General Tomfoolery: March 2007 Archives

The Year Without Toilet Paper - The New York Times

I read that and asked myself, how far would I go to have no impact? Sure I don't drive a car and I've used nazi-like tactics to reduce house trash to almost nothing, as well as nagging about light and water use, but on the other hand, I own three computers - one of which is on 365 days a year!

If I ever do go the no impact route, I'll need to find homes for some gently loved CE equipment...

Have you all been keeping up with the music scene? I know I haven't, but what little I've gotten my hands on, I've been pleased with. From older recent albums like Ray LaMontagne's Trouble, to recent recent albums like Some Loud Thunder and Neon Bible, there have been some lovely releases this year. I've mostly been relocating older songs that I'd forgotten about, or not yet discovered. Anyway, let me know what you're listening to these days.

That means you have to comment.

Seriously.

This is the dream I had last night.

It starts out with me getting a Big Mac meal from McDonald's. All of a sudden I'm at an Interpol concert, but it's being held in a mall, on the top floor of a Sears, in a storage room at the back. I'm there with a few people I know, but who I don't see often and never go to concerts with. Lead singer Paul Banks, sits down on the stage right in front of me and since the stage is only about half a foot off the ground, he's really close. Instead of an opening act, Philip Seymour Hoffman does stand-up and he totally bombs. Not only is he dressed like Malcolm McDowell in A Clockwork Orange, but his set goes on seemingly forever. I still haven't eaten my Big Mac meal, but instead I've inexplicably left it at the back of the room, on a table. While I'm sitting through the never ending opening act, I reflect on this.

At some point, I get up and go for a walk. Many other things happen, none of which I can remember, but when I get back to the mall, I'm wearing only boxers and a white t-shirt. I make my way back to the concert, trying to avoid peoples' stares. I'm almost to the Sears, when I'm stopped by the mall manager. He's wearing a $3000 black pin-stripe suit with a blood red shirt and black tie, flanked by 4 personal assistants and a couple of bodyguards. He takes one look at me and tells the bodyguards to escort me out of the mall, but to do it through the basement. We get to the elevator and I beg them to let me get my clothes, which I've apparently left at the concert. One of them allows it and I get back and put my clothes back on, sit down and listen to Interpol play.

WTF?

Have you heard of Facebook? I'm sure you have, even if you don't know what it's about. It could easily be summed up as an attractive (and infinitely more user friendly) My Space. I had assumed it would be a passing fancy -like Friendster before it- but it's stuck around and it's spreading like wildfire. It's not as large as My Space yet, but by the end of the year, I think we'll see a shift.

Anyway, I was chatting with a friend the other day and she brought up an interesting point. In 'the old days', you graduated high school, you went to college or university or work and you moved on. Close friends were kept in touch with, but the rest were lost to the mists of time. Now, with Facebook, there's no escape. You have people that you barely knew in high school, getting in contact with you. All you need to know is a name and you can find anyone. It's always been that way, but now it's as easy as doing a search. Of course that person has to allow you to add them to your list, but the whole idea of moving on seems to be disappearing.

All of a sudden, I have 'friends' that I've either never talked to, or talked to very little. A large part of me hates the idea of having brief acquaintances turn into life long acquaintances, but at the same time, I've been able to connect with people that I originally didn't have the opportunity to. Still, the signal to noise ratio is making me cringe, but as always, my problems only require some perspective for me to calm my mind.

I was talking with someone the other day and they happened to mention that among other items, the library loans out DVDs and that the selection was far better than any video store. Not believing that the humble Hamilton Public Library could be home to a wealth of books, let alone DVDs and music, I went to the website. It turns out the HPL isn't terribly humble and it also turns out that their DVD collection is quite impressive. As such, I've put a large chunk of the Criterion collection on request, as well as a goodly portion of Academy Award nominees/winners and other quality films. The best part is, that I can take out up to fifty at a time.

I think I'm in heaven.

It's going to be a busy weekend. I'm going to a birthday on Saturday and a small reunion of sorts, on Sunday.

Courtesy of Facebook, of course.

Yay, the week is done!

Actually, every day seems Saturday lately, so I guess it doesn't really matter what day of the week it is.

Just a quick note that I've taken down the arcade fire album and so if you'd like to listen to it, please send me an e-mail (to my real address), or leave a comment. It's not that I get off on witholding, but there have been downloads from some interesting locations, so this simply helps to keep things in check. Anyone now clicking on the link in the previous post, will be met with one of my favourite pictures.

Warmest regards.