the pod bay door

:: A week ago we were living through -35C temperatures in Edmonton. Currently it is -2C, and there is a light rain falling, turning to ice as it hits the ground, making driving a hazardous affair. The east coast is getting hammered with another major winter blizzard. While the temperature never gets that hot in Edmonton in the summer, and while I do wish winter was a bit shorter here, overall it’s tough to complain about the weather in this part of the world. We don’t seem to get the extremes that other regions do. The 1987 tornado that ripped through the east half of Edmonton took 27 lives, but was considered a rarity, an disaster not expected to happen all that often.

I am continuing to rehearse with Hardy Drew and the Nancy Boys. The band knows 10 songs, and is learning two covers. There is much more to learn. I am enjoying it, the challenge of learning original tunes, most of which are very unconventional, featuring mixed time signatures coupled with jamming intervals. A song’s framework is sidestepped for 30-60 seconds while the my guitar, the drums and the bass play, well, whatever. Each time a song with such a component is played, it will sound different as a result. There is much more work to do. It’s a new experience, playing in a three-piece rock band.

I played boggle on Sunday night with Marissa, Melissa, and Sarah. Melissa is a Boggle Queen, and Marissa and Sarah are no slouches. Needless to say, the girls cleaned my clock in every round. Saturday night Marissa and I saw End of the Century, the movie about the seminal 70s NYC punk band, The Ramones. The film is a real eye-opener, highly recommended.

It’s January, and I’m restless for any number of reasons. The year is barely two weeks old, and planning for activities in the summer and fall has already begun. I am also about to agree to do to something that could result in a three-year professional time commitment, to June 2008. More on that at a later date.

:: Over the Christmas break, I had planned to begin purging my house of excessive “stuff”: papers, curios, objects, junk, magazines, clothes, utinsels, tools, whatever. I made minor progress in one of the three rooms upstairs in my house, albeit the one requiring the most work, my office. What I learned is that such projects take a long, long time to complete. I’d be sorting through said stuff, and inevitably take too much time to examine every single item, wondering “Do I want to keep this, or is it ok to get rid of it? Wait, what if I want to read it again in 13 years?” And on it went. A 1980 issue of Rolling Stone was in my filing cabinet, kept this long because it had a review of Gaucho, and an accompanying article on Steely Dan. Did I need to keep it another 25 years? I reread the two pieces, and passed it on to a friend, advising him not to return it.

I shredded enough paper to fill three blue bags, and boxed some magazines and papers, which I moved to the basement. I know, that’s not purging (it’s shifting, I suppose) but the room is getting spacious again.

What is hardest to admit is that there is much, much more to be eliminated. My plan is to try to finish the first sweep of this room, and then get to the other two upstairs bedrooms, which will not require as much work. In those rooms, the material to be purged will be mostly clothing, which will be recycled to Goodwill.

There is always too much to do. I have music to rehearse for an acoustic concert in February, a new tune to work on for the rock band, and I haven’t been to the Y in six days. My favorite TV shows are back on the air, and 24 begins 24 straight episodes starting this Sunday. Ack.

:: I have been off work since December 18th, with the exception of December 20th. I had planned to do some major house cleaning and purging, but have made it through part of one room only. I was back at work today, in the sub-zero, bone-numbing city in which I live.

Derryl sent a link to this short animation, Gotta Get My Stuff Done, which while funny, also illustrates in the simplest of presentations, how we can rationalize not doing the stuff that needs to be done.

:: A week ago, we were first hearing of the tsunami. I recall the first time I heard something on the news, that 4,000 people were presumed dead. Seven days later, I find it very difficult to process what has happened.

Three weeks after September 11th, 2001, The Onion published its second issue since that fateful day. The cover story featured a composite picture of various pop culture icons and newsmakers of the moment, with the headline, “A Shattered Nation Longs To Care About Stupid Bullshit Again.” My tolerance for stoopid bullshit continues to decline on a daily basis, and in the past week, has hit an all-time low. I watch no so-called reality shows, and when I see an ad for one, I reach for the mute and/or channel buttons as fast as humanly possible. Who can give a rat’s ass about the next Survivor, Insert-Name-of-Country-Here Idol, or The Apprentice? Perhaps for some, shows like these are a diversion. But what they represent is so infinitely distant from anything that really matters.

What is critical right now is contributing to help those in need. In Canada, the Canadian Government will match donations by citizens until mid-January:

Until the UN donor conference in mid-January, when needs will be reassessed, the Government of Canada through the Canadian International Development Agency is matching dollar for dollar contributions that individuals make to recognized Canadian non-government organizations already involved in responding to the disaster in South and Southeast Asia. Some of these organizations include:

* Canadian Red Cross
* World Vision Canada
* Doctors Without Borders
* Oxfam Canada
* Oxfam Quebec (French only)
* CARE Canada
* UNICEF Canada
* Development and Peace
* Save the Children

Please donate if you haven’t already.

:: As received in a recent e-mail, illustrating how far we’ve gone (backwards) in ensuring that no one is ever offended, again, in late December (for those who recognize the calendar with the month “December” in it):

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all…. and a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2005, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make Canada great (not to imply that Canada is necessarily greater that any other country), and without regard to the race, creed, colour, age, physical ability, religious faith, choice of computer platform, or sexual preference of the wishee.

By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms. This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her/himself or others, and is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year, or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.

In other words, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

:: Happy New Year to everyone, as we begin the second half of this yet-to-be-named decade. In Edmonton we are experiencing -20 to -25C temperatures for the next few days, a deep freeze. I saw The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou yesterday, bringing my Films Viewed in 2004 total to 112 – this figure includes a number of short films as well, not 112 full-length features.

Regarding resolutions, the one I want to seriously tackle this year is losing a few pounds, and getting into better shape. Beyond that, enjoying life to its fullest is a good challenge.