(lygenztia *147) Rights, carry heavy responsibilities.

OK, I get it. I have a very basic, cursory knowledge of the conflict in Sri Lanka and have tried to understand what’s happening there and why. It’s one of the approximately 8 major ongoing conflicts on the globe at present. (include Arab-Israel, Somalia, Afghanistan, Darfur, Iraq, Pakistan and Mexico in that club)

However, my opinion really isn’t relevant. Let us not forget that the Tamil Tigers are recognized as a “terrorist organization” by the Canadian government. (and many others) In this case, it’s important to draw the distinction between Tamil-Canadians and Tamil Tigers. One group has the right to peaceful protest. The other, does not.

My sympathy for the Tamil people and their cause is quickly becoming all but dried up. The right to protest and gather is a truly Canadian right. (check the Charter of Rights and Freedoms) However, my patience is running thin with the city blocking, business disrupting, frustrating actions of the protestors.

If you wish to protest, by all means do so. But do it at Queen’s Park, or in Ottawa at the Parliament buildings.

Do you not understand that by shutting down the City, posing public safety hazards and making people angry that you are hurting your cause?

Hand out leaflets, take out newspaper ads, rent billboards, hold picnics at private parks to attract support, protest at appropriate locations, start up websites, for gosh sakes fill your boots.

But you really need to rethink shutting down parts of the City. Or, human nature being what it is……… the support that you currently have for your cause is going to lessen significantly. Each and every day.

(lygenztia *146) EXTRA, EXTRA, read all about it!

Just what are the qualifications of reporters nowadays? Are they simply trying to get a print worthy response, or are some of them just asking stupid questions because they are…stupid?

Case in point, recent press conference about a serious crime in Ontario. Some of the questions posed to Police were so ridiculous, so utterly idiotic that you had to wonder if the “reporter” was on drugs, or just going for a sound bite.

For example:
Reporter-“Officer Smith, can you tell us who committed this horrific crime?”
Well of course they can Einstein. The reason the Police are asking the public for help, is because they don’t want the criminal to get caught. (That makes as much sense as the question)

Reporter-“Officer Smith, can you tell us why you haven’t caught them yet?”
Oh well, actually, they have caught them. They are just keeping it a secret so they can get on TV.

Don’t get me wrong, there is a place for the media and most of the questions are compelling, logical and thought out. But some, well you gotta wonder…”what in the hell were they thinking when they asked that question?”

The media should never be censored and should be free to be our fourth and fifth estate. But they should also be able to hire competent thinkers that can probe issues. Not grandstanding fools, trying to upstage the issue.

Clark Kent and Lois Lane would never have stood for such shenanigans and even they were cartoons.

Surely the Canadian public shouldn’t either.

(lygenztia *145) Dang it. Why can’t those kids keep it down?

It’s ironic, the older I get the less I listen to music in my vehicle. It used to be that music ruled in my vehicle. Nope, no more Eminem and Motorhead for me. And a lot less Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw.

Now, it’s talk radio. Talk radio rules the day.

I have my favourite hosts and make a concerted effort to listen in when I can. My kids, get in the vehicle and make that screwed up face when they hear it. “Dad, what in the heck is this?” is a familiar refrain. I just look at them with that “you wouldn’t get it” look and they simply return it with that “you just don’t get it” look.

The even greater irony is my opinion of youngsters with their music cranked in their car. I look at them and think......what an idiot. You look like a goof. However.....

When I was 16 with my 1974 Pontiac Lemans, I had a 200 watt equalizer amp and 4 killer speakers. It would really crank. And a tour through town, with the music cranked was commonplace. No talk radio for me. George Thorogood, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, AC/DC, Nazareth, Black Sabbath…yup I had ‘em all. (on cassette, mind you)

And I looked like a goof. But I really didn’t care about what other people thought.

Now, I listen to talk radio because I really care about other people’s thoughts.

Darn, radio is just full of irony isn't it?

(lygenztia *144) U.S. Marshal or Customer Service Representative?

Ever notice the knobs that wear their work identification around outside of the office, or workplace? And it’s a guy. It’s ALWAYS a guy.

I’m not talking about the guy that runs across the street for a coffee. I’m talking about the guy that stops for a beer on the way home and wears his little photo I.D. all around the pub for everyone to see. Or he goes shopping and wears his little office pass photo on his shirt pocket, like it’s a badge belonging to a U.S. Marshal.

You ask them, “so what’s with the work I.D.” And the answer is inevitably, “Oh, I didn’t have time to take it off.” Well of course not, after all it is such a labour intensive task to unsnap that clip and put that little photo card into your briefcase, or pocket. Takes hours….

