1) I was on comedy fire yesterday. My Mom called and asked if my kidney stone acted up during our weekend away.
“I have the Lawrence Olivier of kidney stones,” I replied. “It acts well in every scenario.”
2) my scooter is working great. I’ve taken on a couple extended trip days. It holds up fine.
3) I had an MRI today. That checks off the second last major non-invasive diagnostic imaging test. I just need a mammogram now. And MRIs are fun. I accidentally launched two coins into the machine.
I wonder if I’m starting to take the weekend for granted. This was our 9th annual retreat weekend.
People recognize us during the trek. The waitress at Humptys for the morning breakfast noticed we were at the wrong table. Later when Dan’s voice provided a stronger lead for the church choir, the priest just nodded his approval. (We are like a 10 person men’s choir as we attend the Sunday service. Although we weren’t the strongest voices this year.)
Our odd drinks, which were occasions themselves, when introduced are par for the course now. Grog, hot buttered rum, homemade cider and beergaritas all made their traditional appearances.
There were games. There was fellowship. All so cool, but no longer astoundingly so.
This year had no crisis. Not that those are good, but they are memorable.
What did distinguish the weekend?
The weather will be remembered as the worst to date. A couple time we were driven inside as much by the cold as the rain. Half of us, including me, didn’t have appropriate clothes. We were wrapped in borrowed coats and comforters. At onepoint the storm, rain, wind, cold and lightning, was severe enough to knock the power off in the cabin.
The food was exceptional. Philly Cheese Steaks and smoked ribs were the two signature dishes. Troy borrowed a portable smoker and pulled it all the way from Calgary. Based on the compliments it seemed worth the effort. The cheese steaks were also delicious – there was variety and care in their assembly.
Some stalwarts couldn’t make it this year and were missed. But Bunkhouse Buck came out. It was great to see what we took as standard – the location, the cabin, the drinks – through fresh eyes.
My favorite gaming moment involved Buck and Pauly. Buck was the sheriff in a game of Bang! A pair of outlaws had been eliminated leaving two deputy’s, one outlaw and the renegade. The hidden location of the final roles was obvious to everyone but Buck. He laid out his reasoning and said he’d shoot Pauly. Pauly through up his hands exclaiming, “I don’t want to say too much, but you’ve got it exactly wrong!” Pauly was one of the deputies.
Rather than hauling me in and out of chairs all weekend, the guys started to just haul me around IN a chair. That was great for me. My ribs are only slightly bruised from lifting. Hopefully it was a bit easier for them too.
Pauly won Buttercup for general excellence as much as anything. There was no event such as the one which inspired its eponymous naming. There was a grand struggle for the humility bear. But it finally found residence with Troy.
We had the opportunity to play two large games – Mage Knight and war of the Rings, but neither finished. Even with enough time we peter out before finishing. Dave had it rough in our game of WotR. He had the less engaging side and the Shadow strategy removed most interesting options. He was quite bored and frustrated by the time we called the game – though others weren’t far behind. Sigh. We just aren’t the group who once played Civ until dawn anymore.
My newest game, Legends of Andor ,was a good hit. We ended up playing that 5 times. Good fun there.
There was a movie. Collectively we now all know far more about the portable toilet industry in Australia then we did before. It was an odd, quirky film. But I think everyone liked it.
Finally we made additional investment in early morning drinks. There was the usual bailey’s for coffee plus a sweet breakfast beer. Some people found themselves done their 5th drink of the day before lunch.
I think those are my highlights. Whether I’m taking the general awesomeness for granted or not, I’m already anticipating next year.
Even when that is all that happens here.
I have nothing to say about last week. There was good and annoying in equal proportions.
Thanks for all the food. The food was good.
And Newsroom started. Newsroom was good.
Thinking of those in poor health.
Stay gold, Ponyboy.
The 2013 Eisner awards for comics came out over the weekend at the San Diego Comic Con. I’ve copied most of the press release below from the Eisner site.
