Considering privacy when there's nothing to hide

I'm looking for your opinions on this ... I think I know how I feel about it, but I'm aware that other people feel differently ... so help me understand here.

I've posted here before about people marking some of my Flickr photos as favorites in a post entitled "Gay guys totally dig me on Flickr." There's a contingent of gentlemen who think my chubby, hairy belly is dead sexy.

When I check recent activity on my Flickr gallery, I regularly find that people have marked some of the photos as favorites. When I click on the person's name to see their favorites, there's usually a theme. When it comes to the context in which I find my pictures, it's usually a collection of overfed and underdressed hirsute dudes.

Me -- I'm not that spooked by it. I find it flattering that people would find me so attractive they want to see my picture more than once. I don't feel threatened by it. My pictures don't portray me in a degrading fashion in any way that would impugn my character or smear my reputation. They're just photos of me that happen to appeal to a certain narrow demographic. I even stuck out my belly in one of the photos on our Cuba trip as a nod to my "fans".

Lately I've spotted a few people favouriting my girlfriend's pictures. And, likewise, there's usually a theme. Usually it's breasts, specifically cleavage, although one guy clearly had a thing for cute girls' armpits.

Now, this is where I acknowledge my opinion may diverge from others.

I'm not threatened by men on the internets looking at our innocent snapshots and finding my girlfriend to be hot. I'm kind of flattered that they think she's as sexy as I do.

Some people find it really really creepy that people would be looking at them like that. I don't think Amanda's comfortable with strangers finding her pictures sexy. I don't think she finds it threatening but she's clearly not into having her armpits fetishized for people who troll the web for shots that accidentally show the body parts they love most.

Now, I'm not taking pictures of my partner in sexy underthings and in suggestive poses to post on the internet to vampiristically solicit the drooling glances of other strangers. Not that that would be entirely unlike me, or some version of me from the past, but that's not appropriate, welcome or ... y'know, it's not a good idea. I get that.

Aren't I scared that these people are stalking me or her? No, I'm not. I don't believe these people are infatuated with anything more than the particular image they're looking at. I'm not afraid that someone out there has spotted my lady's 'pits or decolletage and is crawling the web looking for a way to get to her. I don't feel that kind of fear.

What's going on here is that we're posting perfectly reasonable snapshots that the average person would find innocent and plain. But people are devouring other peoples' photographed life and cherry picking the parts that turn them on, then saving them out to a collection that focuses on their particular predilections.

So what's a person to do? Cave into the peepers and go private with our otherwise unproblematic photos? Consider this: every parent who's posting adorable photos of their kids playing in the backyard pool are also sharing those family memories with oddballs who scour the web for pictures of children playing in backyard pools! Your little boy or girl could end up bookmarked for future insalubrious viewing by a guy whose viewing habits would make you throw up.

Where's it stop? If someone has a thing for women in red shirts, you may find your photos ending up in a collection along with other women in red shirts. Blue-eyed redheads? You're bookmarked! Flat-chested? Ample-bosomed? Somewhere in between or maybe a little heavier on one side than the other? Someone's going to fancy you! Someone's going to fancy you for a part of you you may not be proud of. And even if you're proud of it, are you comfortable with someone other than your honey bunny ogling you at the keyboard?

So, that's what I want you to meditate on and comment about.

How do you handle the knowledge that the material you post innocently to the web is likely being consumed by people who are using it for pervy purposes you hadn't intended?

LAT-VEE-UH! GO TO SLEEP!

The IIHF World Hockey Championship is taking place here in Halifax this week.

In fact, it's happening just outside our windows.

As my old friend C3P0 used to say, "This is madness!"

I'm delights to be living in the heart of a wonderful city, right downtown, in the heart of the action, plugged in to the buzz of the city, connected to the energy and excitement of action and excitement.

BUT THESE GODDAMN LATVIAN HOCKEY FANS ARE LOUD!

I mean, it's almost 11pm and they're outside -- literally right outside our window, even though we're about 80 feet up in the air -- banging drums and blowing horns in a rhythmic and joyous fashion.

Now I know what it felt like to be living on Carlton Street in Toronto when the Leafs won the playoffs. Okay, that's a bit of a lie. Because, as far as I'm aware, the Leafs never won the playoffs.

I just walked down the hall to throw the trash down the chute, and even in the middle of the hallway, in the middle of the building, the drumming, horn-blowing, and endless "Ole, ole ole ole" chants were melting my brain. The noise comes in through the windows ... up through the trash chute ... in through the bathroom vents ... up through the toilet pipes, too, I think.

This morning, radio station Q104 set up shop on the corner to run a contest and give away tickets. Brilliant! But at 7am, I'm trying to sleep! I was ready to blame it on the hockey fans.

And y'know what? Y'know what? When the IIHF tournament is over, and these wonderful folks from around the world go home after spending their hard-earned money in our glorious city, it'll almost be time for the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo!

