Ummmm…my google sidebar says it’s 22 degrees Celsius outside. I was just outside; trust me when I say that it’s not. It is, in fact, -12 (-18 with the windchill) as I write this.

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I sold my old computer tonight to a friend of Stanzi’s. I was a little nostalgic to see it go, since it’s been my workhorse for almost six years, but all things must end. Hey, does anybody else hear “Turn, Turn, Turn” playing in the distance?

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Stanzi and her friend (for whom I’ve not yet come up with a clever nickname…let’s call her, oh I don’t know, say…”hair fetish”) also bought me dinner as thanks for bringing the computer over and setting it up. It was a pub full of old people, so I figured that when they asked me if I wanted my curry hot I’d be safe. Hyaaaaaaaaa homina. I only ate about a third of it. It killed me. Granted, I’m a hot food sissy, but I only got about five bites in before my eyes were watering. I just ate the chicken and threw in the towel napkin.

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It’s nice to not read economics sometimes.

The recent environmental progress in Montreal is good news. Politics is a necessary evil, but an evil nonetheless.

I can’t get over these racist fuckwits in Australia. It’s hard to believe some people are stupid enough to think that 1) Australia’s some kind of whites-only club, and 2) history, and the rest of the world, are going to judge them favourably for what they’re doing. A lot of people have goosestepped in support of nationalism and racism over the years, but why you’d want to align yourself with them is beyond me.

How ridiculous is Fox News? “Britain ablaze“: that’s how ridiculous.

Friday night we finally went to see Capote (imdb | rotten tomatoes). Nellie was worried that she wouldn’t be able to stand his voice, but she wanted to see it before Oscar season as Philip Seymour Hoffman’s sure to be a favourite for best actor. I liked the film a lot; the savagery of the murders (which I still remember from when I read In Cold Blood), the deceitful way he treats the murderers, the indifference he shows toward the people who love him, and haughtiness with which he lives make the movie and the man himself a pretty compelling subject.

Apparently we still hadn’t our fill of biopics though, because yesterday we watched Ray (imdb | rotten tomatoes). I always find biopics a bit tedious and unoriginal, and there was no surprise factor about Jamie Foxx’s performance, what with the Oscar and all), but Taylor Hackford still managed to give it enough style to keep it from being boring. It was very good, but really couldn’t live up to the hype.

Sorry, I’ve been silent for a few days. Busy, and in a state of computer transition. But things are coming together now.

Friday evening Nellie and I saw Capote at the Varsity and had dinner at Fieramosca. It might’ve been one of the best meals I’ve ever had there, and I’ve had some fine meals indeed. Two hours, a bottle of amarone and many laughs with the hostess later we walked home in the cold, letting the shivers kickstart our digestion.

Yesterday was errand day. Some shopping, lots of reading, some cleaning, another movie, come computer stuff, watching wins by Duke and the Raptors but a loss for the Canadiens, and some indian food to top it off. Actually, come to think of it, today will likely be more of the same…especially since I still have some butter chicken in the fridge.

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Ralph Klein, ever the idiot, makes an asinine argument for not banning handguns:

“That’s the solution. It’s not to ban them… I can ban anything. I can ban tape recorders by law. It’s not going to stop you from using them.”

So I guess we can expect Ralph Klein to remove the bans on drug trafficking, hate speech and drunk drunk driving any day now. The bans and laws against those doesn’t seem to stop 100% of the problem, so it’s best not to try.

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My uncle (or cousin twice removed or some such thing) from BC recently sent out a detailed history of my family tracing back 7 generations when our ancestor (my namesake) first came to Canada. Lots of interesting stuff. Who knew there was once an indian massacre near where I lived? Or that one of my ancestors was a fifth cousin to Abraham Lincoln? And how would you even find that out?!?

So…let me get this straight: they didn’t complain about the episode called “Red Hot Catholic Love”, in which the Vatican convenes a special conference to determine how they can continue to abuse little boys, but they have a problem with this new episode?

Wow. Sites like Ask Metafilter and the new Yahoo! Answers are just amazing. I think I blogged about this one a ways back, where some guy — within an hour — locates a ton of information about where his grandfather lived in Vienna before fleeing the Nazis.

And it ranges from something heavy like that to something as fluffy as this; check out how vague the question is, and how someone nails it just over an hour later.

This is just cool, cool shit. MeFi is such a great way to people-watch online.

I’m LURVING the new computer. So…much…faster…

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One of the funniest things I’ve ever read. I was literally crying today at my desk as I read them.

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I realized today how busy I’m going to be in the next 13 days. Re-imaging the old computer, buying xmas gifts, studying, playing basketball, going to a Rheostatics concert, packing, working on an economics assignment that I haven’t even started yet, doing festive gathering type stuff…yoish.

Following a conversation with M² this morning, I thought I’d list the Canadian music you should be listening to (if you’re not already):

Five classic albums by Canadian artists that most people have heard of. Popular, but not in that horrible Bryan Adams / Celine Dion / Shania Twain kind of way:

• the band . the last waltz
• matthew good . last of the ghetto astronauts
• rush . moving pictures
• sloan . smeared
• the tragically hip . fully completely

The best albums by five Canadian bands who’ve received all manner of buzz in indie music circles over the past year or three:

• the arcade fire . funeral
• the constantines . tournament of hearts
• metric . old world underground
• the new pornographers . mass romantic
• wolf parade . apologies to the queen mary

Older (meaning anywhere from 1980 to 2000) albums that are VASTLY underrated.

• big sugar . five hundred pounds
• godspeed you! black emperor . lift your skinny fists like antennas to heaven
• rheostatics . whale music
• stan rogers . fogarty’s cove
• neil young . mirror ball

Five recent albums you might not have heard of but are well worth a download.

• black mountain . black mountain
• great lake swimmers . bodies and minds
• the hidden cameras . mississauga goddam
• magneta lane . the constant lover
• a.c. newman . the slow wonder

This Calgary Flames music (and I use the term loosely) video from 1987 is one of the most godawful things I’ve ever watched.

[via Mighty MJD]

I CANNOT TELL YOU HOW MUCH I WANT ONE OF THESE!!!!