patriots?

First off, a happy Canada Day to all, and a happy birthday to my dear friend D.

In conversing with my girlfriend, who's back home in Michigan right now, a chord was hit with me. She was talking about the stars and stripes everywhere, shirts with fireworks, so much American pride, and she said that it's nice to be in a place where she can say that she's American and not have to hide it or apologize for it.

I've never thought about it like that before, to be quite honest. Most of the Americans I know keep it under the radar. I even know a couple who are proud of the president and what he has done, though they don't advertise their Americanicity. I've always been quite out with my Canadian-ness, and I can't imagine having to hold it back. To say, "I'm this, but I'm not proud to be it because of these people." To feel like your mother has abandoned you, rejected you.

So on this day of Canadian pride, my thoughts are with neighbours who can only celebrate without any cloud of mistrust, or anger, or contempt at home. I wish I could help, but really, it's a self-contained battle, one that must be fought at home. Good luck, guys.

great people getting great things

I want to send a special internet congratulations (including all the required sex pictures and unconfirmed rumours) to two wonderful friends of mine, Jason and Roisin. These are two friends that I have known for sometime and I can say (without exaggeration) that I have bragged about knowing the world over.

I always loved visiting with these two - we would sit and talk about books and politics (amongst other things), then I'd sit and talk with Jason about computers and photography while Roisin would typically prepare some amazing meal or another, then I'd sit and talk with Roisin after about cooking and gardens and decorating, then more talking with both after. I loved it. Jason has been a friend and someone to look up to for me since I started university, and was my photography partner while I lived in Ottawa. We worked together for a while on the now-defunct unshuttered.com.

These two amazing people are tying the knot this weekend, and I really wish I could've been there to see them tie the knot this weekend. Felicitations, you two, and have a great weekend!

charisma

One thing I've noticed growing up is charisma. I don't know if everyone notices people who have it and people who don't, but I think I've gotten pretty good at spotting people who have and people who know how to use it - not necessarily one and the same.

Of course, we all know charismatic individuals - those for whom everything seems to flow quite well. For some, this just happens naturally - usually, they're fun people who are generally nice, willing to give of themselves, and they often have people around them. I know plenty of these people, and they're the kind of friends that you want around a lot (I find).

However, there are those who either fully realize what they possess or have realized how charisma works. Realistically, they know how to manipulate people, to get them to do what they want. This is not an intrinsically evil thing, although many use it for their own gain. We know the ultimate example used in a very evil way - Hitler was a very charismatic individual, but so was Winston Churchill. I've seen the thought processes of entire groups moved by one individual with a few words. Words are a warming oil coming from the mouths of charismatic individuals, greasing the way for future intentions. Language is much more than communication, it is a many-armed god, one that is inherently neutral, but is used for any purpose you can think of.

Sometimes I just get scared, seeing people wielding charisma with extreme expertise and intention. So many people just want something to believe, someone to follow - it usually just takes a few words to recruit them. Hell, I don't really want to get political, but look at 9/11 and its ramifications. People would take anything just to not feel so exposed, so raw, so without anything. And as we march on, I think a change is coming.

I think that one of these days, some will wake up (some already have), look around, and wonder where the value of everything is. Right now, we have, but we aren't. Anything. It happened two hundred years ago and was called Romanticism. Changes like this are controlled by the people, who in turn are controlled by a few charismatic individuals. What these people shoot for controls what happens.

And yeah, that scares me a little.

river tracing - now without pencils!

I can still feel rocks under my legs. My arms burn with abrasions, and my ass is bruised like an orange tossed around the room by my kids. I think I still smell of river water (which is actually quite nice, people buy shampoos to smell like that), and the skin of my hands is baby-bottom soft (from being in water for six hours straight). I can say I had a good time.

If you didn't know, river-tracing is where you all sit at a table with a map and some onion-skin paper, and... no, wait, that's a cartographer nerd's fantasy (sound of map being put into drawer). River-tracing is where you get in a river and head upstream, tracing it to, ideally, its source. You climb up rocks, move through strong currents, cursing, swimming, falling, cursing more, hanging out in quiet pools, disturb quiet pools with shrieks and flips and cursing, then head back to the start. It's a pretty awesome way to experience nature and its power. I sat under a number of waterfalls today, just feeling the pure strength that flowed over me - the weight of the water, the power of gravity.

In Taiwan, it's somewhat more rare to enjoy non-saltwater that isn't chlorinated, so this was a special treat. And the colours of the tropics are really something to be enjoyed, something you don't get in a smoggy city - the verdant greens, the cyanotic blues, the dapper greys, the earthy browns. Sigh. Heaven.

it's a good day for...

