Sunday 26 June 2011

Faves, Farscape and Fantasy

The word of the week is frelled, if you know it.

June 20 - New Moola and You

Finally, we're getting plastic money, just like the Australians, New Zealanders and Mexicans have had for years. Canada will release its first polymer-plastic $100 note in November 2011, which will make all of the one billion paper notes in circulation right now obsolete. I've been waiting years for this to finally happen, as it's a huge blow against counterfeiters - I personally have seen hundreds of counterfeit notes in my time at MMart and there are many thousands of them in circulation still. Which is better than it was five years ago, since the government has cracked down so hard on those creating the funny money. Still, when your country doesn't have total confidence in your currency, you need to do something - like make a plastic bill. Can't wait!

June 21 - Summer, at last!

Boy, it's a warm start... with a quick-to-cool trailout, brrr! From twenty degrees to twelve in less than 24 hours is NOT a good start to the season. Yet it also portends that this summer will not be a blazing hot one, unlike in previous years. The cool winds that blow over the mountains here also help to a degree( pun intended )though things do tend to dry out on Vancouver Island in the summer months. Brown grass and water rationing are just around the corner, which is fine... nobody likes to hang out on the front lawn when there's so much else to do.

June 22 - Why do you like that?

We all have our favourite things: books, movies, colours, foods, music... all these and a thousand other things set us apart from each other as unique individuals. We are more than the sum of these parts, but to sum them explains the many bits of you to others in manageable bites. Myself, I have favourite colours( blue and green ), fave music( Tom Petty and Enya )and fave movies( Groundhog Day and Army of Darkness ). Two of my fave authors are Neil Gaiman and J. Michael Straczynski( you know you're a fan when you can spell that offhand! )each of whom have their own personal websites. For JMS, his site is quite extensive and VERY informative - I consider his work to be at the very top tier of living writers today, right up there with Neil Gaiman. Check out their sites and their works to expand your own bits of yourself... and thank your personal stars that you don't ever say some of the things overheard in bookshops.

June 23 - Walking Art Beasts

Some people paint, others work with stone. Still others create their art from... other things. Fewer still make moving art - take a gander at what artist Theo Jansen has brought to life, literally: 



June 24 - More money than I'll ever see

Bill Gates is the second-richest person on the planet( Google the first, if you must )who made his riches by hard work, smart business decisions and having the right product at the right time - reviled as Windows may be, most computers( until recently )ran on a version of it. I've always thought of Gates as a monster, but this rare interview paints him in quite a different light. Especially as he's convincing some of the richest people in the world to give their money away and put it towards causes to make this planet a better place. So that's some good from 'evil' wouldn't you say?


June 25 - Ten Billion Souls?

It's a subject that's been on my mind since early childhood: how many people are there on Earth? I was first introduced to the concept of 'billion' when I looked into how many people there were on the planet( at the time, FAR less than six )and how we all managed to fit. I learned that Earth is a BIG place, but it's not finite... and there are more people every second. Yahoo had a surprisingly in-depth article on the very subject this week, which I really enjoyed not only for its length but for the issues it examined. Too many people = bad for the planet. The best solution? Giant rockets to colonize Mars, of course?


June 26 - A lasso rixa quaeritur

Something introspective was supposed to go here, but I'm too tired. I need more sleep, more exercise and a diet more inclusive of fresh fruits, I think. Or at least fruit smoothies. Some days it's hit and miss, and I find myself checking FBook more often than I should... but I do so to keep up with my friends, family and interests, so it's not as bad as it seems. I seem to have stopped playing games and reading books this past month, gravitating instead towards watching the Farscape TV series in its entirety - which is really enjoyable, moreso than I had recalled. There's something to be said for having a little to look forward to after a long day, be it a bit of NWN, a good dinner or just a good show to watch. Today I had all three, so +1 me.

Day 7 of 11 is over, so I'll leave you with The History Of Groo The Wanderer. Say Cheese Dip all over again this year!