What's he on about now?

In case the articles, essays and opinions throughtout this site just weren't enough for you, here's my online diary (a.k.a. 'blog'). It's as close as you'll come to the inside of my head, so don't say I didn't warn you
(and remember, you can always e-mail me if you love or loathe anything you're about to read)...


   Wednesday, April 21, 2004

WHIRLIGIG

Another busy couple of weeks as my schedules collide but, from last night, here's my favourite exchange this week:

MAN AND WOMAN ENTERING PUB: Hello. Is there dancing here?
ME GUARDING DOOR: No, no dance floor, I'm afraid. Just your average gay pub.
MAN: So no dancing at all?
ME: No.
WOMAN: Not even with the Leafs winning?
ME: [raising left hand, palm up] Hmm...hockey team winning... [raising right hand, palm up] Gay dancing. [bringing fingers together] Not really seeing the connection...
EVERYONE: [laughter]

I enjoyed that, and last weekend's matinee binge of "Hellboy" and "Kill Bill Vol. 2" -- both satisfyingly better than expected, though "Hellboy" didn't promise much, I'll admit.

"Kill Bill" showed me that the suspicion I'd had that the first installment was merely an overhyped violent cartoon was a correct one. It really is merely half a movie and the concluding second volume is a much richer film (though still overhyped, violent and cartoonish, of course). Quentin raises the stakes for his actors in part two and they rise to the bait, especially David Carradine, who seems aware that this is the last, best role he'll ever have and he runs with it in grand style. Also, there's the hilariously horrific bit in the middle (I'm not telling) that made the entire audience shriek in unison. I love those moments!

DON'T GET AROUND MUCH ANYMORE

Yes, I was quite stupid to let my driver's license lapse. Let's establish that right now. In my own defense, all I can say is that, once I moved to Toronto in 1992, I found a city with (formerly) great transit, (still) horrific prices for parking and Ministry of Transportation offices that were as inaccessible as they were aggressive in demanding money from me. The driver's license didn't seem so necessary.

A decade later and not much has changed (except for the declining transit). I, however, have decided -- especially after the aggravation that was Los Angeles this time last year -- that not having a licence is a bigger problem. I don't particularly like to drive and don't even plan to drive but I hate not having the option to drive. So, off I go to endure the new 'graduated licence' program, in which getting a new card will take a couple of years, many tests and no doubt several fees.

I'm ready for that, or I thought I was until I went to the DriveTest website. The rules can only be described as byzantine and the list of locations was depressing. I'm going to need a car to get to the office where I can ask to drive! Crossing my fingers; wish me luck...

Labels: Trawna

NOW THAT'S AN AWKWARD THANKSGIVING DINNER

Yet another article on the gay marriage debate, only here a debate confined to one family -- the man who drafted California's "Defense of Marriage Act" has a son who's been married to another man for the last ten years. It's one of those stories that's simultaneously sad and ridiculous.

And, after Dick Cheney, Phyllis Schlafly, Charles Socarides, Sonny Bono and more, what is it with anti-gay conservatives having gay children? Is it the ultimate in teenage rebellion or a really mean genetic trick or God's own test-of-faith? All I know is that I can't bear to listen to these hypocrites deny the reality of their own children's lives while attacking gays for being "anti-family."

But, in the end of course, the gay marriage debate "distract[s] from issues that do affect you...the kind grown-ups talk about," says Jim Washburn of the Orange County Weekly (the OC? That hot-bed of conservatism OC? That TV soap's really changed the place!). "Repeat after me," he writes, "with gusto this time: 'Gays getting married does not affect me.'" Thanks, Jim!

THANKS, ADRIENNE

My yoga instructor was kind enough to pass along this article that doesn't tell you much you haven't guessed already but the reminder is always a good thing. Besides, if she passed it here, the least I can do is pass it along...

Inside the Brain by Ronald Kotulak - "Sharpen your brain"

There isn't much difference between a brain that's twenty-five or seventy-five. New research exploded the myth of declining brain activity with age. In fact, Dr. Buchsbaum, director of Neuroscience PET laboratory at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine says, "Boy were we wrong."

What they were wrong about is the notion that a million brain cells were lost every day, wrong that the number of memory cells decline as we age, and wrong about mental fragility being inevitable. Might as well throw in there, wrong about "not being able to teach old dogs new tricks." Buchsbaum does concede though that the "relay switches" in our brain, the centers such as the basal ganglion, hippocampus, and the amygdala showed up dimmer in the PET scans indicated that their activity slows down. These switches control commands to move muscles, determination of long and short term memory, and memory imprinting of emotions. The good news is that by sharpening our brain as we age, we can brighten up these areas with specific activities.

Research shows that an adult brain is nearly as capable as a child's brain in the ability to rewire itself. K. Warner Schaie did a long term study of people twenty to ninety to find out what happens to intellectual ability as you age. He found those who kept their minds active had little mental decline. Those who stopped doing things like mental and physical exercise had the biggest decline. Simply boil it down to "use it or lose it." As Dr. Schaie states, "The people who are almost too busy to study are the ones who do very well."

Here are the seven attributes to holding onto your mental powers along with the editor's (Dr. Stading) tip for overcoming a shortfall.