I wasn’t actually impressed with 2012 as a year in comics. 2013 has been move exciting for me. The Marvel Now! launch and a ton of cool indie stuff are really ticking. 2012 was more about the DC new 52.
That being said the Eisner winners are still all awesome books. Even in lacklustre years there are items that stand out.
I’ve bolded the stuff I own or have read and highlighted the stuff that I think is awesome.
Will Eisner Comic Industry Award Winners 2013
The winners of the 2013 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards were announced at a gala ceremony held during Comic-Con International: San Diego, at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront, on Friday, July 19.
Best Short Story: “Moon 1969: The True Story of the 1969 Moon Launch,” by Michael Kupperman, in Tales Designed to Thrizzle #8 (Fantagraphics)
Best Single Issue (or One-Shot): The Mire, by Becky Cloonan (self-published)
Best Continuing Series: Saga, by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples (Image)
Best New Series: Saga, by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples (Image)
Best Publication for Early Readers (up to age 7): Babymouse for President, by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm (Random House)
Best Publication for Kids (ages 8–12): Adventure Time, by Ryan North, Shelli Paroline, and Braden Lamb (kaboom!)
Best Publication for Teens (ages 13–17): A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’Engle, adapted by Hope Larson (FSG)
Best Humor Publication: Darth Vader and Son, by Jeffrey Brown (Chronicle)
Best Digital Comic: Bandette, by Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover (Monkeybrain) Best Anthology: Dark Horse Presents, edited by Mike Richardson (Dark Horse)
Best Reality-Based Work (tie): Annie Sullivan and the Trials of Helen Keller, by Joseph Lambert (Center for Cartoon Studies/Disney Hyperion); The Carter Family: Don’t Forget This Song, by Frank M. Young and David Lasky (Abrams ComicArts)
Best Graphic Album—New: Building Stories, by Chris Ware (Pantheon)
Best Adaptation from Another Medium: Richard Stark’s Parker: The Score, adapted by Darwyn Cooke (IDW)
Best Graphic Album—Reprint: King City, by Brandon Graham (TokyoPop/Image)
Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips: Pogo, vol. 2: Bona Fide Balderdash, by Walt Kelly, edited by Carolyn Kelly and Kim Thompson (Fantagraphics)
Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books: David Mazzucchelli’s Daredevil Born Again: Artist’s Edition, edited by Scott Dunbier (IDW
Best U.S. Edition of International Material: Blacksad: Silent Hell, by Juan Diaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido (Dark Horse)
Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia: Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys, by Naoki Urasawa (VIZ Media)
Best Writer: Brian K. Vaughan, Saga (Image)
Best Writer/Artist: Chris Ware, Building Stories (Pantheon)
Best Penciler/Inker (tie): David Aja, Hawkeye (Marvel), Chris Samnee, Daredevil (Marvel); Rocketeer: Cargo of Doom (IDW)
Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art): Juanjo Guarnido, Blacksad (Dark Horse)
Best Cover Artist: David Aja, Hawkeye (Marvel)
Best Coloring: Dave Stewart, Batwoman (DC); Fatale (Image); BPRD, Conan the Barbarian, Hellboy in Hell, Lobster Johnson, The Massive (Dark Horse)
Best Lettering: Chris Ware, Building Stories (Pantheon)
Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism: The Comics Reporter, edited by Tom Spurgeon, http://www.comicsreporter.com
Best Comics-Related Book: Marvel Comics: The Untold Story, by Sean Howe (HarperCollins)
Best Educational/Academic Work: Lynda Barry: Girlhood Through the Looking Glass, by Susan E. Kirtley (University Press of Mississippi)
Best Publication Design: Building Stories, designed by Chris Ware (Pantheon) Hall of Fame: Lee Falk, Al Jaffee, Mort Meskin, Trina Robbins, Spain Rodriguez, Joe Sinnott
Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award: Russel Roehling
Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award: Chris Sparks and Team Cul deSac
Bill Finger Excellence in Comic Book Writing Award: Steve Gerber, Don Rosa
Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award: Challengers Comics + Conversation, Chicago, IL
– See more at: http://www.comic-con.org/awards/eisners-current-info#sthash.rFLLYifj.dpuf
This is one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen. It isn’t ‘so bad it’s funny’. This is made by creators who accomplished exactly what they wanted on the screen. The question is why?