What's that mean? Bagpipes! Drums! Drums and bagpipes! And brass bands! Outside our window at 7am! Noise that could wake the dead -- only, surprise, you're still alive!

I love this city. I love culture.

But anyone who knows me knows, I've never been a fan of hockey.

Especially hockey players.

You guys who beat me up in school -- you know who I'm talking about.

Thank goodness I have a box of earplugs. Something tells me that if the walls and windows don't cut the noise -- oh, there they go again with the ... oh, it's the na na hey hey goodbye song with ole ole shouts in Latvian -- the earplugs won't do much.

Oh, Lloyd Robertson ... please take me off to dreamland with the news.

And that's the kind of day it's been on this Tuesday, May 6, 2008. For some of you, the local news is coming up next.

A flame-broiled retraction

Just over a year ago, I levelled a heavy accusation at Burger King.

In a post titled "My Beef With Burger King", I alleged that the flame-broiled Whoppers at the airport outlet were not flame-broiled:

My other beef has to do with how I observed Whoppers being cooked at the Halifax International Airport (now Robert L. Stanfield Halifax International Airport).
Much to my surprise, it appeared staff were *frying* the burgers. Whoppers are supposed to be flame-broiled. Cooked with fire. Special machines. That's the whole BK gimmick -- flame-broiled Whoppers.
So I called Burger King Customer Support to inquire. They promised to call me back after investigation. It's been a month and a half, but no one has returned my call. So, I'm posting the audio of the inquiry. Here's a 3.2 MB MP3: bk-airport.mp3.

Well, we passed through the airport again on our way to Cuba.

I asked the chap behind the counter whether their Whoppers were flame-broiled. That just confused him. One of his coworkers said they go over fire. I took a closer look and, whaddya know, they do have a Whopper flame-broiler back there. Yes, they do. One of those belt-driven dealies that takes the patties on a conveyor from cold to hot and dripping with greasy grill marks. The airport Whoppers appear to be the real deal.

So, apologies to Burger King if I raised an unnecessary stink. You still should've called me back about it. We could've sorted this out a year ago!

Richer than you think? Who'd a thunk?

I had an interesting exchange with one of the contributors over at the Gigababy blog, recently revamped to emphasize its emphasis on targeting speeders, racers, drunk drivers and other purveyors of automotive jackassery.

Metoo wrote a post titled "You're NOT richer than you think!":

Rant time!

And if anyone would like to point out a different view with this type of ad, I'm all ears. So.

O.k. after the millionth time of seeing these stupid ScotiaBank commercials during hockey games, I've blown the gasket. And I can't believe institutions at the level of a national bank can get away with prattling this crap.

They are helping you find ways to stay in debt people!! The "richer than you think" means that they will help you restructure your loans so that you can buy more crap and spend more money. Then you can stay in deeper debt, for a longer time, all with one LOW MONTHLY PAYMENT! That's called wage slavery folks, you gotta keep suckin it up to the man, so that you can pay your dues.

This behaviour by ScotiaBank (and all of them of course, but here it's just egregiously advertised) is no better than those "Credit Card checks" you get in the mail. You know, the ones with the text that says, "Now you have the cash to buy: that surprise vacation, or new widescreen TV, or get that dream boat you've wanted".

It's NOT cash! This is simply the 'high end' of Payday loans. And I find it reprehensible, just different shades of loan sharking.

If you're not rich, then your not rich. Think about it!

---
In a follow-up comment, Metoo wrote:

... isn't it the worst kind of bamboozling? I mean, this sort of thing borders on confidence scams, and I fear that younger generations who will never have known a cash economy will get suckered without mercy. Sub-prime meltdown anyone?

I replied:

I've come to understand that most people really *are* richer than they think.

What gets you rich isn't the money you make ... it's the money you save.

If you can restructure your payments and cut your costs, and most of all, find ways to act your wage and spend less than you make, then save and invest the difference ... well, you can be a lot richer than you probably imagine.

Sure, a bank is going to try to sell you its products to get you there ... Scotiabank mutual funds, Scotiabank consolidation loans, Scotiabank low-interest credit cards or credit lines instead of the cards you may have with other banks ... what else are you going to do? Stuff your cash under a mattress and try to get rich that way? Odds are, you're going to deal with a financial institution at some point if you're serious about laying out your money in any productive way beyond money-in/bills-out.

Scotiabank wants to be the bank to open your eyes to those possibilities, then sell you the investment vehicles. I don't fault them for that.

Metoo:

I couldn't agree more. If one restructures debt to allow for quick paying of 'bad debt' (Credit cards, car loans), and manages 'good debt' (mortgage, and appreciating assets). Then yes, you *could* be richer than you think if you invest the difference.Sadly, I don't think people are as smart as you to proceed this way.