When people see you wearing that little photo card, they aren’t thinking..”wonder where he works?” Oh no, no, no. What they are really thinking is “why the hell doesn’t he take that thing off?”

There’s nothing wrong with being proud of where you work, everybody should be. For most of us, work is our identity. It’s about how we interact with the world and whom we interact with.

But wearing the photo card around isn’t about that. It’s more like being pretentious, self absorbed and having an inflated sense of self importance. It’s sad man. Just sad. Take that little office pass off and put it in your pocket.

You look like a goof.

(lygenztia #143) Brrr...so c-c-c-cold!

Is lack of comfort in your surroundings the new indicator of your level of sophistication? I notice these enviro snob types complaining about the temperature in a building, like they are completely disgusted with their environment.

“Jeez, it’s freezing in here” (The building temperature is actually 70 degrees)
“Jeez, it’s boiling in here” (The building temperature is actually 70 degrees)

Then, they look at you with such indignation, because you do not share in their whiney, nonsensical fussiness. (is fussiness a word? Ummm, now it is) They have that look on their face that says “well, if you are not cold, there is no way that you are as sophisticated as me!”

Well, no actually that’s not the case. I just that I am content, secure, confident and don’t engage in attention seeking, pathetic, shallow behaviour by manufacturing an insignificant, ridiculous “crisis”.

Newsflash! Building thermostats can’t be set at “freezing” or “boiling”. Even I know that and I’m really not that sophisticated.

(lygenztia *142) Now THAT, is a happy ending.

So, Captain Phillips is safe. God bless. I hope he gets home to his family soon. From what I gather/read, his crew love him and he was a man of conviction and courage.

Today, U.S. Navy Seals “whacked” his captors. Apparently, one of the captors lived to tell the tale and is in custody. Too bad. “Whacking” all of the pirates would have been a sweet Easter present to all Americans, whom I consider our friends.

Would have loved to have been a fly on the gunwales of that lifeboat when the pirates started to drop at the hands of U.S. Special Forces. Would have enjoyed seeing the look on the face of the first one to get “whacked”, with that “oh shit, this ain’t good” look on their face.

Hopefully, someone can make a feature movie to retell the tale. I can think of a few titles....

1) Oh, shit Achmed.....this was a bad idea.
2) Navy Seals? What’s a Navy Se......(bad guy dies at this point)
3) Why pirating a U.S. Vessel is a really, really bad idea.
4) Why pirating a U.S. Vessel is a really, really, really bad idea.

I love big victories against small ideas.

(lygenztia *141) Picking goobers….whaddayathink?

Today is Easter Sunday eve. A beautiful spring morning, and I am in the drive through for Tim Horton’s, idling away. (please don’t tell David Suzuki, I don’t want him to point a caulking gun at me)

As I wait, I cast a glance over at this guy and he is digging for gold in the nasal cavity. In full view of everyone. I mean this guy is running a full out mining operation in his nose, completely oblivious to the people that can see him. Little kids are asking their mom’s "why is that man trying to tickle the back of his eyeballs?"

C’mon, let’s face it. At one time or another we’ve all stuck a finger in there to get a pesky little nugget out. It’s kind of like that other thing that people do, that nobody likes to admit to. You know 98% of people surveyed admit to doing it and the other 2% are liars? "That" thing...........

But most normal people do it discreetly, or at least wait until nobody is looking. It should be the same with picking your nose.

(lygenztia *140) I am, you know I am….I am Canadian!

Despite my ever increasing girth, I do attend the gym on a regular basis. One song on my ipod that absolutely gets my blood flowing and my motivation peaking is the Molson Canadian beer commercial song “ I am Canadian”. (sung by Bosson)

You know, it’s weird, I am not American but I absolutely love their national anthem. I have heard their anthem countless times and it still sends chills up my spine and gets me “pumped” every time I hear it.

Which brings me to my point. When I hear the “I am Canadian” song, I feel exactly the same way. Strong, proud, confident. Canadian.

And........it’s a beer commercial song.

Isn’t it sad when some of the most patriotic, inspiring, Canadian pieces of music are inspired by a beer commercial? Don’t get me wrong. God bless Molson’s. They love Canada as much as we love them. But sheesh, it is kinda sad when a beer company can stir a country’s patriotic spirit more than our own collective patriotism can.

So please Molson’s, if you’re reading this please come up with another beauty song that we can all be proud of. Please.....I really need something new to listen to at the gym. But more importantly, to drink to this summer!

I know this place is where I am,
No other place is better then.
No matter where I go I am,
Proud to be Canadian!

I am, you know I am, I am Canadian!
I am, you know I am, I am Canadian!