Nicholas Winding Refn (director) and Ryan Gosling (actor) combined for one of my favourite movies of 2011, Drive. It was a bleak look at crime distinguished by the silence of the star, interesting style (colour and music) and shocking, sudden violence.
Only God Forgives is the distillation of bleakness, crime, style (colours and music), silence and violence by the same team. That makes it sound like the perfect movie for fans of Drive, but Only God Forgives discarded such elements as plot, character and suspense.
It might be a good piece of art, but it has no value as a piece of entertainment.
It has a couple of excellent trailers. They contain 60% of the dialog in the movie and 70% of the plot. You’ll get the bleakness, crime, style. It hints at the silence and violence. Watch those and then skip the movie.
My apologies to my brother. I made him watch it. But he is to blame for finding the trailer for me to begin with.
Hey look. It is my first post since last Monday.
Nuts. I guess the spree from my vacation didn’t translate into more posts last week.
In my defence, I had a kidney stone. Still do I think, but there has been no pain since Wednesday.
In other words I ordered the new wheelchair last Wednesday. Thursday I applied for funding. That is all in motion now.
In this space here I should be ranting about how awesome Pacific Rim was. But I haven’t seen it yet. But my scooter made it through last week with no problems. No problems, but not one extra hectometre that wasn’t needed. I’m coaxing it.
Played a new board game on Friday, Legends of Andor. It was a lot of fun. LoA is a fantasy cooperative game. We won the introductory scenario and lost the next one. Plus Tim brought ginger beer. I only inhaled one snoot full. That stuff is deadly!
Shout out to Mom for helping out with some house sitting. How do people get by without Mom’s nearby?
Happy birthday to the birthday on the 14th – which I missed! After advance planning not to! And happy birthday to the one tomorrow. At least I finally figured out when they were. I suck. See. I make it about me. It isn’t about me. Happy birthday! Many happy returns of the day.
I’ve started to say that now – many happy returns of the day. If it is good enough for the denizens of the 100 acre wood then it is good enough for me. (That is Milne’s denizens. Not Disney’s.)
Welcome to the new week. Stay good.
Well. Last week was vacation. It was good and bad’ish.
On the good column, I am well rested. I watched movies and tv that were good. I read good comics. Played a good game on Friday. Really it was a lot like a normal week, but with less work and more just hanging out.
In the bad column, I accomplished almost nothing I intended. Namely there are five sizeable chores I’ve been postponing until I had time on vacation. Three were items outside the home. My issues with my scooter made those impossible. But three were in the home. I have no good excuse for not accomplishing those.
Even this blog. I committed to 10 entries during the ten days. This is the 7th of those planned ten. I fell apart during the heat wave and never caught up. I think that I did write some interesting stuff though. At least it wasn’t just more complaints about my scooter for a whole week.
The one thing I did accomplish is looking into a scooter replacement. I test drove a wheelchair. It is exactly what I need. However getting me a permanent one will prove to be a bit of a process. I must apply for funding. Once approved or denied I can order the chair. It looks to be a minimum of two months.
The new chair is nifty. It received lots of interest and feedback from the friends and coworkers who saw it. It is way fancier than anything Dad ever had. I even did a conga line at work – pulling coworkers in office chairs behind me.
Hmm. Not sure there is anything else to report. Any questions?
As usual, be well and take care!
The other day a co-worker said to me, “Todd, we Catholics are all cannibals. We eat the body of Christ at every mass.”
I smiled and humoured him, but didn’t make any correction. I knew he was wrong. But I had two lousy reasons. First, I’m always uncomfortable discussing religion in public. Second, I knew that he was wrong and I kinda knew why, but just barely. I wouldn’t be able to explain it.