Me:

Well, hearing people complain loudly that they'd get themselves out of debt if only they could learn how to spend less than they make and take care of personal business is about as easy to tolerate as people complaining loudly that they wish they could learn how to spell Connecticut. Bottom line -- if you want to learn how to do it, learn how to do it, then do it ... the resources are right there.

If you're complaining that Scotiabank is playing on stupid people, go right ahead. You'll never go broke underestimating the intelligence of the average person.

If people aren't "as smart" as me to proceed in a way that gets their debt paid off so they can put more of their income -- their 'riches' -- into things that matter and/or work for them ... well, I can't blame the bank for that. The bank is there as a tool.

If people get suckered into buying houses they absolutely cannot afford by banks that use predatory lending practices and exotic financial products that are beyond the comprehension of even an educated buyer -- that's bad. I don't like that.

But if people willingly spend themselves into a big hole by devouring all the credit they can get, then cry foul because they were *given* the credit -- I don't rail at the bank. It's not the bank's job to protect you at every turn from outspending your earning capacity.

Metoo:

... on the topic of 'predatory' banks, suckers, and digging debt holes. I can't disagree with anything you say. "Victimhood" of borrowers is not what I implied by railing against ridiculously transparent bank ads. And I might add that the "richer than you think" ads are not selling your notion of consolidating debt, living within your means, and investing the difference. Watch them. They are flogging granite counter tops and breakfast nooks, a literal quote. (not sure if you get the same ad cycle on CBC during hockey games in NS).

By being "smart" I stand by the fact that indeed, generally people aren't as studied on the topic of finance as you are. In fact, vast swaths of the population are desperately innumerate (which is worse than the literacy problems we see from time to time, but that's another debate). People just don't get numbers. They avoid the math, and are happily sucked dry by organizations that know how to benefit from the math, and legal wording on contracts as well.

Ask 100 people to explain concepts of finance like amortization, compounding, loan payment calculations, leasing calculations, inflation, real rates of return, present values, etc. I bet very few will be versed to any depth sufficient to analyze their own finances competently.

Banks love this of course, so do other businesses (car dealers?!). Combine with relentless mind bending marketing... and wa-la, "you're richer than you think".

Me:

Ah, that's what I get for not watching commercials. Thanks to the home-brew PVR, the only commercials I see are during the 11-midnight news hour. (Or as we call it, the Lloyd Robertson Rehearsal Show.)

It sounds like you'd get a good "rah-rah!" kick out of a movie I saw on the weekend: In Debt We Trust. I wrote about it over at the bas-dot-com.

Granted, a lot of people can't do the fancy math or comprehend annuities and amortization and all that. Hell, I can't even do a convincing job of explaining short-selling to my coworkers.

But if you can't lay out a simple household budget that doesn't put you deeper in the hole each month -- seriously, don't blame the bank. The basic concepts of *spend less than you make* and *save for a rainy day* don't require a special calculator. If the numbers don't add up in your favour, you have two basic choices: spend less or make more. Adjust your lifestyle by sorting out wants from needs (you *need* a place to live, you *want* it to be a nice house) and adjust as necessary.

I can't blame the banks for making people poor any more than I can blame McDonald's for making people fat or "the media" for making people anorexic.

Advertising can be persuasive. Home improvement shows can skew your expectations. Keeping up with the Joneses is also persuasive. Carrying bad habits from your family of origin can lead you astray. Pride can jam up your urge to reach for help. Fear of math can tempt you to ignore reality.

But to flail your arms at the end of the month when you're in overdraft and facing maxed out credit cards and scream "I can't help it! The banks made me do it!" is a lie, an excuse, and a cop-out.

Wow, that's harsh.

Metoo:

Harsh? Truer words were ne'er spoken. And i'm not blaming anybody for making money from the uneducated. It's all within the law of course. But people CAN avoid being suckered.

---

Now, I'm no rich genius. And I may be talking out of my Big Ass with all of this, 'cuz in a few years, homeowners' debt and other life developments may have me screaming for financial mercy. Anything for any readers to add to this, or are we assaulting an expired equine?

Gas prices are up. Suck it up or whine?

I've only driven our car, what, twice? Three times maybe? Gas prices don't make my brain burn.

Gas prices are up. Gas prices here in Nova Scotia are among the highest in the country. The (regulated) price at the corner is $1.321 per litre. People are freaking out. One by one, freaking out. But how much can you freak out, and for how long?

Antishay writes about the whining on her blog:

I had a conversation the other day that went something like this:

Friend: OH MY GOD Gas is now $3.71 a gallon!

Me: Oh?

Friend: THAT'S JUST INSANE. I can't afford that.

Me: I don't really look at gas prices.

Friend: I always go to Arco, they're usually $0.05 less.

Me: I don't know... five cents doesn't really add up. My tank holds about 14 gallons, so that's only a savings of $0.70 per gallon. It just doesn't make much of a difference to me. Granted, when we were in high school it was $1.14 per tank, but the day-to-day savings doesn't give me much to celebrate.

