Wrath of Lamb February 26/10

Kind of a heavy one today.


I find myself quite sad about the suicide of Andrew Koenig... he's the guy that used to be on Growing Pains and his father played Chekhov in the original Star Trek series. Watching his dad speaking to reporters on TV was heart-breaking. Walter Koenig was crying as he begged anybody who is suffering from depression and contemplating suicide to talk to someone and get help.

I've talked before about the stigma attached to mental illness, and unfortunately it's that stigma and shame that prevents many people from getting the help they need and leads them to a place where they feel there is no hope and no solution besides taking their own life. People who don't understand what depression is, think someone with the illness is just 'down in the dumps' and they should just 'cheer up'. But depression is far more severe than that. You don't want to get out of bed, you don't want to answer the phone, and there is a constant overwhelming feeling of sadness and hopelessness that sits on you like a huge weight.

Sound like I know what I'm talking about?

I've had two friends kill themselves in my lifetime, and let me tell you, it's not fun. I don't think people who commit suicide fully realize the wide effect it has on their family and their friends. So please, if you or someone you know is depressed and you feel there is nowhere to turn, talk to somebody and get help.

Things will get better... They always do.

Wrath of Lamb February 23/10

So, it seems like most people are getting used to the new cellphone driving ban. It's been a law now for about two months, and alot of people either leave their phones alone while in the car, or they've bought a bluetooth hands-free device. Well, I would like to implement another law.

From now on, it is illegal for you to wear your bluetooth earpiece anywhere but inside your car.

If you enter a public area, like a coffee shop, store or bar, and you still have that thing stuck in your ear, you get a gazillion dollar fine, and everyone is allowed to laugh and point at you.

You look like a knob.

It seems everywhere I go these days, I see at least one dorkus who thinks he's on Star Trek or something. It's always the same kind of guy, too. And it's never a woman. So, take off the earpiece when you leave your car. New law. If you break this law, anybody who wants to is allowed to punch you in the side of the head.

Thank you.

Wrath of Lamb February 19/10

The last known Canadian veteran of the First World War has died.  Jack Babcock was 109 years old. Imagine that for a second. He was born in 1900. Think about what this man witnessed in his lifetime. He fought in the first great war of the 20th century.... he then lived through the 2nd world war, the Korean War, the Cold War, the Vietnam war, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc etc. He watched as films went from silent to sound, from black and white to colour... I wonder if he got to see Avatar. He witnessed the invention of the ballpoint pen, the television, computers, credit cards and the very first flight of an airplane. He saw Babe Ruth hit home runs, the birth of rock-n-roll, and the fall of communist Russia.

I say hats off to Jack Babcock... first and foremost for defending our country so many years ago, but also for living during a century of so much change. Even if I live to be 109 years old, which I won't, I will never have witnessed such amazing advances in the human race.

It must have been spectacular.

Wrath of Lamb February 18/10

Yes, I admit it... I watch American Idol sometimes.

This week is the week where they whittled it down to the final 24 contestants. The four judges sit in this room, and each singer is brought in, one by one, to learn whether they have been cut or not. And they do the same thing with every one of them... They never just say 'Oh, hi Billy, yeah you're in'... or 'Sorry Katie, you didn't make it'. It's always this little game of run-around... 'Hi Chad.... sit down...well, as you know, the competition has been tough this year... we think you're a good singer... but, you know, not everyone gets to go through... but you're not one of them, you're in the top 24!!!'

Someone's gonna have a heart attack on that show one day.

You would never come across that in real life. Imagine applying for a job, and they call you into their office.... 'Hi Mr. Johnson... well, as you know, alot of qualified people have applied for this position... we appreciate you taking the time to bring your resume into us, but unfortunately.... you didn't get the job.... of not getting a job, because you got the job!!! Congratulations!'

Wrath of Lamb February 10/10

You ever have those moments when you say something during a conversation without really thinking about it, and it comes across as ridiculously stupid? Something that makes you look like a total doorknob?

I have two favourite ones.

The first was a few years ago when my wife and I were visiting our neighbour, who had just gotten back from Southeast Asia. There were a bunch of us there, and he was showing us a slideshow of his trip to the killing fields in Cambodia. Really intense photos of thousands and thousands of skulls. A woman at the party piped up and said 'Why are some of the skulls smashed in?' He said 'Because to save money on bullets, they would sometimes just crush people's skulls with clubs' And she said 'Oh my... and then they would fish out the bullets?'

My other favourite idiot moment was one of mine. I was going camping with some buddies and I knew were going tubing, so I was trying to figure out where to buy a large inner tube. My wife said, 'Why don't you go to the Kal Tire store up the street?' I said 'No, that store is too small. It needs to be a big place, I mean, you need a warehouse to store all the inner tubes'. My wife said 'Jason, they come deflated'.

I had pictured a giant room stacked to the ceiling with big puffy inner tubes.

Wrath of Lamb February 09/10

So, I'm back from a nice holiday. Didn't do a whole lot... went to Kelowna last weekend to visit some old buddies. I've talked before about how I'm not a fan of UFC, how I think it's a brutal sport that just feeds aggressive behaviour. Well, on Saturday night I went with my friends to a bar and watched the entire UFC 109 'Relentless' pay-per view. I thought 'Here's my opportunity to try and understand this thing and maybe enjoy it'.

But my god, is it ever brutal.

It's also incredibly homo-erotic. At one point, this one dude got his forehead cut open and it was bleeding like a faucet. The announcers were like 'Oh, that's gonna make him slippery'. So, here I am, watching two guys in their underwear, covered in blood, sliding around with their legs intertwined. It was like some ancient Roman porn or something. Then he finished the guy off by choking him til he passed out. Hmmm. David Carradine would be proud.

Yeah... my opinion of UFC hasn't changed.