Others were listening though and provided an answer. “Don’t worry. It is just a sign of God’s presence. It isn’t really flesh.” That pretty much ended the conversation and everyone went back to work. But, wow, that answer is even more wrong then the original statement.
I really should have sucked it up and at least tried to correct some misconceptions.
Other than guilty what stuck with me was how little Catholics seem to know about their faith. Here is what I thought. The Eucharist is, generally, the first sacrament we introduce children to after Baptism, but it might also be the most complicated. Maybe that portion of education should wait until they are a bit older than 6 or 7. Then perhaps they might carry that into adulthood.
See. I can be just as wrongheaded as anyone. That is also a horrible idea.
But the idea stuck with me. As children introduced to Christianity we focus on God’s love. His love for us, our love for him and expressing that as love for others. But the Eucharist is a deep mystery and trying to comprehend it invokes most of the other deep mysteries of our faith. Hmm. Let’s see. Sacrifice and salvation. The Trinity. Christ’s human and divine nature (I once took an entire university course on this one. Big words like homoousios.). Transubstantiation. And an understanding of the Church.
And these are all mysteries too. At some level they can’t be understood through reason, but rely on comprehension through faith. (They can be better understood through reason than I know though. )
Eh. As I said before though, ultimately that is a bad way of looking at it.
Conveniently the next mass I attended was the feast of Corpus Christi. An entire service focused on a deepening of our faith in the body and blood of Jesus. As Father started his sermon he told a story about the early days of the church. A Roman Emperor had heard that early Christians were eating the flesh and blood of their god at their ceremonies. An early writer (St. Justin) provided a response.
“Great timing,” I thought.
But the answer was more about the entire ceremony of the mass than what actually happens during Communion. So I had to go and do my own research.
Let’s quickly try and have me resolve the errors I’ve outlined above and get out of here before I cause too much damage.
What is Holy Communion anyway? It is one of the two central parts of Mass. The other is the Liturgy. A lot happens, but through prayer we look to God’s greatest expression of his love for us – the sacrifice of Jesus for our salvation and his resurrection and establishment of a new covenant. At its end we consume the living flesh and blood of Christ and in doing so enter into communion with God. We are not just historians recalling an event or people praying and praising God. In consuming God, we accept him and become part of God. We become part of his body – the Church.
There is more to it than that. But that is a start. Hopefully it doesn’t contain too many inadvertent heresies.
Why is it wrong to withhold it from children until they can better understand? First it is a mistake to assume that children can’t develop complex understandings through either reason or faith due to their age. They are much better equipped for learning than older people are. Secondly, the nature of the sacrament doesn’t depend on our understanding. After all at its heart it is a mystery and can’t be fully understood. Rather through the Eucharist is God working in us. Obviously, that can work at any age. Why deny anyone that gift due to their age?
Why isn’t the bread and wine just symbolic of Christ? This is pretty wonderful. As Catholics we believe that this miracle takes place at every mass. The bread and wine offered by the priest become the body and blood of Christ. Each host contains God in entirety. Body and reason. Soul and spirit. Why? Well, go read my first answer. We can’t accept God into us and become part of him with just a symbol.
Why aren’t we cannibals? Normally we eat dead flesh. Normally not human flesh, but animal when we consume meat. We break that down into its components and it is made into part of us. Communion basically is the opposite of that. We consume the living flesh and blood of God. Not dead flesh. It can’t be broken down since it is God in his entirety – not just a portion. And finally it’s action isn’t that it becomes part of us, but rather that we become part of God.
At least that is what I comprehend today.
Neil Gaiman’s new novel is the Ocean at the End of the Lane. Gaiman’s writes continuously, but his last novel was The Graveyard Book in 2008. Like much of his work, including The Graveyard Book, Ocean invokes a modern fairy tale. There is magic and wonder, but also threat.
