Beauty is really photoshop deep...

This is why so many men and women have such warped perceptions of beauty... It's nice to stare at the nice pictures in the magazines, but really, what are we looking at? I know that this has made the rounds, but I saw it again and I felt like saying something about it so I did. Coming from a guy who has been called a "misogynistic pig" I found it immensely positive so good on Dove for getting that message out there.

On the lighter and flip side, there is also this clip to offset the above mentioned goodness.

I Think It's The One On The Right ...

One of these things is not like the others,
One of these things just doesn't belong,
Can you tell which thing is not like the others
By the time I finish my song?
Did you guess which thing was not like the others?
Did you guess which thing just doesn't belong?
If you guessed this one is not like the others,
Then you're absolutely...right!

A 5 Point Post

The good: The snow is back and I'm completely happy for it. As a purist, winter just isn't the same without it. A pardon on my behalf for any southerners out there. I can finally go snowboarding, when work and school don't get in the way. The snow just makes the days a little brighter too in that it helps dispel the grey and gloom. Finally it's also a sign that global warming hasn't completely warped the climate.

The bad: President George W. Bush. That alone should be enough to fill the bad part of this post but there is unfortunately more to mention. The war in Iraq is a massive failure. I support the men and women over there, but their mission or lack of clear purpose there is dis-heartening. Now it seems as though the mistakes of the past have been ignored and the rhetoric is repeating itself. One of the latest quotables has Dubya saying of the Iranian people that "they are a proud people"... Yeah, he said that about the Iraqis too and how important it was to "protect" them... Words are one thing, but I hope actions don't repeat themselves.

The funny: When an orgasm has been achieved through sex, you can measure theta waves. These are also said to cause the "running high" feeling of euphoria experienced sometimes by marathon runners. If theta waves are taken as a criterion, the entire brain emits theta waves when women reach an orgasm that are close to 10 times stronger than when men climax. So, if theta waves are an indication of an orgasm's strength, then women experience an orgasm that is physically impossible for men to go through. Putting it a little crudely, if the intensity of a woman's orgasm was played through a man's brain, there's a danger that the shock to his system would kill him... But oh man, what a way to go.

The sad: I feel slightly disconnected from many of the things that should be important to me right now: My friends, my education, my job, my family, etc... It's not that my love and dedication for the above have diminished... I dunno, maybe it's just a point in time again where I wonder how I fit in and question my purpose in the grand scheme of things. Even in this, my words don't convey the true essence of my state. But I guess that's the crux of it eh? BLARGH!!! Oh and I just broke the screen to my cell phone... Pooh.

The down right odd: Doctors aren't able to schedule women for breast augmentation surgery as quickly as they used to. Why? Because MEN are turning to cosmetic surgery to tackle the embarrassment of “man breasts”, fuelling a near doubling in the number of people sculpting their bodies through liposuction. Surgeons have reported a surge in the number of men requesting breast-reduction operations for ‘moobs’. The boom in demand for liposuction is revealed in an audit by the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS). Figures to be published this week show 4,000 operations were carried out last year, compared with 2,100 in 2005. Though women still champion the plastic surgery cause they have seen their share of the surgery scene decrease to an alarming 92%.

Weeeeeeeeeeee This Wii Is Weally Fun!!!

Ok, enough of the politics for a moment. Allow me to introduce first off my mom (conveniently pictured above) and secondly our new Wii (also conveniently pictured with aforementioned mom). I was on my way to hockey tonight when my sister called me to see if I was going to be home soon for dinner. I told her I'd be home after 9 because of hockey and she said I should come home for dinner now.

I thought something was up because she doesn't usually care where I go. So I arrived home and the twins greet me at the door but don't let me in. Instead they hold out a little off white coloured controller with the little word Wii on the bottom. I had a little chuckle to myself and thought, this is going to be fun... As my brother said, The Ing family has a new member, his name is Wiinger.

Little did I know it is just as fun watching someone play as it is to play it on your own. As I type this, I can't stop but laugh every few seconds as I watch my mother (all 4'11" of her towering frame) swinging the controller about as she plays tennis. If anyone is wondering, it is very amusing watching someone so wee play the Wii.

The newest member of the family looks like its going to be a Wiinner...

btw: say the title with a Chinese accent and laugh again.

President Bush Vs. Governor Bush

When you say enough to get what you need, then you are free to put on the puppet strings and get played. In as much as this is up for a laugh, it's no joke the way lives are being lost over there. I've got friends serving with the army and U.S.M.C. and I hope they're brought home soon.

I Hope I Get Better Soon...

This is what I've been reduced to in my ill state. Too sick to go to work but still able to amuse the masses... Ha ha ha... Please feel free to make fun of me. : )

Oh Pooh...