Friend: How can you not care? That's like $4 a month!

*sigh* Let me explain. Even if you're buying 5 tanks of gas every month - whew! - is $5 really going to BREAK YOU? Shut up! It's not a life-altering savings. You would be better off figuring out a way to buy only 3 tanks a month than driving around, hunting for the lowest gas price.

I don't know. I am a person of action. I see something I don't like in my life, I change it. I figure out a way around, through, or over the obstacle. I don't like whining, and so this will be the only rant for a while. I just don't UNDERSTAND why the milk costs or the gas costs are the cause of so much angst lately.

If you do the math, it doesn't matter that much! Go out and make an extra $5 a month and you're covered! $5! Come ON! Offer to walk your friends dog for a week and she'll give you $5 (hopefully more) and you'll have all your gas inflation covered for the month.

As a go-getter, I have trouble watching people complain their lives away without doing anything creative to stop the stress at the root.

Nice thoughts. Fixing stuff isn't easy, but whining doesn't usually fix anything.

The Blue Man Fraud -- blame the media?

Have you seen this guy on the news? He's not the aging founder of the whack-cool-instruments-with-sticks-while-painted art troupe the Blue Man Group. His name is Paul Karason, and supposedly he's been in the news because he took a dietary supplement and turned blue.

Okay, I've heard of eating too many carrots and turning orange -- but what on earth could make you turn blue? I mean, I like the Smurfs as much as the next guy, but this is extreme.

Well, it turns out some people take a silver supplement for their health. I don't mean silver as some kind of ranking, like gold-silver-bronze, or silver as in it's a shiny pill. No, they take actual silver, dissolved, tiny tiny tiny particles. Before the late 1930s, "Colloidal Silver" -- that is, a preparation in which the particles are actually suspended in the fluid, not dissolved ionically -- was used as a mainstream antibiotic. Sulfa and penicillin squeezed it out of the market. The US EPA says it's okay to use silver as a hospital disinfectant.

But drinking the stuff? Yes, people do it. And the man in the picture supposedly changed colour from it.

Now, there may be more to the story. A company that sells colloidal silver would be devastated if people believed taking the stuff would turn you into a Smurf or a drum-banging hippie, yes? That's the problem facing PurestColloids.com. They've set up a web page to debunk what they call the "Blue Man Fraud." According to the site, it's partly his fault for cooking up a home-brew silver drink that's totally NOT like the stuff they sell ... and then going suntanning, which fixed the blueness in his skin much like a silver-particle photographic plate would if you exposed it to light. They say the Blue Man was not consuming the kind of Colloidal Silver they sell.

But they go a step further and blame the media. Uh-oh! I don't much care for that! The company outright says that the mass media cannot be trusted to report anything that even resembles a truthful story.

Now, now. As part of the evil mass media myself, I know that end-of-the-line fact-checking is often lacking. If it comes down the wire, we assume that the people uplines have the story straight, and that it's fair game for reading. I'm smart and cynical enough to research further if the story seems weird enough to be questionable, or is on a subject I feel terribly under-informed about.

And, in the case of silver turning people blue, I might have turned to Wikipedia, for example, to see if silver actually turns people blue. What's it say? "Long-term intake of silver products may result in a condition known as argyria, one symptom of which is a blue or gray discoloration of the skin .... Many scientific articles report cases of argyria after ingestion of colloidal silver.[13][14][15][16][17][18]."

Okay, fair enough. It can happen. PureColloids.com is welcome to try to tell the public that its particular formulation will absotively posolutely NOT turn customers blue. Counter information with information, but please don't smear the media.

As always, I encourage you to read both sides, sort through hyperbole, and err on the side of common sense. Check out the pros and cons (the companies tell you some pros at http://www.purestcolloids.com/blue-man.php, Wikipedia will point you to what the FDA and others suggest about cons) before taking any supplement.

Except bacon. Bacon's a good supplement for anything.

Random whatsits of recent weeks

Some notes on stuff that's been doin':

Amanda and I went Thursday to check out the dream homes being given away in the QE2 Lifestyles Lottery. The bigger of the two is ginormously huge. Like, huge huge. Almost-too-big huge. It has room in the basement for further living-space expansion. Either that or you should shoot some epic films down there. And that actually sounds like a good plan. The second home is smaller, but still kinda nice. The consensus seems to be that we'd keep the first one and live in it for a year upon winning, then perhaps sell it. The second one, though, would be a re-sell in order to buy something obnoxiously fantastic in the south end of peninsular Halifax, then renovate the heck out of it and buy me a little car.

I checked out the Music Nova Scotia open mic at The Seahorse last week. It's hosted by my friend and former coworker Laura Simpson (no relation, though her husband's name is Scott Simpson). Laura had been recommending I come check the place out, and seriously consider playing a few songs. Problem for me is that they don't want people playing covers. That's about all I do. So I'll have to get writing some original songs.