In the paper every day, they have the Chinese Lunar calendar stuff. This generally consists of what phase the moon is in and prophecy for that day. Just to let you know, today is a good day for coming-of-age ceremonies and eliminating danger. Eliminating Danger!

I'm off to make the world a safer place.

typhoon day!

Well, I had my typhoon cherry broken this week. And what a show! A typhoon is unlike any other weather pattern I've ever experienced - it was 24 straight of winds over 150 kph (up north it was up over 200 kph) and buffeting rains. Typhoon Haitung hit Kaohsiung at around 9 pm Sunday night and howled, pouring rain into the apartment through poorly sealed windows, keeping me up with winds that not only screamed, but reverberated in a strange bass voice over the building. It tore up trees all over (I saw trees uprooted that were bigger around than my chest. Many), tore up signs, and closed down the entire city for a day (schools for two). People lost water and/or power. Bridges were washed out.

In its wake, it left floods, torrential rains for two days following, and bits of trees everywhere (I saw a parking lot that was one block by half a block with cleaned up tree pieces covering the entire area, 12-15 feet into the sky). It was intense. We may have also had a small earthquake during it. Whoo!

I suppose it was like a hurricane (well, it is a hurricane, really, isn't it?), but it was really intense. The Taipei Times has a bunch of articles on it, but these two were right after and have pictures: Typhoon's winds, rains pound nation and Typhoon leaves destruction in its wake. I do have a few pictures of aftermath here, but won't be posting them until I return from China in two weeks, so you'll have to wait.

Whoo! Typhoon!

he just can't hide that rider pride

So, I'm a little partial to this Canadian Football League team called the Saskatchewan Roughriders. I taught my kids out here their theme song, sent it in, and got it featured on the team's fansite, Riderville. Now, another member of my family has joined the ranks of being posted on this illustrious site. My brother was the Fan of the Game this past weekend. Check him out.

Go Riders, indeed.

slow train through china

Well, I'm almost halfway through my time in China, and it's been interesting. Can't say it's been my favourite trip yet, but it's been interesting. Shanghai was a great time, as I met with great friends of my - my ex-roommate and her boyfriend (got to see him perform), and my friend Scott and his friend Michael who have left Korea and are traveling SE Asia. (Interesting side note, all blogspot blogs are blocked in China.) The museums were OK (maybe I've just seen too much Chinese culture lately), but there was a lot to see otherwise - ultra-modern construction, the highest tower in Asia, the aforementioned ex-roommate's boyfriend's band, and a veritable orgy of neon. (Interesting side note, it's illegal to dance topless in bars. Even for men. Obviously, there are no strip bars. And police stop in just to make sure.

I'm typing this from Xi'an, one of the most polluted cities in the world. It's hot, which may explain why stores less than a block away appear through a haze of soot and smog. The sun never really "comes out", as it always seems overcast. It's really disgusting, you can really taste it as you walk along. I had to leave the city and climb a mountain to get away from it and the people for a while (the mountain bottom also had the dense fog of pollution around it, and it's three hours out of Xi'an).

It doesn't get any better. I leave tonight for Beijing, who, as of last year, only had 60% of it's days listed as "Good Air Days" in the year. That's pretty depressing-sounding, especially as it's summer, and hot. Oh so hot. But it's been interesting, hearing other Chinese accents, tasting other Chinese food, seeing weird Chinese chip flavours (I've been collecting these and will post a full list to accompany the ones I've found in Taiwan when I return home). A week left to go, and it'll be a busy one, that's for sure.

Oh, yeah, in the internet cafe I'm in, some guy (here before me, and I've been here an hour) is sitting next to me with a big bag full of snacks, a loaf of bread, and two Cokes. Something tells me he ain't going anywhere for a while.

saving time

Did you hear about this moving Daylight Savings Time bill? Now, I can understand the intent (I guess it can still be called useful, though being from Saskatchewan, I never found the point to it, other having to change my cartoon times twice a year), but frankly, moving it into most of March is just dumb, in my opinion. There isn't much more sun to be used in that time of year (nor at the beginning of November) - people will just burn through the electricity at another time of day. But that's not even the part that gets me. The bill also included, "...billions of dollars in tax breaks and subsidies to energy companies." Subsidies? They're the ones who are getting the help already, and like they need more of that. They're already raking in money hand over fist.

I know that it's somewhat pointless to be angry, it's going to happen anyway (though there's no proof that it will help at all), and it's what we've come to expect from Bush, but still. I hope Canada does not change - there's absolutely no reason, except for keeping up with the Joneses. There's even less light available in Canada at those times of year. Shit, it's winter at those times of year. I know I hated getting up early over the winter to be faced with blackness - I can't imagine kids wanting to get up even earlier these days.