And now for some good news…oh, right

The Globe and Mail squares up to the fact that young people are in big trouble as far as the whole “prosperity” thing goes. Not too much of a surprise really, though I couldn’t have said it better.

I found two comments interesting.

First (reason: self explanatory):

You can bail yourself out all you want now, but when it comes to write the cheques in 15 years or so, me and my cohort will simply bail ourselves out by puting you into homes or icebergs.

Icebergs seem a lot cheaper, although global warming might pose a problem.

Second comment:

…. yes, they will surely demand more of their leaders. Like all youth, when they get really frustrated, about their prospects in life, they don’t go quietly into that good night. Bet on it. They will not lobby and protest in a ‘nice’ way. The street is their forum.

Sounds like either a deluded student government type or someone born in the 60s. Don’t they know it’s much easier to sit at home and watch TV than do anything about it. And more effective. Given voter turnouts and the general gray-hair-to-peach-fuzz ratio, it would take a pretty organized bunch of people to get something done. And we youth aren’t known for our organization.

Sam Roberts/Arkells/Mother Mother concert

Sam Roberts, the Arkells and Mother Mother played Deer Lake Park last Monday. And while the bands were good, the venue was even better. Full review here.

Fatally Injured=Killed

Metro Employee Fatally Injured Near Vienna Station

I suppose that WashingtonPost.com headline is technically accurate. It just seems like there’s a better word for “fatally injured.” Oh, right. There is. Killed.

Chellah yeah

Rabat’s Chellah was virtually deserted when we visited; certainly storks outnumbered humans two- or even three-to-one. They roosted in the trees and, most spectacularly, on top of a long-abandoned minaret.

The Chellah dates back to the third century B.C., although we didn’t know that when we visited. Rather, it looks like a medieval fort beside a busy ring road around the city. Inside, ancient ruins of what was the first settlement in the area vie for space with trees, flowers and the aforementioned storks.

There are archways and the remnants of small buildings and gardens but no real information on the place. In fact, I don’t have any better information to add to the linked Wikipedia site so I won’t even try. But if you’re in Rabat and want a day away from the ruckus of the medina and old city, and maybe want a couple photos of none-too-shy storks, head for the Chellah.

Bandaged hands and a bloody phone

The phone was off the hook and there was blood splattered underneath. Nearby, outside a single-family home, seven or eight cop cars had their lights flashing. An ambulance was parked beside the phone booth and paramedics were walking around the area, not looking too urgent.

Police escorted a black woman out of the house. She wore a yellow t-shirt with a Superman logo emblazoned on the front in green and blue track shorts. There was a little blood on her t-shirt, just to the left of the logo and on her shorts as well. The woman’s forearms were in bandages and as the police gently led her away, they seemed to almost gently place her arms behind her back.

Several people stood near the phone watching. No one seemed to know what had happened. They were just curious.

The police led the woman to the ambulance and closed the doors after she entered. Later, they spoke to a tall man outside the house who also had bandages on his forearms. I left shortly thereafter.

A couple hours later I returned to use the phone. The blood had dried underneath and the receiver was back on the hook. As I pedalled past the house, the woman was in her front yard, speaking over a white picket fence with her neighbour. The police cars were gone.

Incentive to dodge

A two-zone transit pass in Vancouver costs $100. The fine for getting caught without a pass is $150. And yet I have yet to be checked on the Skytrain for a pass. Granted, for most of the past four months I’ve only been taking it two stops – the rest of my journey was via bus, where one usually has to flash a pass to the driver. But if I am not checked in the next two months, I’ll consider Vancouver’s transit fining authority out of wack.

Let’s consider your average commuter living off of the Skytrain. If you pay a $150 fine every two months you’ll come out ahead of those who buy two monthly passes. Even given an extra $30 for the worry caused by looking for cops and maybe a couple of bus passes once or twice, you’d still be better riding na gapa, as they say in Poland.

Of course, maybe they check passes more often out in Burnaby, where there are more two-zone riders. So we’ll see.

Twitch

My right eyelid sometimes twitches like an epilectic at a Pink Floyd concert. I’m not sure why. It doesn’t look like its twitching (I’ve glanced in the mirror while it twitches).

Toilet unhumour

Incomprehensible: people who flush the urinal BEFORE they begin to pee. Do you really need a clean urinal? Is your piss going to be contaminated somehow? Why, oh why?

It’s not the same as flushing a used toilet before you sit down. Sometimes the toilet water can sploosh upwards. It’s gross, but it happens. Not so with a urinal. Plus full and unflushed toilets smell, and you spend more time at it. Not so with urinals. You’re in and you’re out and generally they don’t stink too bad.

I just don’t get it.

Andrew W.K. and Evaporator photos up (but not here)

As per my previous post on the Andrew W.K. and Evaporator concert Tuesday night, photos are now up here on uptownsound.ca.

B.C. says, no parking

Anybody who has set foot in Waterton Lakes National Park knows how special that little patch of land in Alberta’s southwestern corner is. Turns out,  environmentalists say there’s an equally impressive patch in nearby British Columbia. But that patch – the Flathead River valley – is unprotected and possibly the site of a to-be-constructed coal mine. So environmental groups are petitioning the UN to declare Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park – a UNESCO heritage site that includes both Waterton Lakes and Glacier National Park, in Montana – a heritage site in danger.

You can read the full story here. Oh, and I wrote it. I would have liked to speak to someone from the British Columbia government. Indeed, I would still like to. But my phone records will show plenty of outgoing calls to various government offices and no incoming calls.