I don't want to be an adult today. I don't want to go to court to re-hash another domestic case. I want to stay home sick, wrapped in a blanket in front of the tele. I don't want to have to come home to read chapters of economics and psychobabble. I don't want to have to dress up to go out. I want someone to make me soup. I want to be able to have a day where I can be that kid again. (Some would argue that I'm still there) I want, I want I want.

"I understand"... (I think)

Eve, this one was going to be my comment for your post... I was actually stringing a few thoughts together along the lines of understanding points of view and your piece was enough of an inspiration to get it out. The comment was a little lengthy so I let it grow legs and walk away on its own.

When we encounter a person with a problem, more often than not, we tend to look at their situation from our own point of view. The thing is, no one can really ever know what someone else is thinking or experiencing at that moment. We do this and apply our thoughts and patterns to their situations. When their words or actions seem to make no sense at all, we should realize that it just doesn't make any sense to us as we look at it from a 3'rd person's point of view.

We need to learn and accept that it all makes perfect sense to them at that point in time they find themselves in. Sometimes we try to put so much of ourselves out there we stretch ourselves too thin or overstep our limitations in perspective and accepted boundries. I have learned after removing my foot from my mouth (a continual practice) that sometimes what we feel like saying to make a situation better is actually the last thing we should say and definitely the last thing that the anguished want to hear.

"I understand"... First 2 bricks in the road to ruin paved with good intentions... They seem like a comfort that is most easily extended, but I can say after having many different combinations of tears, saliva, slamming fists, and other projectiles directed, intentionally or not, in my direction I can safely say they aren't. Unless you have been through exactly the same situation someone else is encountering, and even if you have, you should stay well clear of the 2 worded pratfall.

To avoid sounding preachy, I should say these are observations I have made over the last few years and have found the above to be mostly true but in no means are they scripture. (even then there would be debate)... If anything, saying nothing at all might be the best thing to do. There have been times when it was all going south for me and what has brought it level was just having someone there to be a sounding board to. (thanks S'Mat)

A little compassion can go a long way in helping to bridge the gap between the suffering and the able. We encounter scores of people during our daily travels and the slightest act of kindness or generosity can change the course of their day. We may not even notice what we've done or how it's affected someone else; It's worked for me. I learned that lesson a long time ago, but the scene from "ER" when Dr. Green is dying and he tells his daughter to always be generous really hit it home for me.

You're never really ever going to know exactly what someone else is going through, but if they are willing to share, take the time to listen or at the very least just accept what is going on. You may not feel like you've done much of anything, but as my friend Abdul found out, what you do or don't do can change someone for a lifetime.

The Twins

Today is my brother Jeff and sister Alison's birthday. They rock my world and they make me realize that I am definitely not as cool as I sometimes think. In fact, my sister or Nos as we call her around here, takes a sick pleasure in reminding me of how un-cool I am almost on a daily basis.

Ali and I look exactly the same in our baby pictures, but thank God, the female version of us came out looking nice. The self-proclaimed most awesome person anyone will ever meet comes in a shade under 5'1" but she's got a personality that makes her at least 6'1".

Jeff often gets mistaken for me or vice versa, but as you can see, he's clearly much sharper looking than I am. His character is one that has taken some time to round out, but he's one of the most loyal and kind people I know and his friends are lucky to have him around.

I could go on, but I won't. Hell they're related to me there can't be anything but good things to say so that's all you need to know. :P

A 5 Point Post

The good: My new SHURE brand earphones that just arrived in the post courtesy my brother Jeff. They are fantastic and very comfortable. Cancels all outside noise (yelling mother, Oprah, typical household anarchy) even inside noise (Johny, Frank, Bill and sometimes Scruffy). Oh yeah, makes the music sound infinitely better too.

The bad: The correctional system in our country. Based on 3 R's... Rehabilitation, Restitution, Reintegration, it more often than not churns out a slightly less than desirable 3 R's: Recidivism, Racism, Re-victimization. I see too many people arrested one day and back out a few days later doing exactly what it was they were just arrested for a few days ago…

The funny (in this case cute): My 86 year old Poh Poh, grandma for the non-Chinese audience members, telling me in-front of my date (who she just met) that her bum-bum was hurting when I asked her how she was doing. After using the kindergarten term for her posterior, she proceeded to close her eyes, pout her lips and rub her back side. Then she asked me if she should go see a doctor. : )

The sad: I still miss my little guy Pudge incredibly. He was a great, if not crude little character and S’Mat can attest to that. Anyone that knows my family could rightly claim that he was the most normal out of our whole lot. We had to say bye to him a couple of months ago now, but the sense of loss has an annoying way of remaining fresh in mind.

The down right odd: The Hisatagakuen Sasebo Girls' High School in western Japan will require a 10 minute test using chopsticks to transfer beads, marbles, dice and beans from one plate to another. To give nervous test-takers a helping hand, students will use special six-sided chopsticks, believed to be easier to wield. Surveys periodically show that Japanese worry a rising number of youngsters do not have proper chopstick skills. Some parents even buy "training chopsticks" with loops to help children learn to hold the utensils properly.