At 192 pages, this is a short novel and it reads very quickly. Perhaps that was due to the fact that I just couldn’t put it down.
The story is about a man who begins to remember a strange summer from his childhood. As an adult he has blocked it out, perhaps due to magic and perhaps due to the unpleasant occurrences. As a lonely boy, he befriended by Lettie Hempstock. The events surrounding their meeting complicate that summer and place the boy, his family the world and the Hempstock’s in danger.
Here are things to love about this book:
Gaiman’s easy and engaging fantasy. It is good. So good and so comfortable until he makes it scary and uncomfortable.
The story of a lonely boy. A lot of this feels autobiographical. While obviously a fiction, it feels that elements of the story are drawn from Gaiman’s experience. Maybe they aren’t, but those elements feel true. True and poignant and often sad.
The bits of horror. Sometimes the horror is in the magical threat. But I thought the most effective horror were the grounded bit. Moments of fear and isolation and the scariest bits are when the boy’s family begins to turn on him.
The theme of finding and losing the wonder of youth. It is the opposite of a coming of age story. As an adult the protagonist is still isolated. Surrounded by family, a job, and a life of events, he still has the same trouble connecting and this makes him feel detached. The memories of youth show that parallel. They are scary and he is still lonely and isolated, but he isn’t detached. The fear and wonder and magic connect him to his family, the Hempstock’s and a bigger world. It was something he had as a child and lost as an adult.
Here are things to dislike about the book:
It is too short. There is so much emotion bound in its slim covers. It accomplishes so much. But it still feels like just a wetting of the palette. It leaves you wanting more.
That is a pretty good thing to dislike.
I worry about our justice system. I worry that if we scrapped it and started from scratch that we would create anything as wise. I wonder how it was developed to begin with.
My worries may be unfounded. They are derived from the treatment of justice in the media, news, entertainment and social, rather than how it is actually performed in the courts or perceived in the public sphere.
I wanted to write of three aspects of the system and the pressures I perceive against them.
Presumed Innocence
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms lists two rights that apply. The right to life, liberty and security of person and not to be deprived thereof. And the right to be presumed innocent until presumed innocent until proven guilty according to law. The first drives out the second.
It is an amazing idea that seems so contrary to human nature. To say that we’d prefer to have a guilty person go free than to falsely sanction an innocent one is astounding. We learn this at an early age, but I’m not sure how much it is internalized.
I often see the opposite. As soon as there is the appearance of evidence there is a presumption of guilt. Even in the complete absence of evidence the most likely or the most hated person is at least highly suspect. It seems natural to presume guilt until innocence is proven, but instead we do the opposite.
Isn’t that cool? So cool.
So we look at the first legal right again. We have the cops to protect our rights to life, liberty and the safety of our person. And we have the courts to protect our right not be be deprived thereof. Separate groups with different purposes in order to ensure both halves of the right are given due. I’ve heard it said that we seem to put the cops on trial instead of the accused. Well cool. They really are. Their job was first to protect public safety by getting the alleged offender off the street. Then the court presumes innocence and it must be proven that the cops made the right call.
It is pretty harsh. After all the cops are going to be right most of the time. They aren’t put there pulling random people off the street for crimes. They are highly trained and operating for the benefit of all but the criminal. But we second guess them in a court of law.
I’m repeating myself, but that is an amazing wonder. You can’t help but respect the police more. But we presume innocence.
But it is under attack by media. The news sides with the victim and uses the word alleged as if it were a curse. Entertainment, especially police procedurals, show justice impeded by the courts instead of enforced by them. And social media makes no effort to conceal bias at all in the name of compassion for the victims.
The courts are an island of presumed innocence is a sea of presumed guilt.
This is what makes me concerned. Under that assault does the common person start to see justice among the mob rather than with the court? How do we install the wonder I feel when looking at the system?