COMMON!

I love this country where I am,
This land is where I make my stand.
No other heart is truer then,
The one we call Canadian!

SING IT !

I am, you know (you know I am), I am Canadian
I am, you know I am (you know I am), I am Canadian.
I AM CANADIAN!

(lygenztia *139) Just……..….PICK SOMETHING!

Ever go to a restaurant with someone that cannot decide what they want to order? They think it’s cute. They think it’s funny. “OOOH, everyone look at me. I can’t make up my mind. Aren’t I hilarious? Aren't I cute?”

It’s not. It’s annoying. The server thinks that you are an ass. They just disguise their feelings behind a fake smile, because they want a tip. Every other person seated at the table also thinks that you are an ass. But to be social, they are smiling. However behind the smile they are thinking..........for crying out loud, just order something would you!

This type always makes one last desperate attempt to be cute (and attention seeking), so they inevitably ask the others...."what should I get?” Then, when someone makes a suggestion, they furrow up their brow in disbelief. “Oh, I can’t have that....." is the invariable response.

Once this pretentious person finally makes their order, they have wasted a lot of the server’s valuable time. Sometimes, I wonder to myself if the server made sure their meal was “extra special” before they brought it out.

Hmmmm.........what do you think?

(lygenztia *138) The blog leech...defined.

I follow 2 or 3 blogs pretty regularly and I have noticed a phenomenon that ticks me off a little. The phenomenon that I refer to is the blog parasite. I have coined the phrase “blog leech” to describe these losers.

It's ok to comment on a blog, or disagree, but the type of person I am describing is engaging in self ingratiating grandstanding. They're not really trying to debate the blogger, they are trying to upstage the blogger. I think that's bad form.

What these little sycophants do is find a popular blog and consistently make comment, usually in a provocative, combative way. Or, they write in such a way as to appear as if they are the “real” authority. The funny thing is these linguistically deprived losers usually have their own blog, that nobody reads.

So, they leech off the popularity of a “real” blogger, that has insightful, well thought out, or funny ideas. The blog leech is a sad little hacker. Nobody reads them, so they think they will “get even” by being more clever than the popular blogger that they are refuting.

It never works. The blog leech ends up looking like a drunken 19 year old in a jealous rage because someone talked to his girlfriend at the bar. The only difference is, the blog leech gets beat up electronically.........instead of in person.

But that’s probably for the best, because I doubt that nary a blog leech exists that is accomplished in the art of real life debate, or pugilism.

Blog leeches bug off. Go argue with a mirror.

(lygenztia *137) 16 candles....

I write this lygenztia for a very special person. Today, that very special person turns 16. Soon, she’ll be driving..and it seems to me that not so long ago she was riding in a little bicycle trailer behind me, while I sang “Barney” songs to her.

Soon, she’ll be leaving, off to University. It seems not so long ago that I walked her to Kindergarten. On my way home from the first time I walked her to school, I cried.

There was a day that she loved to go everywhere with me. Now, she doesn’t want to go anywhere with me. She’s grown and I’m no longer “cool”. I’m still needed, which makes me feel good.....but no longer “cool” in her eyes. That’s OK, I understand. To be honest, it makes me laugh to myself because I know she’s right.

She’s leaving. Not physically, but mentally. Her dreams are getting ready to carry her away. Her aspirations are going to guide her. She’s getting ready to spread her wings and leave the nest, figuratively speaking. Experts say she’ll come back. A very smart Teacher once told me that daughters “leave” around 15 or 16, but not to worry because they come back at around 20-21. Just be patient, he said....she loves you, they just "leave". It’s the way the young female mind works.

I hope that while she’s gone she makes the right decisions. I hope that while she’s gone she’s safe. I hope that she knows that if she needs me, I’m there in a heartbeat. I hope that while she’s gone, she achieves success beyond her wildest dreams.

But most of all, I hope she comes back safe, happy and full of life. I’ll be waiting and if she asks me to, I’d be over-joyed to sing “Barney” to her again.

Happy birthday little girl. Your journey is about to begin.

Come home soon. Dad’s waiting.

(lygenztia *136) Hiatus..or laziness?

Haven't written in a while....been on vacation and just got back.

I got my self imposed quota of 12 published in March (17 actually), but April will be a late start. I'll still get my 12 in for April, for my loyal readers, or the sake of my own prose.

So many subjects..so little time.
-the literary ellipse (my favourite writing "tool")
-people just want to laugh
-90 degrees, with a night time "low" of 77????
-what some do to live and what others do to succeed

Yup, lots more lygenztia in my tiny brain. Just got to find the time for them to leak out. Sometimes, it's a slow process.