh well.

If you read nothing else in your life, read this (unless of course you don't read because you're illiterate. Or have no eyes.)

As a historian, or at least one who is training to become a professional teller of stories, I feel that I am fully qualified to write the following:

This is by far and without any qualification the greatest thing that has ever happened in the history of human existance, save perhaps for the invention of the printing press, and that short period of time after thongs became fasionable when you'd accidentally catch a peak of them, as opposed to shortly thereafter when showing off one's underwear became cool and all first-years became prostitutes.

And yes, this supersedes any movies I've talked about in previous posts, like the one directly underneath this one.

Wot's All This Then?

I've had quite enough of this growing up shit.

I'm a sheltered soul. I'm from North London: I grew up in a world sheltered from nearly everything. The hardest drug in my world was Labatt 50, and racism existed only in the world of irony. I lived with my parents until I left the city at the age of 26 to go to grad school.

Sure, Edmonton has its share of interesting experiences; meth addicts, hookers who look like the girls outside Jim Bob's, free money just for living here.

But today I submitted an app to McGill for a PhD and had a fight with the folks about--of all things--a goddamn wedding.

Why the hell would anyone in their right mind fight about a wedding? There's a level of juvenility to that--the distilation of all that one hates about the most basic social order that is highschool within the crucible of a putatively joyous family event--that never ceases to amaze. And piss off.

I've had quite enough of real life today.

Instead of continuing to read about my day, why don't you go download (or iTunes... is that a verb yet?) Flathead by The Fratellis. Either the song or the whole album--it doesn't matter. I'll wait here.

This Blog Is Not an Ex-Blog

Contrary to popular (read: Brett's) belief, this blog is not dead; It will soon re-launch as a chronicling of my general thoughts and feelings, assuming that my new-found status as Time's Person of the Year affords me readership.

In the meantime amuse yourself with this, which will either suck or rock so hard that it tears apart the fabric of reality.