uncivil

Posted on November 2, 2004 by

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i think the only good outcome of today’s election would be civil war. 😈

the prelinger archive

Posted on October 30, 2004 by

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okay – i admit it – even though i am supposed to be working on a paper for one of my classes, i spent a great deal of time today perusing the prelinger collection at archive.org. this collection, i’m sure, is what the internet was made for and i’m very happy to have discovered it.

if you are my age, you likely remember being corralled into the gym in grade school and made to watch reel-to-reel films narrated by jiminey cricket about personal hygiene and being nice to others. it was a special treat to get to watch films instead of being in class, no matter how horrid they really were. one in particular about vandalism has stuck with me all my life – the main message being how cruel it is to ruin other people’s personal possessions for no reason. i have a vivid memory of the contents of that movie over and above anything else i ever learned between grades one and five (it really bothered me at the time).

anyhow – these types of “moral lesson” films and cartoons have a long history, as do those promoting corporations and industry – and lucky for us, the prelinger collection not only brings thousands of them into once place, but close to 1500 of them are now archived on the internet under dozens of subjects. from the 30s until the 70s, many companies specialized in moralistic and instructional tales like “gossip“, “more dangerous than dynamite” (without which i would have never known that women used gasoline to dry-clean clothes in the thirties) and “are you popular?“.

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lessons from water

Posted on October 28, 2004 by

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revelation on the morning bus ride: rather than feeling as though i’m *in* water – i need to *be* water

drowning, submerged, in over my head – this is how i often feel as a union steward listening to the stories of aggrieved members. i am awash in their frustration, deluged by their heartbreak, carrying their load as if walking from a well with pails full. so much imagery of water as oppressor, as sorrow in the form of tears, as overwhelming in the injustice people face.

since i have returned to work, i have taken on two new stewarding cases – one which i have a great personal interest in (the other more procedural). after a meeting with the individual involved in the case i have the personal interest in, i found myself enveloped in a sadness i could not shake for the rest of the day – so diffiicult is it for me to accept that anyone should de demeaned or harassed in the working environment. this empathetic ability is simultaneously a strength and a limitation in my advocacy work – a strength because i am genuine with each person i represent and they feel listened to by me, but a limitation because i find it difficult to make a boundary between their emotions and mine – a river that runs from them into me, undammed.

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sick day

Posted on October 26, 2004 by

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after the past month of non-stop running from place to place – i finally took a break to be sick for a couple of days. in all the hectic motion, i seem to have caught some sort of fluish thing that has kept me out of work but not so sick as to keep me incapacitated.

so besides splitting some firewood and cleaning my house and doing laundry – i managed to finish the very extensive border of the rug i am cross-stitching. i started this project back in june and put it aside during my move – picking it up from time to time. this portion is about 2000 stitches worth of work – i can’t believe i made it this far.

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things you should watch

Posted on October 26, 2004 by

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two things came across my desktop today that are worth a watch.

mosh – eminem
by no means am i a fan of eminem, but when his new song is set to a video encouraging people to don black hoodies and march in the streets (confronting riot police no doubt) i have to at least wonder at it (if not be secretly pleased that this is getting mass airplay). other than the fact that this seems to be about voting, the rest of the imagery in this video is pretty cool.

pierre burton rolls a joint
no kidding, on rick mercer’s monday night show the celebrity tip this week was by pierre burton and includes a step by step on rolling a proper joint. for those us readers who don’t know – pierre burton is *the* author of popular canadian history and a bit of a secret leftist – at 84 years old he’s one of the best known icons in the country. anyhow – this video is gut-busting funny and you have to check it out.

maybe, just maybe we’re going to get it before it’s too late?

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