@ the Helm

2 February 10

uh-oh-lympics

I am not very confident that the Winter Olympics are going to go well. It's going to be a volatile mix of idealists, the greedy self absorbed, the compulsively paranoid, the chronically angry, and relatively innocent spectacle seekers.

I should even count neutral uninterested persons into the explosive because the simple act of taking up space in some areas of the city will soon be grounds for confrontation.

There is tension throughout the city and I'm worried that there will be violence, the nature and extent of which will depend on which side blows their fuse first, or perhaps more importantly, which side is perceived as blowing up first.

The anti-Olympic activists can not afford to be viewed as starting any violent action or their credibility and public support outside their own and very immediate network will vanish. Their multiple causes have already lost a great deal of support due to violent disruptions, such as knocking down torch runners and interrupting Olympic events in a few very un-family friendly ways.

VANOC and the Vancouver police should also keep cool heads, if a Yao Wei Wu or Dziekanski-esque incident occurs during the Olympics, the public rage and scrutiny that would follow will pull many in power off their perches.

So stand your ground everyone.

If you're a protester; document everything around you with audio and video. Don't provoke. Don't disrupt (too much). Wait until they slip up on anything that has a direct impact on tax dollars or public health, the two things that are most likely to get you support from the most people.

If you're an Olympic supporter; go by the book and don't do anything even resembling unsportsmanlike behavior. If the protesters disrupt or damage public infrastructure and/or citizens, hit them with the book (figuratively) and then blame them for everything else that didn't go right.

If you're just a spectacle seeker; park your car, transit in, keep an eye on your wallet, get there ahead of time, and don't pack your lunch.

12 January 10

holiday hangover

The period of time immediately following holidays is awkward.
It's like getting back into a two-week old political conversation at mid sentence with a pleasant yet senile acquaintance when you thought you were talking about a reality TV series you never watch.

A holiday on the first Friday after New Years could help avoid these sorts of accidents and embarrassments.

Someone should start a facebook petition.

16 December 09

Feasting

On the weekend Melanie's parents were in town and we did some feasting.

I was going to write a review of the two restaurants we went to, the first being Crave on Main street. But then I realized that my detailing of the experience sounded pretentious and dull. So I'll just give a solid OK to Crave as an option for medium priced decent food.

The real gem was Seasons in Queen Elizabeth Park. The food was well worth the price, the martinis were well done, the view was amazing, and the service was excellent. Everyone had a great time.

To quote the father -
"This is the best friggin pork chop I've ever had in my life"

Eat drink and be merry everyone. Tis the season.

8 December 09

Christmafied

The Holiday Season is officially here.

I had rum and eggnog last night while wearing a Santa hat and decorating the apartment with all the Christmas decoration loot that Melanie has.

I also got out some Christmas records. So far we've listened to:

Elvis' Christmas Album - Can't go wrong with Elvis. Classics like "Blue Christmas" and "Peace in the Valley".

Elvis: Memories of Christmas - Again, can't go wrong, and not much overlap with the above album. My favorites are "Merry Christmas Baby" and "If Every Day Was Like Christmas".

Christmas with Nana Mouskouri - I have a good friend that kinda looks like a young Nana Moukouri. I've never heard her sing though. Lots of Christmas classics and two versions of "Ave Maria"

The Roger Wittaker Christmas Album - Classic childhood memories with this one. "Darcy the Dragon" is one of my favorites.

29 November 09

harping

One thing that surprised me when I got my subscription to Harper's and starting exploring the website is that it looked a little off in Firefox. Which is odd, since those guys should be on top of 'new media'.

Thus...

Subject: welcome Firefox please
From: Jeffrey Helm
Date: 11/10/2009 5:09 PM
To: harpers@harpers.org

Hello Harpers,

I justed wanted to give you a heads up.
The Harpers.org website doesn't appear to be optimized for viewing with Firefox. Which is odd because 47.5% of people on the internet are now using Firefox as a base browser.

On both my work and home computer, which run Firefox, the layout of the website is disjointed and I can't imagine that you really want it to look like that.

I want you guys to look good because we both know you're one of the best magazines out there, so please don't skimp on the website.

Sincerely,

- Jeffrey Helm

----------

Subject: Re: welcome Firefox please
From: Paul Ford
Date: 11/10/2009 6:44 PM
To: harpers@harpers.org

Hi, Jeffrey. We develop Harper's on Firefox first. If it looks
disjointed...well...maybe that points to something else.

Best wishes,

Paul Ford
Harper's Magazine

----------
Mr. Ford may think that I'm a crank, but my skeptical eyebrow has risen.

If you run Firefox, go to the Harper's page and see if it looks 'off'. To be sure you're seeing things right, compare what you see in Firefox to what it looks like in Internet Explorer.
Right now it's an even tie:

looks wacky on my computer - 2
looks fine. what's your beef? - 2

23 November 09

Flu Flu

I think everyone should take the flu seriously. After all, it kills from 2000-8000 Canadians every year. And even if it doesn't kill you, it's not any fun what-so-ever. By extension I think everyone should take H1N1 seriously, go get vaccinated, but let's not get out of hand.

The H1N1 boogie man is an easy story of lazy journalists (myself included). Everyday there are 'new deaths', 'vaccine fears', 'threats', and 'pandemic' are being flung out into the public sphere, which scares people. What scares people even more is that young people, between 18 - 40, with no 'underlying health conditions' have died from H1N1. But before everyone freaks out and mobs the vaccine line, let's look at the numbers again.

From 2000-8000 Canadians die every year from flu, 90% of those of people are over 65 years of age. Most people over 65 aren't getting sick with H1N1 because the virus already came through when they were younger. So what's left over is the 10% of younger people, which works out to 200-800 deaths in Canadians under 65.
Thus, in order to have H1N1 deaths be above that of a normal flu season, there would have to be 800 or more deaths in Canada by the end of March. The current deathtoll in Canada is 250 (as off Nov 23) and some health officials are saying it's already peaked for this first wave.

So it's hard to say at this point whether more people are dying or there are different people dying from H1N1 than the normal flu. However, it is looks like there are significantly more hospitalizations and outbreaks from H1N1 than normal flu. Just compare the flu report at the height of the 2007-2008 season with the most current report for this season. 3965 hospitalizations thus far in Canada with 576 ICU admissions. Nasty.

So I advise getting vaccinate for H1N1 as soon as you can. Being sick at home with flu sucks. Being sick at a hospital with flu would be completely awful.