3:27 p.m. - 2004-01-31
Ghosts of Jacks (Kerouac and Kennedy)
Our one and only tom cat - Mr Trinity aka MR T - was obviously a very sad feline yesterday. His feelings were HURT. Not normal for this son of Garfield. The problem? His harem. They were not paying him due homage. In fact, it appeared as though he had been completely ostracized by all five females at once. Can't imagine what he had done, but the punishment continued all day. My youngest and I tried to ease his pain with lots of extra attention and cuddling, but he obviously missed his "women".
I was musing on the implications from a purely post-feminist perspective. Usually, the girls let Mr T have the best as well as first shot at everything - food, toys - you name it. Now that's a bit alarming from a feminist point of view, until you pick up on the lesson: Let them think they're in charge and keep them happy by not arguing over the small stuff - they want it, they can have it. Leaves you free afterward to go your own way without interference with things that really matter. Come to think of it, that often works with teenagers and bosses too. Most of the time. Balance of the lesson? Comes from the girls too. If the above lesson can't be applied in one's situation, then either get the problem person completely out of your life or confront the situation with all gloves off. Quite frankly, I'd go several rounds with our Mr T even though he is considerably heavier and stronger than any of his sisters, before I'd choose to get into a single battle with one of our female cats - they don't mess around. Hmmmmmmmmm.
Now why was I thinking about that? Well, yesterday at lunch the soup I was served in the resturant wasn't really all that hot. Should I have sent it back? Yes probably, but the truth is I really don't care about food all that much. It was warm, the veggies were crunchy, and it was well seasoned - good enough. Every so often, in similar circumstances, I can see other people wondering why I don't stand up for myself more strongly. Truth is my litmus test is: "will it matter one year from now, or five, or ten". I just don't have enough energy to waste on small things. Now if the waitress had served that soup with "attitude" or had been rude or disrespectful, then I would have chosen differently, because she would have needed the lesson. But she was a very nice young woman who was trying very hard to make our lunch visit as pleasant as possible - that was all that mattered to me.
I got an e-mail from my internet provider - they are now offering downloads of music. They were offering all subscribers free access up to a certain value for the next two months. I liked what I saw as far as it went. One can download either a whole album for a price that is still considerably less than a CD or tape or choose single songs for less than a dollar each. Now lets see - download an "album" from ABBA, Crystal Method, Hank Williams, Bob Marley, Shania Twain, Eric Clapton, Sam Roberts, Diane Krall, Jann Arden, or any other number of artists representing a variety of different musical types. Or through previews choose singles that one feels are the gems of their collection. What to do? Where there were albums, the service offered additional cuts of the artist's music even if they weren't on the albums listed. The downside is that their entire collection was very limited. As a Canadian company one would at least think that Canadian artists would want to participate. If someone with the stature of Peter Gabriel sees it as a viable way to promote and profit from one's talents - especially for newcomers - why wouldn't it be worth the try? Where were the songs from oh say - Nickleback, Wide Mouth Mason Jar, Bryan Adams, Alanis Morrisette, Nelly Furtado, George Shearing, Paul Brandt, Bif Naked, Big C, The Rankins, The Barenaked Ladies, The Guess Who, Susan Aglukark, and any number of other Canadian artists.
I went to this site that is dedicated to Canadian talent CanEHdian to get some answers. Lots of really interesting material, but no help there. There was, however, another music download service being offered with a free promotional that allowed you to keep the free songs you chose without having to subscibe to the service Emusic, so that was a find. Each of the sites offers a preview service, but I think our sound card must be flawed, since the quality of the sound was jumbled and scratchy. To test that theory, I downloaded a clip of a lecture from one of the weblogs I read on a regular basis for comparison Xenon. No luck there either.
Interesting finds while surfing today too. At BBC, a site that tests one's precognitive abilities - ESP - as an extension of a program at Clyde University - ESP as well as offering access to a two part series exploring the paranormal. Another UK site showing the first uploaded photos from World War II RAF reconnaissance flights over Europe documenting the effects of the bombing. RAF_photos. Funny what incredible damage some scrawny little guy called Schicklgruber could cause by lecturing his countrymen that "Conquest is not only a right, it is a duty". This UK techie news paper was examining the destruction, globally, of the right to privacy and the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. privacy. It hit a sore point, since I was really disturbed with some of the requirements that the airline I'm booked to fly has said must be met, before one can board a domestic flight. I was born and raised in this country and I feel it violates Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms Laws, as well as the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. Declaration. I'm getting tired of the hysteria that has been generated by different agencies to justify undermining those fundamental universal principles of justice. This story out of New England was instructive too for similar reasons Bustrip with the author documenting the treatment of his daughter when, as an American citizen, she was harrassed for not having proper "travel documents" on an interstate bus trip. What is going on here? Don't know.
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