While there, I ran into the proprietors of onlinemusicnetwork.ca. I asked how it's even possible that my cover of Cub's "Ticket To Spain" is #3 on their all-time top 100 chart. Google their web site and find out.

I'm working on a heavy-rocking cover of Mika's "Big Girl". His original appeared here earlier via YouTube.

We've been barbequeing again off and on. I love steak. You can't hear how much I love steak through this medium, so ... y'know, think of a food you love that you make crazy noises about, and that's how I feel about steak.

More to come later, I expect! Be well, be happy, be healthy, and be in touch!

Kudos to Philips on the Bodygroom

My much-blogged-about Philips Bodygroom broke.

The on/off button became permanently indented and wouldn't turn on/off. Bah!

A quick internet search told me that I wasn't the only one with this problem. I called Philips and found that my unit (the Bodygroom) was still under the two-year warranty. They emailed me a UPS shipping slip and I had it out in the courier within a day or so.

I don't know how long it took, 'cuz UPS dropped it off at the rental office downstairs and nobody ever called, but they sent me back a brand new one. Yup, a brand new retail boxed Bodygroom. And it could be my imagination, but this one seems even sharper than the last one.

I have not noticed any change to the button mechanism, so there's a chance this one could fail like the last one ... and I don't know if this machine earns me a fresh two-year warranty ... but I think it's great that they'd take care of me like this.

This is probably the best warranty-related customer service I can ever remember receiving from any company having to do with anything. Ever.

Thanks, Philips!

Word of the day: obdurate

I like to think I have a great big sesquipedalian verbosiage, but the morning news editor called Ruth outwordifies me on a semifornightical basis.

Today, while discussing her cat's resistance to change in its environment -- ie they moved the scratching post -- she tossed out "obdurate" to describe the cat.

I stopped her in mid-sentence and went searching for what the goddamned hell that means.

From Merriam-Webster:

Main Entry:
ob·du·rate
Function:
adjective
Etymology:
Middle English, from Latin
obduratus, past participle of obdurare to harden, from ob- against + durus hard — more at during
Date:
15th century
1 a: stubbornly persistent in wrongdoing
b: hardened in feelings2: resistant to persuasion or softening influences

Okay, so ... like ... go get at yer smart-talkin'.

Ruth's word-thinking was called into play last week, too. I was reading some cold copy about China's reaction to the U-S-and-A's destruction of its dead spy satellite. I came upon this sentence:

The overseas edition of People's Daily excoriated Washington for opposing a recent Russian-Chinese proposal on demilitarizing space.

Excoriated? Okay, I've seen the word before. I know what it means. I've just never said it out loud. And even if I *had* known how to pronounce it, it really has no business in a radio story. Maybe in a newspaper, where people could re-read it and consider it and say "hey, what a perfectly cromulent word to describe the situation. Kudos to the writer for their indefatigable linguistations." Maybe, but not when people are driving home in rush-hour traffic. I substituted "criticized" I think the listener(s) got the point.

Halifax Scientology Protests

Several years ago, I started voraciously devouring everything I could find about Scientology. I was disturbed and outraged by what I learned, and told everyone I knew about the dark side of Scientology. Most friends thought I was ... well, perhaps misplaced with my interest and perhaps they were a little dubious of the facts I was presenting.

As it turns out, this was one of the few times in my life I've actually been ahead of the curve in regard to something that'd eventually become a "big thing" in society. The other one that comes to mind is computers and video games ... I was heavy into that stuff way before it became socially okay or even cool to do so. Then, when it was cool, I wasn't so interested, and now I'm a zero-skills gamer and I don't know how to use Excel or Word.

Now, in the case of Scientology, a loosely-gathered group calling itself "Anonymous" has targeted the Church of Scientology after the recent kerfuffle over the Tom Cruise IAS Freedom Medal of Valor video being leaked to the net.

Anonymous organized protests around the world last Sunday. An estimated 150-200 anons demonstrated outside the Toronto org. And about ten showed up for a "raid" (their word) at the Halifax Scientology franchise on Dutch Village Road.

I've seen videos on YouTube of the Halifax Scientology raid, and, frankly, I think they're missing the point.

IMHO, the anons need to decide whether they're targeting the general public, or attempting to reach the people inside the church to awaken them to reality and help get them out. As I understand it -- and let me be clear, I'm not part of Anonymous or any other group -- Anonymous' goal is to destroy the "church" from within by informing its members of the top-down abuses so they can carry out their own uprising.

In the Halifax case, the protestors danced and pranced and generally seemed like they were in it for laughs. The local Scientologist(s) videotaped them from the front steps of the franchise. I doubt that anything the anons did would've done more than convince the locals that they were more than a goofy hate group.

