Shop shop shop shop shop shop shop! · Wednesday December 20, 2006 by colin newell
Ok. Here is the good news. If you like to shop and spend money you don’t got (Apologies for the mis-use of the language…)
Then this is the time of the year for you.
In Victoria, we now have a selection of stores open 24 hours a day.
Now, this is great if you cannot sleep…
But seriously…
Why, on Earth, is Walmart open 24 hours a day?
Walmart. One of North Americas most reviled retailers.
It is bad enough that they are in your neighborhood. But to stay open 24 hours a day?
I read a statistic somewhere that the parking lots at Walmart are signficantly more dangerous than the average street in some of the tougher neighborhoods in the U.S.A.
That is right – your chances of physical or sexual assault are significantly higher in a Walmart parking lot than a back alley in Queens, New York… or East L.A.
Not really that surprising I guess.
It seems that Walmart attracts a criminal element. That is not a surprise.
They exploit and disenfranchise their workers, attract the poor with their promises of lower than low prices and so on.
Sigh.
Soon it will be Christmas where consumers will gorge themselves on consumables – and then line up after their Turkey dinners; at Future Shop, Toys R Us… and Walmart.
To buy more. And more. and more… more.
I will sleep thank you very much. And dream.
Of a World without Walmart. And all night shoppers. and Christmas gone bad. Rabid consumerist bull-shit that has taken over society.
So buy nothing.
Buy it! [1]
3 storms wallop Victoria B.C. Canada · Friday December 15, 2006 by colin newell
The winter weather has been insane.
One storm after another.
And it isn’t even Winter yet!
What is causing this you ask?
Well. Global warming.
And what causes that you ask?
I figured it out…
S.U.V. driving vegetarians.
No question.
Don’t even ask!
Figure it out for yourself.
Gas prices rise in lock step... again. · Tuesday December 12, 2006 by colin newell
Ok. If you live in Victoria B.C. Canada, you know this:
When gas prices rise, they go up all at the same time.
Lock step.
Why?
It is because the supply of gas in Victoria is controlled by the criminal underworld.
That is right.
Gangsters.
That no one (the government included) can touch.
Prices in Victoria are generally higher than anywhere else in North America. And they always go up to the same price at the exact same time.
Because all the stations in Victoria are influenced by criminal elements.
Call it price fixing. It is what it is.
We are at the mercy of oil companies and banks.
They make huge profits at our expense.
And we take it.
Criminals.
Comment [1]
The World of Super-art. · Friday December 1, 2006 by colin newell
I know some pretty talented people.
Lot’s of them.
I am an average guy and I tend to gravitate towards the bright ones.
Learning by osomosis I hope.
Then there are those with some extreme talents.
Elizabeth Wegerif is one of those extreme talents.
What does she do? Well, she is an artist.
An artist with super-human abilities.
She can look at any photo or object and within minutes or hours produce a duplicate of it in virtually any medium; paint, crayon, acrylic, digital. Makes no difference to Elizabeth.
Elizabeth has helped me out in the past. You know, fine tuning the look of some of the web-pages I do.
She has one of those special talents artistically – You know. The ability to see between the molecules
and electrons of the paint in the palette… and then to reproduce it flawlessly.
Quick remarkable actually.
Check out her stuff.
Snow in Victoria... and Ice · Tuesday November 28, 2006 by colin newell
Weather like this is a rare thing indeed.
25-35cm of snow. That is more than a foot deep.
Temperatures to -10 C. That is, I dunno, about 15 degrees F.
Pretty cold no matter how you slice it.
Still, there is an upside to a good freeze-up and dump of the white stuff:
People slow down. They get out of their cars.
While walking through largely pedestrain only avenues and side-streets, yesterday, with my wife – I noticed how people say hello and acknowledge the weather and this temporary environment.
Sure, the odd person gets into their vehicles, ill-prepared for the challenges of driving on sheets of ice. We stay out of their way and I accept the fact that people need to get out. That is life.
Anyway – the beauty of this weather is:
People slow down. And for a brief moment in time accept the fact that they alone are not in charge of their environment.
Stuff happens. In Victoria it tends to rain. Or the ground shakes.
No tornadoes. No vermin or locust plagues.
Just the ocassional Earthquake and chronic and implacable rain.
I accept it and enjoy it.
