from the "what is to be done?" dept.

The facts are this:

My neighbours were busted in the spring for owning a grow-op.

My neighbours own two dogs that live outside 24 hours a day.

These large beasts bark at everything. The result of which is that I cannot sleep in my bedroom because of the barking. I now sleep on a pull out couch in the basement.

Lord knows I am not the most tolerant person.

But is it fair that someone (criminals, no less!) allow their beasts to disturb me (us?) at 1am, 3am, 5am, etc. etc.?

It amazes me how people who go against society's rules (and by-laws) seem to have more rights than the people who are affected.

This is a fine case in point: the people with the dogs have more right to disrupt my sleep than I have not to be disturbed. And we're talking in the middle of the night, not the middle of the afternoon.

So what is to be done?

Hopefully I can get some answers from the city tomorrow. I've had it with this blatant disregard that some neighbours have for others.







Other than that, it's a darn nice Sunday morning. My illicit XM Radio is pumping out the sixties tunes... the sun is shining... and I'll soon be off to find some herring in mustard sauce at the (former?) Yugoslavian deli on Commercial Drive.

The rest of the day is wide open.

Cheers!

from the "weekends rule" dept.

The alarm did its thing at 7am this Saturday morning. Far from being cracked, I have a legit reason for getting up so early on a weekend: to maximize it.

This is my on weekend in July when I am not working. Despite ranting last year about pissing my summer away by working (heh, that sounds funny!), I was determined to have some more free time this summer. And I blew it. Big time.

Though, there is more travel ahead, and as my roommate Bryan says, I'll have money for it. True enough.

This was a good Saturday.

After the early rise -- which was not as early as I'd hoped due to repeated smacks of the "snooze" button -- I met up with TV & film goddess Sue Biely for brunch.

We chatted about a million things, plus the "Christa" project -- the documentary about the buried valuables of Holocaust victims/survivors.

Sue also expressed interest in road-tripping around the Balkans. Hello! You had me at Belgrade...

After our tasty meal at The Whip, we parted ways and I blasted across the Lion's Gate to do a little photo safari with Ted Schredd of Discoverfun.com fame.

We played with his new Powerbook -- especially Garage Band. Holy doodle, what a program. Anyone can make music with that. I feel like going to by it... tomorrow.

Then we headed to some semi-off-limit areas to North Vancouver to snap pictures. We found some great industrial areas and a film set that looked like the old west.

Photos to come tomorrow (Sunday).

I came home and did something I have yet to do here: go for a swim in our pool. The summer has been less that toasty, and even today was average. And then it rained. But around dinner time, the sun was out and the water was warm. And in I went. Sweet.

Looking at my work schedule, I shake my head.

Beginning Monday, I work 9 straight. 2 off. 6 on. 1 off. 3 on. And then its Aug 1. At least I have that off.

Then in Aug, I have one weekend (13-14)... and work 2 on, 2 off, 7 on, 2 off, 2 on, 1 off, 5 on, 3 off, 4 on, 2 off, and it's Sept. 1.

And then Janis Pethybridge arrives! And all will be right in the world again. A few days after that, Brent and Roh will probably arrive from Belize. And then, mid-Sept, you know who will probably go back with them to Mexico and Belize.

Or, off to former-Yugoslavia with Sue.

Methinks its bedtime...

Cheers!

HulaGirl and Big Ben

HulaGirl and Big Ben
Originally uploaded by borderfilms.com.

Roaaar! Trafalgar Square

Roaaar! Trafalgar Square
Originally uploaded by borderfilms.com.

Ben Tube

Ben Tube
Originally uploaded by borderfilms.com.

From May/05. Fond memories and solidarity...

from the "here we go again" dept.

They've already started to refer to today's terrible bombings in London as 7/7. Egads. Please don't follow their lead!

Like most people in North America, I woke this morning to the news of the bombings. Another sad day. And, to think I riding the tube just a few weeks ago.

At work today, people in the newsroom were saying things like: "good thing we didn't take part in the Iraq war" and "it won't happen here."

I think this thinking is wrong.

The terror campaign is against the West... the US and UK happen to be the figure heads. But I think we in Canada are just as likely to experience terrorist acts.

Remember, Ahmed Ressam? He's the terrorist who was going to drive to LA and blow up the airport. Guess where he was working on his little project? Vancouver. Good thing he got snagged at the US border.

I hate to say it, but I think it will happen here. And within 24 months. I hope I'm wrong.

But think about it: if the object is terror, that what better way to scare people: bomb here and there. And not big targets. Small ones too. Wait until it starts happening in small towns.

Is there an answer? No. But one thing that might help is to look at the root causes.

A big one: Palestine. Whether you are for or against creating an independent Palestinian state, you have to admit that this is one of the biggest reasons for the growth of terrorism. Not to mentions the foreign policy of some countries.