With that in mind, I have some suggestions for signs the Anons could bring to the next protest, tentatively scheduled for mid-March. They may seem cryptic to uninformed readers and even some of the lulz-happy protestors, but I think they'd be closer to the mark for awakening the ire of the CoS members:

• COB is the real SP
• RTC is squirrelling the tech
• Where's Heber?
• Where's Mike Rinder?
• The OT Levels are Free Online!
• Do the Doubt Formula!
• RTC is Pulling It In
• "The work was free. Keep it so." - LRH 1957
• We Know the Clear Cognition
• Don't Ignore The Outpoints
• Miscavige is PTS to the Church
• Where are all the auditors?

In some cases, I'm proud of how much the members of Anonymous have learned in a short time. But there's more to this effort than getting together, putting on a mask, and taunting the beast.

What are you trying to achieve? If you want to help people break free, they need to reach a tipping point with their cognitive dissonance, and they need a safe place to land. If you show up and appear zany and aggressive, the CoS members will just see you as evil SPs, probably paid by the psychs, and they'll be more sure that they're right.

If you can pick at the parts of the Church the average member honestly suspects are corrupt and evil, and give them permission to think about them and cultivate that doubt, perhaps they'll start to wake up. And if they see the protestors as people concerned with their well-being instead of mocking them, they'll feel safer crossing back over to reality.

That said, the Xenu story is funny and ridiculous. But it's not a tool for rescuing cult members.

I believe that the Anonymous strategy has a chance of making a real difference. One key reason has to do with how Scientology's policies relate to handling criticism and protests. Policy dictates that investigators find out who's leading the dissent, and dig up dirt and crimes on those people. If there is no dirt, make some up. Commence a "noisy investigation." Harrass, intimate, sue, lie, and destroy until the critics are "shuddered into silence." That works pretty well when there's an organized group with a leader.

But with Anonymous, there's no leader. There's no boss. There's no one to ID and investigate. So, for now, Scientology is stumped as to how to handle the protests. There's nothing on the books to deal with it, and if Hubbard didn't write it, they don't know what to do.

Don't waste this opportunity. Stay peaceful. Stay smart. Stay focused. Don't be clowns. Don't be fools. Don't get in trouble. Don't attack the wrong targets. Don't alienate the public. Don't do it just for the laughs. Have fun, sure, but don't jump on the bandwagon just because it looks like a hoot to wear a mask and yell at people who believe that they're infested with space cooties. That won't do anyone any good.

Inform yourself. Inform your friends. Be responsible. Be respectful. And stay Anonymous if you have to.

For more on the Anonymous protests against Scientology, and how you can get involved, visit http://www.enturbulation.org/.

Rush: Subdivisions: Mark Dailey: The Truth

More than ten years ago, I posted an item at cygnals.com correcting a "fact" in the Rush Frequently Asked Questions list:

- Neil says "Subdivisions" in the song of the same name, even though Alex is shown saying it in the video and does it live.
That's wrong. I've found who really says it.
If you live near Toronto, you know who he is. He's Mark Dailey, evening newscaster and "The Voice" of Toronto television station City-TV and also MuchMusic.

I'm thrilled to have first brought this fact to the Internet so many years ago ... and credit and thanks to Mike Wilner for the tip that sent me off on the research mission in the first place.

I spoke briefly with Mark about it back then, and posted a clip of him saying "Subdivisions". He confirmed it outright. Some still didn't accept it as fact. The story has sat idle, and the RealAudio sound is old and scratchy by modern standards. Besides, who likes using RealPlayer these days?
Here's subdivisions-dailey-1997-whole-from-ra.mp3 -- an MP3 version of the first RA file, which was mono, 11khz. I don't know if I still have the original master of the cassette source.

Well, I was going through my old Minidiscs recently and happened upon a follow-up chat I had with Mark Dailey in late 2002. It's provided me with a good opportunity to update the story and post some new audio -- this time in MP3, which wasn't the standard in 1997 that it is today.

Here's subdivisions-dailey-2002-whole.mp3 -- the new audio of Mark from 2002. Okay, strangely enough, he's completely changed his story. Now he's suggesting it's former Buffalo newscaster Nolan Johannes, who moved to a station in Pennsylvania in 1982. Is he trying to swerve us to preserve a sense of mystery? I think he's just joking with me. All signs point to Dailey as The Voice. I'm in the process of contacting Nolan Johannes to get his take.

Here's subdivisions-dailey-comparison-2007.mp3 -- a compilation clip with the following:

• a clip from the first instance of "Subdivisions" in the original song


• the centre channel isolated from that clip, to highlight "Subdivisions


• Dailey from 1997 saying the word, with effects, then without


• Dailey from 2002 saying the word, without effects, then with


• the original song clip again


• a centre-channel-extracted clip mixed with the 1997-with-effects clip for illustration

People have tried to edit the correction into the Wikipedia article about the song, but other editors have repeatedly nixed the change, even though the Mark Dailey article says exactly this.