I heard though that they won't fail outright if they do well in other subjects and drop the odd sashimi slab.

It's nice to see a news outlet finally reporting something accurate about George W. and his contribution, or lack there of, to his country.

Oh and if you haven't tried it yet go to Google.com and in the search line, type failure. Instead of hitting search, hit up I'm feeling lucky. Trust me, it's worth it.

Golden Days Are Here Again

Well another World Junior Championship is over and thank God Canada held on and won another gold medal. Best of all, they beat the U.S. and Russians along the way to do their country proud.

To the rest of the world, this must seem completely odd how a country can get so completely behind a group of kids under the age of 20 for a hockey tournament where there is no Olympic or Stanley Cup reward upon its completion. The bars were open before the noon hour and even Chinese restaurants were showing the game on their 102" flat screens usually reserved for colour changing lyrics which are parts of chalk board screeching karaoke songs.

That's just the thing, you'd have to be Canadian to get it. It's literally become as much of a part of the holiday season as re-gifted fruit cakes and bouts of H.S.I.I. (Holiday Shopping Induced Insanity). Hell the Prime Minister even took some of his day off to watch the game today. We as a people are proud of our sons and daughters who go abroad and represent our nation.

I guess one of the more endearing parts of their story is that the team members come from 20 different cities across Canada. I think my high school had more people in it than the home town our #1 Goalie comes from and we only had 550. They go and play not for the name on the back of the jersey, instead for the one that they all have on the front. They do it for the love of the game and country. They have no contracts to oblige their appearance, no endorsement deals, just the weight of the expectations of a nation.

The team and their coaches forgo their holidays at home with their families so most of us can rally around the televisions with ours and cheer them on. Then there are the hundreds of die hards that made the trek to Northern Sweden to support the team in person. They could barely fill one end of the ice when Canada played Germany earlier this month, but of the people that were there most were in Canadian jerseys living and sharing the dream in person.

Oh Canada, gotta be it to get it I guess.

Cheated on almost...

This one is a topic that I've thought about before, but last night was confronted with again... I myself haven't been the victim of an unfaithful heart, (not that I've known about anyways) but have seen first hand how devastating its actions can be. If I could wish away a few things from the existence of mankind, cheating would be one of those things... But I digress.

There may be some out there who defend the odd act of infidelity by classifying it as an act of necessity due to a faltering relationship, but really, that's just a cheap cop out. If it's that bad and detrimental, get out of it and then move on. It's easier to pick up the pieces when there aren't more bits of garbage continually falling on the pile. (I think I overheard that at some bus stop somewhere in Barcelona, though the translation may be off)...

I was saddened by a story I was told earlier yesterday. My friend Abdul told me about a very beautiful girl that he knew. She was a cousin of a friend of his. They had struck up a friendship over the last few years while she was living out in California. She had been dating a very rich investment banker and accepted his proposal for marriage. She did this in spite of words of caution and mild protest from Abdul, him having cited her reasons of financial stability and monetary happiness a pocket's worth of fool's gold. She did anyways and soon there after, found out that the man of her dreams had been cheating on her.

She was shattered and rightly so. She e-mailed Abdul in an attempt to reach out to someone that perhaps wasn't right in the epicentre of it all. She was hurt and confused and she reached out. He didn't return her e-mail, something that would have only taken 5 minutes. He didn't because he was in a tiff with that girl's cousin at the time. A short while later, he found out that the girl went to the top of her building and leaped to her death the day after she e-mailed him.

The telling of that story sobered me for the rest of the day. Later on after work at a post shift gathering where some people were less than sober I was confronted with the whole cheating pie again. Though it wasn't a clear serving, the aroma of it was clear enough to suggest something was baking. We have a new girl on our shift and she's young, attractive, very outgoing and married. One of the guys on our shift and her have struck a good chord and have an openly friendly relationship. Oh yeah, he's married and has 3 kids of his own.

To the naked eye, their interactions seem innocent enough, but as I've always said, you learn more about a person in the moments just after they are finished speaking or interacting with someone else. It's in those moments that any facade or hidden intention is revealed, if only for a split second... and I've noticed on more than one occasion just a little something extra lingering in the air after the two of them part company.

Last night at the end of the night when we were spinning the last story and winding it up, I caught (and this is where the above picture comes in) the two of them sitting in close proximity to each other. I thought I then saw hands crossing paths, their true destinations hidden under the horizon of falling table cloth. I would like to think that it was perhaps an alcoholic vision, but a millisecond "shit, I hope he doesn't see it" look from her pretty much confirmed it. I still wanted to think I was crazy but I had what I thought I saw confirmed by another co-worker who told me he had seen it as well and got a confirming nod from another one of our platoon mates to seal the debate.

I borrow this thought from Cosmo; Is emotional cheating just as bad or worse than actual act of having sexual relations with someone other than your significant other?