A colleague pointed me to a letter Osama himself wrote to the American people. It's been translated to English, and makes for important reading. Large amounts of it are pure crap. But there are some answers too...

Read it here.

I hope it's a better tomorrow...

from the "talk, talk, talk" dept.

So $200 later the $400 car has new cables and a new battery. And the government made some nice tax money.

Guess I won't be leasing anything just yet.

Late night tonight, trying to get the next Straight piece put to bed. Of course it's due today. But at 1:06am, I am done. I'll re-read it in the morning, and email it off.

Back to CTV in just 9 hours -- which is where I am now. That's gonna be fun!

Cheers!

from the "cheap cheap cheap" dept.

Ok. So having a $500 car -- wait -- that was my last one. Let me start again.

Ok. So having a $400 car is great. It's cheap. The insurance is low. And despite the high cost of fuel, it's still a good deal.

When it runs.

My new old car is having battery problems. And it actually be more of an engine aneurysm.

The first hint of trouble was before I went to Europa and it wouldn't start. The car. Not Europa. I fixed this by pretending to be MacGyver: the battery terminal was crusty and rusty so I used a pair of vice-grips and fastened the cable onto the battery's post. Worked like a charm.

Until the corrosion hit the vice-grips. Now the who electric system is like a game of chance. Will it start? Will tinkering by me another chance? Will I be late?

Will I lease a 2005 Mazda 3?

Well, no. Not yet, anyway.

This is the beauty of a $400 car. Even though I can't drive to far away places like Surrey with confidence, I don't have massive payments.

Beauty, eh? Hmmmm.

Well, I do have my bus pass.

Yeah. And a 40 minute ride with disease carrying weirdos.

Hmmmm.

Ok. I have to go beat the shit out of my conscience and lease a new car. Be right back.

Cheers!

from the "almost rich" dept.

I'd been using the same Lotto 6/49 numbers since -- good Lord -- something like 1982. Well, that's not totally true. I'd been using one six-digit set since '82. A combination of my Mom's, my uncles and my birthdates:

3-4-5-26-35-37

These numbers came close to making me "rich" whilst at college. I had 4 out of 6 and was one off on each of the remaining two digits.

It happened again in April 2001. I was using the same numbers for the BC 49 draw. And I had 5 out of 6, with the final number being only a few off. My bad statistical averaging tells me that I had a 1:11 chance of either pocketing $50k or a cool $1 million. I walked away with $500. Not bad, but if it had been the 6/49, I would have won a few grand.

A few years ago, I added a second set of numbers:

4-11-14-26-38-39

This was a combination of my birthdate, the birthdate of a woman from Toronto, and our ages when we met.

These numbers did squat.

But I still played them, once or twice a week, thinking that the one time I failed to play, they would come up.

Boy, has British Columbia lotteries ever got me hooked.

Anyway, when I went galavanting around Serbia this past May, I bought plays for those two numbers for each draw I was gone. It cost me $56, and I won something like $10.

Nice return on investment.

So I decided to stop. No, not stop playing (and paying the stupid tax), but to stop playing those numbers. They rarely paid anything, not even the $10 minimum "keep you hooked prize".

I know I have no luck gambling. That has been proved in Vegas. There is zero chance I will become a VLT addict.

Several weeks ago I started playing random numbers... generated by the lottery machine. And guess what? I started winning. Not a lot: but $10 here and $20 there. More than I was paying out. Which is as it should be.

Today, I busted my ass to get tickets (I was working and running behind schedule as usual).

I just checked them and... I won squat in the 6/49, but I had 4 out of 6 in the BC 49. That equals a gift of $75. Not a ton, but a good return on a $2 investment.

What's ahead? Probably not much. But who knows. As the brain washing commercials say "everybody's got a dream..."

Cheers!

from the "words fail me" dept.

Another weekend... and another week gone by. Also, it's Canada Day (or was).

The week flew by, as they usually do. I've been housesitting for my friends Don & Linda. It's a nice escape... in a cool location. I can walk to work... or wander up and down Main St. Which is like wandering up and down Commercial Drive, without the heroin addicts to step over.

There was more positive movement with the "Christa" documentary. We're doing up the legal stuff and once that is done, things should really speed up. We hope, anyway.

The Georgia Straight has decided to take my Roadtrip Across Albania story, though it isn't slated for publication until September! I still have to write my map story, which is due July 6... and will appear the following week.

I've been back in the news grind for the last 3 days, and many more follow. Next day off I belive is next weekend. Paying the piper, as it were.

Sunday I move back to home, and with any luck the sun will be out and the pool will be heated.

Live 8 starts Saturday... I can't believe its been 20 years since Live Aid. I can remember sitting in the Marigold on Portage Ave. in Winnipeg watching it... I might even have it on tape! Although 20 year oxide might be a little flakey.

That's about it... got to work in 10 hours. But it will be nice being off at 6:30pm on a Saturday for once!

Cheers...