I wouldn’t classify myself as a spiritual person. On the contrary, I would say I eventually became a Humanist after having recovered from Catholicism. Being unfettered by superstitious dogma really opens one’s mind to the joys and wonder of living in a purely physical world. This doesn’t mean, however, that I can’t experience things in life that appeal to a higher emotion or to the aesthetic sense; things which capture a transcendent moment, or which give pause for reflection. In fact I do have to say that my thoughts sometimes wander from the reasonable and I find myself indulging in the fanciful. For instance, I can drink in the visual arts and be amazed at how human beings can conceptualize and realize such wondrous works. I can listen to Bach or Mozart and be blown away by the symmetry and complexity of the arrangement of musical notes and how they’re interpreted by our brains. Such things, to me, can be considered wonders of nature. We are, after all, part of nature ourselves.
As realistic as I am about life in general, I have to acknowledge the fact that there’s a melancholy side to my nature. It’s for this reason that I add the following video to my blog. I’ve always felt an affinity for the poem The Lake, by Edgar Allan Poe, since first reading it many years ago, and I now recently discovered that a singer I greatly admire has taken this poem and created a song of such sweet, sad reflection that it almost makes me weep.
The Toronto Humane Society seems to be having its fair share of trouble these days. There was a series of Globe and Mail exposé-style articles written recently, which focused on some perceived issues and concerns with regard to the current management, as well as the conditions in which the THS animals live.
To provide a credible association for the gathering and dissemination of facts and background on the current Board and management of the Toronto Humane Society (“THS”) relative to animal care, treatment of staff and volunteers, fiscal accountability, and governance matters, and to create public awareness of these issues in an effort to bring about reform and renewal of the THS for the benefit of the animals and our community.
Madras Christian College in India now allows applicants to indicate whether they are male, female, or transgender when they enroll. I’m not sure what advantage would be gained by individual students registering as a transgendered person, unless the making of a socio-political statement could be deemed as such. Which is fair enough. I’m also not sure how a Christian college would benefit from this, although kudos to them for allowing applicants to make that choice. It certainly gives the impression that the college is a more tolerant institution than some of its peers might be, which could be the whole purpose from a PR perspective I guess. However, this is just speculation on my part and, as far as I’m concerned, I’m all for it if it helps make the world a more accepting and inclusive place in which to live.
Not so Matt Barber, cultural affairs director at Liberty Counsel, who believes Madras College has misread the Book of Genesis by allowing transgendered people to register their status at enrollment. On the One News Now web site he states:
You know, this is just ridiculous and insane. It’s really sad that a Christian college is joining in and entertaining this leftist, secular, humanist delusion that is transgenderism. Political correctness is a wall between what people want to be truth and what is actual reality
I’m assuming he’s talking about tolerance and human rights and how they don’t mix with his interpretation of the bible. I just love that his comment contains that little gem of a last sentence, which is dripping with so much irony when one considers how it can mean so many different things simply by replacing ‘political correctness’ with ’scripture’.
I consider myself to be very lucky indeed, especially when I see videos such as the one below. I dread to think how my life could’ve turned out had I been unlucky enough to have been born in what I would call less enlightened parts of the world, such as oh, I don’t know…how about Connecticut, home of Manifested Glory Ministries.
This local church group seems to think that homosexuality is a symptom of being possessed by demons, and they have a very friendly, non-scary way of exorcising said demons from the bodies of any men (or women) unfortunate enough to be part of their community.
When I see videos like this, it reminds me how frightening certain parts of the world can be—even places where one wouldn’t expect this to be the case, where there’s at least a veneer of civilization. But then as you dig deeper, you see that there are people living in these places whose minds inhabit a different era altogether. People whose belief systems and worldviews are so completely out of touch with reality that I have to stop and remind myself that, yes, we are indeed living in the 21st century; even if the video below seems to contradict this fact.
Personally, I don’t think it’s a pretty sight. You need a strong stomach to watch crazy stuff like this, or to hear the terrified wails of the young man on the floor whose only ’sin’ was to be gay. I wonder what his life is like amongst these people. Will he ever build up enough courage to break free and attempt to lead as normal a life as possible after being subjected to such treatment, or will he accept his lot and simply bend to their will? Could this be one of those occasions where a gay man eventually enters into a straight marriage, believing he’s been cured. How many heartaches and wasted lives would await the family of such a union, many years from now?
This is an amazing picture of the Space Shuttle Atlantis, in orbit working on repairs to the Hubble Space Telescope. The photo was taken by French astro-photographer, Thierry Legault. Legault, who was near Kennedy Space Center at the time, had his equipment set up and was able to take the shot as Atlantis sped towards Hubble, 24 hours after taking off. The transit time as Atlantis crossed the sun in the background was just 0.3 seconds.
The Disco Fallout Shelter in Toronto's Sculpture Garden
…there goes the neighbourhood!
In actual fact, it’s the latest installment for Toronto’s Sculpture Garden in downtown King East. This particular artistic iteration—by Toronto/Vancouver-based artist collective Instant Coffee—is named the Disco Fallout Shelter (DFS) and is meant to represent “a glitzed-up and powder coated re-articulation of these prolific and often makeshift mid-twentieth century places built from fear.”