1) Above-average education and income. Tip: take some college courses or just read new and challenging
materials and master the concepts.
2) A lack of chronic disease. Tip: good nutrition, regular physical activity, regular chiropractic care.
3) Active engagement in reading, travel, cultural events, education, clubs, and professional associations. Tip: Get off the couch, away from the television, and out of your house often.
4) A willingness to change. Tip: try new things.
5) Marriage to a smart spouse. Tip: choose wisely. If you didn't, see other tips. ( I love this one!)
6) An ability to quickly grasp new ideas. Tip: read often.
7) Satisfaction with accomplishments. Tip: celebrate your achievements, too much of life is spent on what we didn't get done, what we didn't accomplish. Here's a few things that you could celebrate, the finishing of a crossword puzzle, the sending of a letter to a loved one, the close of a major or minor business deal, the list could go on and on.

Some ideas on some mental brain enhancers, games of strategy like bridge and other card games, crossword puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, or previously untried physical games like basketball, racquetball, golf and even walking (note: physical exercises increasing lung capacity and moves more oxygen to the brain thereby enhancing brain function). Other things might include joining social clubs to meet people with common interests, political or other debate, book clubs, and writing workshops or journaling. Keep at it and keep busy.

BUT LUMPING THEM ALL TOGETHER WAS EASIER

Cheers to Andrew Sullivan for pointing the way to this terrific article from the Boston Globe's Alan Jacobs on the difference between evangelicalism and fundamentalism. Here's the bit I loved:

"For many fundamentalists, the way other evangelicals (such as myself) interpret the Bible makes us indistinguishable from liberals: when we say, for example, that the universe is more than 6,000 years old, or approve of the ordination of women, or a hundred other things. You know you're an evangelical if the fundamentalists think you're a liberal and the liberals think you're a fundamentalist."

Wow -- I think this liberal may have been a bit too hard on his evangelical friends, hmm? Check out Jacob's piece for this rest, especially on Bush vs. Clinton -- it's a great read.

I MISS KURT COBAIN

As you've no doubt read or heard, this week marks the tenth anniversary of Kurt Cobain's suicide. While I was too enamoured of synth-pop at the time to be a true Nirvana fan, I appreciated "Nevermind" as a great rock record and -- more importantly -- truly respected its singer.

Cobain took great pains to establish himself as a rock icon while simultaneously, deliberately undermining all the sexist, homophobic rock cliches. A university closet-case, I was (discreetly) thrilled when he and Chris Novoselic ended a performance on 'Saturday Night Live' with kissing. While he later said that, "We weren't trying to be subversive or punk rock; we were just doing something insane and stupid at the last minute," the band perfomed at a rally against yet another piece of anti-gay legislation that same year. I loved that the guys in the dorm I was afraid of were listening to the guy who was on my side. It helped a lot.

Cobain was more direct in the liner notes to "Incesticide," where he wrote, "If any of you in any way hate homosexuals, people of different color, or women, please do this one favor for us -- leave us the fuck alone! Don't come to our shows and don't buy our records."

But what saddens me about Kurt Cobain was his belief that none of this mattered, that he ultimately failed. Rock 'n' roll continued -- and probably always will continue -- to be utterly corporate-driven and aggressively stupid, resistant to any critiques from Nirvana, described once as "the last great punk band." Cobain said, "We simply wanted to give those dumb heavy metal kids (the kids who we used to be) an introduction to a different way of thinking and some 15 years of emotionally and socially important music and all we got was flack, backstabbing and Pearl Jam." That's a harsh statement to read, even if you're not Eddie Vedder, and sadder still that Cobain apparently believed it.

Nirvana didn't change the world but Cobain's suicide robbed us of an ever-evolving artist who could have. But, as long as he's remembered, he still might.

ADVANTAGE: MOORE

Michael Moore's website features no end of inflammatory statements on George Bush's presidency but this photo collage is spectacular in both its simplicity and its effectiveness. I was actually startled and appalled by it.

B O W I E

Yes, after postposting his December 12th show in Toronto due to a flu, David Bowie performed at the ACC this past Thursday and I've been walking on air ever since. What an incredible performer -- so loose, so confident and surprisingly funny and engaging. Bowie's always seemed a bit inpenetrable in videos and interviews but, in person, he was warm, dynamic and -- oh yeah -- he frigging rocked.

It wasn't just the five(!) songs from his legendary "Ziggy Stardust" album, nor the pumped-up versions of newer material like "Hallo Spaceboy" or "I'm Afraid of Americans," but Bowie himself, squeezing every bit of theatre out of his body, his bandmates, his stage and lighting. It was a fantastic show.

What also impressed me was his acceptance of his own age. In looking at him on stage, you can see he obviously has a personal trainer and probably has had some work done to tighten up his face, but the vitality in his performance isn't something one can fake. He made frequent jokes about starting out "140 years ago" and offhandly mentioned that he's 57 before launching into his latest single, "Never Get Old."

It made me think of seeing Bruce Springsteen and Peter Gabriel last winter and I note that the rock stars I admire the most are in their fifties and supposedly "past their prime". According to whom?

Labels: Bruce Springsteen, Trawna