daylight savings

This Saturday evening, we get to turn our clocks one hour back for Daylight Savings. That's three weeks earlier than usual. I'm not sure I like that idea ... maybe that's because I just want that extra hour for those three weeks.

oscar-crazed

Nominations were announced for oscars this morning. It seems Canadians are up for big categories, such as Deepa Mehta for her film Water in the Best Foreign Film, Paul Haggis for his original screenplay Letters from Iwo Jima, and Ryan Gosling for his performance in the independent film Half Nelson. Did you know Gosling was the first Canadian mouseketeer? (which I found in our library for one of our researchers!)

Too much water?

A 28-year-old woman died when she drank too much water, reports the Globe and Mail.
The story says she was participating in a contest to drink as much water as she could in order to win the latest Nintendo game station, Wii. How badly did this woman want to win this game station? And, also, whose brilliant idea was this? You think there would be some kind of health considerations before setting up such a ridiculous competition.

Remembrance Day

Today was Remembrance Day. Just watched a You Tube music video posted by Tom on his site about honouring those who have laid their lives for peace. And yesterday, the 60 Minutes journalist Ed Bradley died from cancer in New York. He was 70 years old. I admit, I haven't seen a lot of his work, but what I did see, I admired.

Here are two of Bradley's colleagues reflecting about him.

Sounds like he lived a full life and was one of those people everyone loved.

Facts for thought

Here's a blog with some really eye-opening facts about the world. Actually, these facts are condensed from the book 50 Facts that should change the world by Jessica Williams, a British television producer/journalist. (I stumbled upon this book on former classmate's blog)

Update on work and other stuff

The website project I've been working on with my sister is now complete (pretty much). It's good to be done. So to celebrate, we're celebrating with some fine dining and an evening at the Vancouver Theatre Sports for some laughs. This set is mocks the American television series "So You Think You Can Dance" (It's called "So You Think You Can Improvise").

Last night, my sister and I visited her former roommate (and a fellow former Regina person). She happened to move into the same building my sister lives. What a small world. We had a great time catching up. The irony is that even though she lives only two floors above us, we can't just go up on the elevator to drop by. These new condos have this system in which you can only go the floor you live or the garage level (where you can dispose of your recyclables and garbage). I realize security is important, but this extreme of security is hindering from any real community from forming within a condo building -- ok, I'll get off my soapbox now :) ).

As for the job front, I'm still applying for positions in Vancouver, Regina (only one or two), Ottawa and Toronto. Today, I noticed there were two positings with CBC Radio Archives (wow, my dream job ... or so I think) in Toronto. *drool*

C'est tout!

Oh yea, I just found out I have an interview with CBC Regina Thurs., Sept. 28 at 7:30 a.m.!

Taking the plunge

Some days I feel like this little duck. I'm not sure what's going to happen, and I'm not sure I have the guts to find out. There's a saying that refers to ducks (something like adapting or adjusting to a new habit ... like ducks to water). This week, I'll be meeting with several people from the Vancouver Public Library. I'm not sure if I'm ready to take the plunge into the library work world, let alone a public library.

The public library environment does sound appealing. There's the 'jackie of all trades' element ... this is great for providing a variety of tasks (ie not get into a rut) and the patrons come from all walks of life! Maybe it would be a good idea to take the Storytelling course ... just in case. :) Maybe I'll be ready to take the plunge into the library world by the end of this summer term.

one of life's mysteries solved

and deep throat is ...
a former fbi official (second in command) W. Bob Felt.
deep throat is such integral part of shaping investigative journalism ... bernstein and woodward originally vowed not to disclose the identity of their valuable source until his death. wow. what a secret to keep!

it's been one year since deep throat was revealed, but i already forgot the guy's real name. i'll still remember the source as "deep throat" ... it has a more intriguing ring to it.

international beauty

canada won the miss universe competition!

natalie glebova captured the 2005 crown in Thailand. the 23-year-old ryerson student edged out miss puerto rico cynthia olavarria. she moved to canada with her parents when she was 12.

apparently this is only the second time canada has won this title. karen dianne baldwin, 18, of london, ont. was the first canadian to win this honour (apprently she was one of the youngest too). 1982 would have also been the same year natalie glebova was born ... an interesting observation made by my dad (the mathematician)!

whenever these pageants surface, i'm not sure what to think about these age-old rituals. while the panel of judges are looking for beauty on the inside and outside, i can't help but wonder how the other young women feel about not being chosen ... it really depends on each woman's perspective, expectations and experiences of the crazy, pressure-filled event.

even so ... whenever any ambassador from canada wins such a prestigious title, whether it be in athletics or other arenas, the success does bring the nation together. after my dad found out natalie was a graduate of ryerson, my alma matar, he called me up to share the good news.

my cousin christal and i happened to catch bits and pieces of the event. when canada made the final five, we got really excited ... we actually had a shot of winning ... and this became an even bigger reality when it was just down to two! we were totally shocked and excited to find out canada won ... it was almost like canada winning the double gold at salt lake city in 2002 (for men and women's hockey).

in any case, it's great to celebrate the accomplishments of our fellow canadians ...

motives

Today, i was just reflecting on what makes people tick.

I guess the story about Terri Schiavo dying after the 13th day of not having a feeding tube kinda brought up this train of thought. What was going on in the head of Terri's husband during her last hours? Why didn't he let his in-laws see their daughter alive during those critical moments? It's be a tough call to make a decision for a family member whether or not s/he should stay alive even though s/he was in a vegetative state. Living wills are something that may be a viable option to consider for that "just in case" scenario.

The fact that anyone's life could just be instantly changed ... for better or worse ... brings up the question, what are we living for?

longevity

Today, I read on the CBC website that a geneticist thinks it's possible for humans to live up to 1,000 years -- with the help of biotechnology and various therapies.

Before anyone starts lining up for these treatments, they'll have to wait at least another 25 years before tests are done on humans. There's a catch ... it'll cost quite a bit of coin .. the geneticist's team is hoping to raise $100 million each year to fund its research.

But before you pull out your checkbook, consider some issues that are raised with such an extended life expentancy ...

* quality of life: living a longer life doesn't necessarily mean the quality of life increases. with the habitable space on earth shrinking, does that mean humankind will have to colonise a nearby planet, such as mars, or even the moon?

* redefining "retirement": if life expectancy shoots from about 85 years to 1,000 years, then it retirement should logically be delayed. how else can people live off a pension for 700 years or more?

* why would one want to live THAT long? It's one thing to live a long and full life, but totally another to survive for a millenium.

It's kind of like bicentennial man, the movie starring robin williams. Williams plays an android that isn't capable of dying because it is a machine. In his quest to become more human, he adopts more human elements, such as limbs, skin, organs. Becoming human, although it means he can experience emotions and life, means he will eventually wear out and die. The sad thing is that while Williams still lives on, his family and friends eventually pass on.

From a historic point of view, a person living through hundreds of years would be interesting to observe the changes of a city, nation, world and universe.

When humans look to extend life, or delay death, is this a yearning for us to become immortal?