I don't suggest using a "fact" on one Wiki page to corroborate a fact on another -- that's useless, circular logic -- but you're welcome to cite me, for heaven's sake. If I'm credible enough deliver the news every night, I'm certainly credible enough to quote on Wikipedia. Heck, my stuff has been used to support articles about Sam The Record Man, TTC's Lower Bay subway station, TTC's Lower Queen Station, and an article about Russell Oliver that has since been deleted.

I should also point out that some authors have accepted this reality. The book Rush Tribute: Mereley (sic) Players by Robert Telleria (Quarry Press, 2002)doesn't cite my web site by name, but says:

Contrary to popular belief, Neil does not sing the part "Subdivisions" (nor does Alex who filled in for concerts and in the video promo). It was actually Toronto newsman Mark Dailey's voice. (p. 181)

So ... can we settle this already? Mark Dailey says "Subdivisions" in "Subdivisions".

---

Reference files:
subdivisions-dailey-1997-whole-from-ra.mp3
subdivisions-dailey-2002-whole.mp3
subdivisions-dailey-comparison-2007.mp3

Sorry, bud, wrong Scott Simpson -- part 3

Looks like my Audi A4 has been serviced.

Of course, as documented here recently, I don't have an Audi A4.

Yet, I got another email today from New Country Audi thanking me for having my car serviced, and inviting me to fill out a customer satisfaction survey.

They didn't acknowledge the last email I sent alerting them to the fact that they're emailing the wrong Scott Simpson about the car.

Perhaps there's a field in the customer satisfaction survey about that.

I'll be sending them another email about this today.

---
Follow-up:

The reply to my inquiry was: "I apologize, all you have to do is unsubscribe on the email" (sic)

So, I asked, "Any explanation of why I’d be getting email intended for one of your customers?"

The answer: "To be honest with you, I have no idea, its a third party that does the email address collection, for some reason your email address is attached to scott B simpson. Again, I apologize for this inconvenience"

Someone must make this: Donair Salad

Jason was heading off to Burger King to get a salad today.

Why? Because he had a coupon.

Still, a salad? At Burger King? Home of the Whopper? (See My Beef with Burger King article.)

It suddenly dawned on me ...

Someone in this town needs to introduce a DONAIR SALAD.

DONAIR SALAD, yo!

Can't you just see it? Or smell it with your mind's nose?

A salad ... a salad with, y'know, lettuce ... but with the usual donair toppings of onions and tomatoes ...

... topped with donair meat ...

... dressed with ... I dunno ... DONAIR SAUCE?

It seems obvious! We have donair subs, donair burgers, donair pizza, perhaps even donair fries. But a google search only turns up a couple of instances of Donair Salad, and I don't think they're even in the Donair Capital, Halifax.

Someone. Please. Make. Me. A. Donair. Salad.

Low in carbs. Crunchy. Meaty.

Add it to your menu, and I'll write you up a recommendation here at www.bigasssuperstar.com. And it'll be an especially good recommendation if you give it to me free.

Sorry, bud, wrong Scott Simpson -- the sequel!

Last June, I wrote here about an email I received from a US car dealership about my new Lexus:

Ray Catena Lexus in Larchmont, New York wrote to welcome me to the eVIP program for service on my Lexus Rx350. They even had the VIN# for my Lexus.
Problem is ... I don't have a Lexus.

Today, another email from another dealership addressed to me ... well, to Scott "B" Simpson:

Welcome to the New Country Audi OnStation Program! We are pleased to offer you complimentary membership to our online email program designed to help you maintain and extend the life of your vehicle.

I've sent a reply to New Country Audi, 181 West Putnam Avenue, Greenwich, CT, asking how this could happen. Haven't heard back yet.

Everyone knows you're supposed to drink eight glasses of water a day

Well, phooey on you for believing one of the great medical myths.

BMJ (formerly The British Medical Journal) has issued its list of Seven Great Medical Myths. Among them: the idea that you need eight glasses of water a day.

This notion was assailed in a BAS post from September 2006:

Now, some people go overboard with the water. You've certainly heard the "rule" that you need to drink 8-10 glasses of water a day in order to maintain good health. Well, baloney. Snopes.com, the Urban Legends Reference Pages, debunks that myth. Furthermore, a Dartmouth Medical School study published in the American Journal of Physiology gives medical debunking to the "8x8" dogma -- eight glasses of water at eight ounces each.