As you approach the shelter, you see a video screen showing images of the (supposed) people inside, doing whatever they would normally do should the world fall under the thrall of a nuclear winter. Walking towards the DSF along the bright yellow path, you hear the deep bass sound of dance music emanating from the two sparkling doors to the shelter.
It’s really quite conspicuous as I walk by the garden on the way to work, which it’s supposed to be, I guess. It is art after all.
I wonder if I’ll see Frodo emerge one day, dressed in ’80s disco spandex?
Some cats are just naturally regal-looking and comport themselves well. Winston was like that. He was a stolid, good looking black cat of ours from a few years ago. Winston had survived on the streets for quite some time before being taken in by the Ottawa Humane Society, where we then adopted him. He’d been used as target practice, we soon discovered, and had to have a lead pellet from an air rifle removed from his side. He had this aloofness about him, an “I-will-not-deign-to-speak-to-you” attitude which was quite at odds with his friendly nature, once he got to know you.
Yes, Winston was a very regal cat. Until, of course, we caught him peeing in the toilet one day! Still, bodily functions aside, the fact of the matter was that Winston managed to look classy.
Of course there was also my favourite cat, Milo. Like Winston before him, Milo has now passed away and I’ve already written all I can about him. He was a faithful follower of mine, shadowing me from room to room and sitting with me whenever I worked at my desk at home.
Robert & Liz on the Maid of the Mist, at Niagara Falls
The Niagara region is a beautiful area with its wineries, vineyards, and gently rolling hills. There are many creeks that meander through this fecund landscape, and hotels and restaurants (such as the Inn on the Twenty) can be found in abundance. One of the jewels in the crown of the Niagara region is a small village called Jordan, home to the inn above. It’s a gorgeous area, smack dab in the middle of wine country and not far from the well known Cave Springs winery. Niagara-on-the-Lake is a bigger, more commercial town, which still manages to maintain a sleepy, peaceful feel, with lots of bike paths and walkways following the shoreline of Lake Ontario and the Niagara River.
If you were to follow the Niagara River upstream, you’d soon arrive at the world famous Niagara Falls, which is now home to a number of casinos, hotels and tacky motels. The town of Niagara Falls is completely geared towards tourism and is nothing like some of the more prestigious destinations in this region. With the United States on one side of the river and Canada on the other, the hotels and casinos stand like sentinals on both sides of the Falls, staring across the water at their counterparts on the opposing shores.
The Falls themselves are impressive at any time of the year. The volume of water tumbling over the falls is truly staggering, yet hardly surprising when one considers the fact that this is actually an overspill from one Great Lake into another (Lake Erie into Lake Ontario).
This is where we found ourselves yesterday, after driving the two hours or so from Toronto. It was one of the destinations Robert and Liz (my nephew and his girlfriend) had requested we make on their visit from the U.K. Of course, once here, we just had to take a ride on the Maid of the Mist boats that travel to and from (and into) the spray from the waterfalls. It’s one of the major tourist attractions when visiting this natural wonder of the world. That, and a journey into the tunnels beneath the falls, which open out onto the sheet of water and awesome volume pouring out from above!
We only spent a few hours here and drove back to Toronto later that evening. The trip was a huge success as far as Robert and Liz were concerned, however, and they both seemed suitably impressed with the natural wonder of the Falls, if not the tackiness of the town itself.
A gigantic Robert & Liz on either side of the CN Tower
Ah, the CN Tower. How many times have I scaled its lofty heights? A few too many, I would say! Still, another visit was on the cards, this time with our British guests. The CN Tower is such a Toronto icon that we couldn’t possibly miss out on the opportunity of showing them the length, breadth and height of the city as seen from the Observation Deck and the ridiculously mind-numbing Glass Floor. Poor Liz. The best she could do was to muster up the courage to place her big toe on the Glass Floor, and that was only because she was being egged on by some other British visitors to the tower (most of whom had already faced their fear by stepping onto the glass).
After taking in the amazing views from the Observation Deck, we decided it was time to celebrate Liz’ feat of bravery by drinking a few beers at the regular restaurant on the lower level of the Deck. This place used to serve unassuming, cafe-style food, but I guess they recently revamped their mena and went fancy on us, which included a steep hike in prices. It was a bit disappointing to have to fork out such exorbitant prices, when really all you want is a snack like sandwiches and fries. Needless to say, we felt a bit cheated. Knowing that the management was taking advantage of a captive clientele, we decided to just grab a couple of beers before taking the elevator down, where we were summarily ejected into the middle of the souvenir/gift shop at the base of the tower.
Ah, well – onwards and upwards (or downwards, in this case) as they say. The Boy & Girl certainly had an iconic Toronto experience. Next stop, Niagara Falls!
Manchester United versus Aresnal: that’s the match we’ll be watching today at The Main Event Pub up at Yonge & Eglinton. My nephew, Robert, is here from the U.K. with his girlfriend, Liz, and he’s a huge Man. U. supporter. Finding a venue for this semi-final game of the 2009 European Cup was a prerequisite for Robert. We’d had our orders before he’d arrived and we managed to find this popular sports bar/pub, which prides itself on being “the home of the Manchester United Supporters Club of Canada”.
Let’s hope his team won’t lose today - we wouldn’t want that to spoil his vacation!
Update: Final score, Man. Utd. 3 - Arsenal 1. Which means The Incredible Sulk didn’t make an appearance!
July 1st, 2009 | 
Tags: 
Category: 
