Putting Children in their Place

Several international protocols and conventions have either petition or complaints handling .*

The Convention on the Rights of the Child does not.**

So is the international world suggesting that a child is meant to be seen and not heard?***

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* For example the Convention against torture, the Optional Protocol to the Convention on elimination of Discrimination Against Women, and the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination.
** I like footnotes.
*** I wonder if eBay-ing things counts as being seen or being heard.^
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^Depending on which article one reads, the value of the car varies from $16,000 to $17,000 to $18,000.

I Liked the Thimble

I have hockey tickets to see the Oilers season opener.

Unfortunately that joy has been tainted thanks to Ticketmaster.

It bothers me that Ticketmaster has a monopoly over vending tickets to all events, all of them. Because they have this monopoly, the company has made an executive decision that reasonable customer service is not a sufficiently compelling proposition to be implemented.

It bothers me even more that because of the lack of competition, Ticketmaster has decided that it is reasonable - nay, incumbent upon them - to levy both a service charge (and sometimes a convenience fee) on each and every ticket sold; they are not just charging per transaction and it sure isn't convenient.

I am even further irked by the fact that despite having purchased tickets nearly two weeks ago, I still have not received my tickets in the mail because Ticketmaster has reserved the right to wait.

Now usually my posts come in threes, but Ticketmaster has managed to outdo themselves. Despite the fact that I have not yet received my tickets, and despite the fact that Ticketmaster assessed exorbitant surcharges upon my original ticket price, and despite the inherent lack of helpfulness provided, Ticketmaster had the impudence and audacity to send me a customer satisfaction survey inquiring about my level of satisfaction with their delivery service.

In completely other news, apparently I have a vise, the actual details of its acquisition are still unclear . Sadly, it has apparently been tied up over the last year.

Chutzpah = Audacity + Panache

I was once told that chutzpah was like reading and enjoying a book in a book store and then not buying a book. This may or may not have been the last page of a book I was reading in a bookstore. The book may or may not have been called "The Optimist sees the Bagel, The Pessimist sees the Hole".

I had an epiphany today.

If audacity is talking back to the Queen of England and panache is epitomized by the scene from Cyrano de Bergerac about how to make fun of a prominent nose, then chutzpah ought to be a combination thereof.

I never said it was a good epiphany.

Go West Young Man

This is a picture of an actual sign seen in Newfoundland (picture courtesy of Jen's friend).

I understand why a lot of individuals from Newfoundland make their way to Alberta - there is lots of work here, Air Canada now has direct flights to Fort McMurray, and they have a second home in case the Atlantic provinces are eaten by the sea because of global warming.

That said, I think that Alberta should buy Saskatchewan. Our oil is not going to last forever, and when it runs out, we can turn to one of the world's largest deposits of uranium and of potash. Alberta can continue it's resource-centred economy without diversifying. Also, then no one needs to rely solely on Air Canada for direct flights to get from home to work; one could just drive.

Spontaneously Combusting Road-Tripping

At the beginning of September, Erin, Sean, and I went on a 36-hour road-trip through Rocky Mountain House, the Columbia Icefields, and Jasper National Park. I have apparently spent the last 17 days recuperating. That said, the trip was gorgeous, it was random, and it was very informative:

• Curious George is a great traveling companion (even as a substitute for some).
• The Holiday Inn Express in Rocky Mount House has the world's greatest view.
• The hotel had pillows labeled soft and firm, two of each per bed. (Georgie got one of each.)
• Eating at local establishments is a questionable practice - especially if the place is called "The Black Stub".
• Having personal problems is apparently a legitimate excuse for a waitress to provide bad service.
• Best of luck to Jason and Jessica.
• There are 14 churches in Rocky Mountain House. There are less than 6000 people living there.
• The one theatre in Rocky Mountain House has signs at the box office that says no alcohol is allowed in the theatre. Before entering the theatre there is a sign indicating that it is last point to dispose of alcohol before entering the theatre. Erin was sad.
• Democracy has a different meaning in rural northern BC.
• Snakes on a Plane is an awesome movie.
• Eating gummy snakes while watching Snakes on a Plane makes it even better.
• It is less than an hour from Rocky Mountain House to Nordegg. Honest.
• Nordegg is a hole that claims to be a town. They don't allow hunting within town limits, they don't serve alcohol at 9am, and nothing opens before 9:30. That said, next to Edson, Nordegg looks cool.
• The David Thompson Adventure Highway is a lot better than anticipated, both in terms of driveability and in terms of fun.
• I love my car.
• Apparently, waking up at 7am is a valid reason to be drinking at 9am.
• There is a bubblegum bug out there somewhere. Alternately, it recently became extinct and I have the remains of the last one on my grill.
• Waterfalls are awesome. And ubiquitous. And awesome.
• Glaciers are fun. And cold.
• Glacier mobiles have tires that are larger than most people.
• It's easy to set bad examples for kids. It may also be socially beneficial to do so, survival of the fittest and all that jazz.
• Sean can run up the face of mountains.
• Parallel parking is fun.
• Jasper steal the souls of tourists. And then gives them ice cream.
• In a fight between the Crazy Killer Crow and a small child, my money is on the former.
• Sean sleeps in car rides.
• Even if one has no expectations for Edson, one can be disappointed.
• Hostesses for restaurants in Edson do not need to have any concept of time. The best thing about Edson is the fact that they have one semi-competent waitress.

Pictures can be found here, here, and here.

On coveting the Governor's Daughter:

He wanted to bang her like pots and pans.

EDIT to add: Apparently bonnets and crenaline are no defence.

What's the difference between a pirate and a buccaneer?

My pirate name is:

Captain Mary Flint

Even though there's no legal rank on a pirate ship, everyone recognizes you're the one in charge. Like the rock flint, you're hard and sharp. But, also like flint, you're easily chipped, and sparky. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.

Now to figure out how to dress like a pirate...

On being deplanetized

Poor Pluto. 76 years in the regular solar system planet line-up only to be demoted and renamed Asteroid 134340. All it took was the discovery of a dwarf planet that has now been named Eris.

Who ever said that size doesn't matter?

Living in this post-yesterday world

"This year President Bush will be laying wreaths at the Ground Zero site in memory of 9/11, one wreath for each of the towers that was hit." -Some mainstream evening news

You mean two?

What the hell is wrong with reporters these days? Say two.

Two two two two two TWO!

You know who can count to two? A two year old.

I recognize that some people like to commemorate the anniversaries of events to keep the memories alive/to cope/to point out that Galileo was correct about the Earth revolving around the sun and as such a trip around the sun is a big deal, but that doesn't mean they need to be patronized. People can deal with hearing that the number of towers that were hit was two. I don't think anyone forgot.

Smoke and Mirrors

As a kid, whenever anyone smoked near me, I would cover my nose and mouth with my hands; my parents would be appalled at my rudeness, but the smoker would often butt out. I've never seen any appeal in cigarettes. To be frank, I find them terribly disgusting and repulsive.

That said, I have no problem with people choosing to smoke. If people are allowed to drink beer, eat fois gras, and live in Sherwood Park (yay asthma!), then people should be equally entitled to smoke, if they so choose.

Besides, letting people choose to smoke (provided that they aren't smoking near anyone that does not choose to inhale second hand smoke) can be socially beneficial; smokers pay into pension plans and then die too young to get paid out.

Now to the point of my post. If someone chooses to smoke, that's fine (provided that their doing so does not infringe on someone else's choice to not smoke). If an individual that opts to light up chooses to do so while driving, that is also fine (providing that it does not impair their ability to operate their motor vehicle). If said individual further decides to use the window in lieu of an ashtray, I am not completely opposed (provided that there is no increased danger posed to anyone else). However -and this is the whole thing that irked me enough to make this post- if you are going to smoke, in your car, while driving on the right hand side of the road, and using the window as your ashtray, learn to smoke with your left hand; reaching across your body and the steering wheel with your right arm is stupid, dangerous, and inefficient. In conclusion, smokers should be left-handed or ambidextrous.

Back to learning

I was discussing my law classes for this semester with my mom. I mentioned that I was taking International Human Rights, to which she responded: "Isn't that a waste of time."