Look at the plight of the poor defence attorney. Assumed to be a scumbag protecting the guilty. In police shows the cops assume you are guilty when you ask for a lawyer. In the courts the judge upholds the law, the jury determines the result, the prosecutor presents the case, but the protection of the presumption of innocence rests with the defence attorney.
Cool. And tv aside, I’m asking for a lawyer as soon as I think I need one. Especially if I’m innocent.
Jeepers. This is going long. Let’s hope the next sections are shorter.
Thou shall not kill
We don’t beat criminals either. The Bible had an eye for and eye. The Hammurabi Code called death for death and to strike of the hand that assaulted. (They did have presumption of innocence though. Right. Cool!)
This is a pretty recent development. We imprison, we fine, we force restitution, we call for community service. But even the guilty retain their rights to life and the security of person.
No one gets stoned. To one is buried and left to be eaten by ants.
It calls to question what the point of the justice system is. My opinion is that for most criminal acts you can’t balance the scales. If you stolen from the goods can be returned, but your sense of security can’t. What can be taken from the guilty that is equivalent to that? And the more egregious the crime the more that is true. In the case of murder is your absence from family and community equivalent to the absence of the criminal from theirs? How many will mourn you compared to how many will mourn them? If you were a doctor can we establish a cost for the lives you could have saved. If a mother for the children you could have born?
Section 718 of the Canadian Criminal Code lists the purposes of a sentence. It doesn’t list balancing the scales. If that isn’t the purpose of justice than it is easier to see why killing an offender isn’t a sanction we impose.
I think this is hard. Hard for society and especially hard for victims. I think there is an expectation that justice means achieving a balance. Certainly the common image of blind justice implies that. But if that is unachievable outside of civil cases; unachievable in criminal cases then what is justice?
And media supports that feeling. Especially movies. When someone has been really bad they aren’t handed over to the courts. They receive punishment immediately and viciously. Because a court case doesn’t show the balance an audience desires. The purpose of a movie is to entertain. To satisfy the mob. Not to show justice. But it tells us that is exactly what it is showing.
We need to constantly be reminded that what justice is isn’t feeling. It is right and law and the protection and maintenance thereof. The result is something that might not feel as we expect. It certainly shouldn’t entertain.
Justice isn’t murder. No matter the provocation.
Murder is the worst crime
Ok – high treason is listed as equivalent. Murder carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment with potential for parole after 25 years.
Other crimes are less. We don’t consider them as bad as murder. Kicking a dog is not murder. Scamming an old lady of her life savings is not murder. Even rape, even torture isn’t murder. While these are reprehensible acts and some are heinous crimes we consider them as less than murder.
So they get a lesser sentence. Somewhere is the scale of life to a conditional discharge.
But in all cases I’ve heard it said that such offenders should be killed. And when someone is released on time served when found guilty it offends our sense of justice. The notion that lesser crimes should receive lesser sanctions is obvious and logical, but it is certainly not emotional.
Furthermore intent matters in sentencing. Accidents are considered lesser offences than premeditation. A crime committed because of hate is an aggravating condition. One committed due to stupidity is not.
It seems that as a result whenever we hear of sentences they seem too short to be just. How do we align what seems logical on paper with what we feel when it is applied?
We do not. We go back to basics. We look at protecting our basic rights and freedoms and apply reason. We avoid what we feel. It is hard, but that is justice.
Conclusion
In so many ways our justice system seems at odds with our gut reactions. Presumption of innocence, lack of corporeal punishment removes balance, and sentence restrictions see too lenient.
And media reinforces our gut. It says that justice is injustice.
We have a system that is based on reason. It is based on what we consider our fundamental rights. And when applied it differs from our gut.
I said it before. That is wondrous and amazing. How did we ever overrule our gut to get here?
And my point? Maybe we should marvel at what we have instead of just attacking its faults and perceived faults all the time. Often those perceived faults are actually it’s strengths. Justice isn’t the mob. It isn’t decided by media. It is done in our courts. It is constrained by reason not emotion.
Cool.
Selfish Man's Conscience 2.0 