As reported this week on WebMD:

1. Medical Myth: Drink at least eight glasses of water per day.
Reality: There's no evidence that you have to drink that much water to assure adequate fluid intake -- and drinking too much water can be unhealthy.
2. Medical Myth: We use only 10% of our brains.
Reality: Most of the brain isn't loafing.
Detailed brain studies haven't found the "non-functioning" 90% of the brain.
3. Medical Myth: Hair and fingernails continue to grow after death.
Reality: Hair and fingernails don't keep growing after death. But it may seem that way because dehydration can make the skin shrink back from hair and nails, making them look longer.
4. Medical Myth: Reading in dim light ruins your eyesight.
Reality: Dim light isn't great for focusing, but it's "unlikely to cause a permanent change in the function or structure of the eyes," Vreeman's team writes.
5. Medical Myth: Shaving causes hair to grow back faster or coarser.
Reality: "Shaving does not affect the thickness or rate of hair regrowth," write Vreeman and colleagues. But shaved hair doesn't have the fine taper of unshaved hair, making it seem coarser.
6. Medical Myth: Mobile phones are dangerous in hospitals.
Reality: "Rigorous testing in Europe found minimal interference and only at distances of less than one meter [about 3.28 feet]," write the researchers. But that may be a point of controversy. In September, Dutch doctors reported that cell phones may interfere with critical care equipment and shouldn't be used within a meter of medical equipment or hospital beds.
7. Medical Myth: Eating turkey makes people especially drowsy.
Reality: Turkey isn't all that rich in tryptophan, the chemical linked to sleepiness after eating turkey. But eating a big, decadent meal can cause sleepiness, even if turkey isn't on the menu.

Here's to a 2008 full of informed information and factual facts.

Now, time for bed. The turkey is making me sleepy.

Bruce The Moose mall display: Part One

Another story I've been meaning to bring up for some time ... but it's timely now.

What ever happened to Bruce The Moose?

You probably don't know Bruce The Moose. In fact, the only reference I can find to Bruce the Moose on the whole bloody internet is on this message-board posting by 'NorthernGrl':

When I was a child, Upper Canada Mall in Newmarket, Ontario had "Bruce the Moose" He was this huge moose that played a giant piano and sang Christmas carols as you waited to see Santa. Then, in my teens, after the mall had huge renovations, Bruce was just gone.I was really upset, and still wonder where he went. I hope he was refurbished and sent to another mall, and not just trashed.

I also grew up in Newmarket, and have the same story. Bruce was there on the lower level as part of the sit-on-Santa's-lap setup. Bruce was a giant furry semi-animatronic moose. He had a sidekick -- some kind of squirrel or beaver? And they played and sang along in a clackety-clack mechanical way to a prerecorded soundtrack. Sometimes Bruce malfunctioned and didn't move. Sometimes Bruce moved and there was no music.

Now, I considered ... well ... odds are Upper Canada Mall didn't commission Bruce The Moose from scratch. That'd be a mighty big project. There had to be more Bruces the Mooses. (Meese?)

Then I met Sarah Mann, formerly the morning show producer at the radio station here in Halifax. She grew up in Chatham. A mall there also had a Bruce The Moose. She corroborated my story.

The only hard evidence I have of any of this is a single Polaroid. My sister found Bruce at a mall some years ago when she was in University, well past the Upper Canada years. I don't know where the photo has gone, but if I find it, I will scan it and post it.

So, the call is out to any and all who remember Bruce The Moose from any mall ... or anywhere the moose may have roamed.

Seeking:
- Bruce The Moose coloring books or other handouts
- Any recordings or other renditions of the Bruce The Moose music
- Photographs
- Video
- Background: who made the displays?
- Epilogue: where did the Bruces go after they were done?
- More: anyone work with these beasts and have stories to tell about their maintenance and implementation?

This is only Part One. You can add more in the comments or send me e-mail. As the material comes in, I will re-post and expand, and eventually we'll compile the official Bruce The Moose Christmas Display archive on the Interweb.

Step one: I think I'll go call Upper Canada Mall to see if anyone can give me some background.

Spread the word through Facebook or MSN or whatever you people use. Let's get 'er done. Preserve the memories.

Gay guys totally dig me on Flickr

I've been meaning to write something about this for a while, but I don't really know what to say about it.

The bottom line is ... some gay men enjoy pictures of my gut.

Stop laughing.

The picture on the right has had six people label it a favorite. That, as far as I can tell, makes it the most favorited picture in my Flickr library.

The favoriters (word? is it? probably not) include men named tex - just tex, N!(K -- loveforphotography --, Cute_Boy_Wonder, bobjeffs00, matadormat_net, and, the name that seems to sum it all up, Overfed & Underdressed.

Clicking on any of those names will show you their favorites. (I don't suggest doing it at work.) You'll note that they're mostly pictures of topless, hairy, fat men. I'm in good company.

The picture of me with Randy from the Trailer Park Boys comparing big hairy bellies is also a popular choice among the same crowd. Actually, checking right now, I see it has 8 people counting it as favorite, including beardad4bears.

I suppose I'm flattered. It's nice to be considered a sex object, even if those objectifying me aren't the ones I'd expect to attract.

If I were gay, I suppose I'd be welcomed into the "Bear Community." Wikipedia has an article about this, with the following terminology.

• Admirer - a term that refers to someone who is sexually or romantically attracted to Bears (this term is often used in various communities to describe an outsider who has sexual attraction to people within that community). Also often referred to as a Chaser.
• Admirers/Chasers can be of any weight, hairy or hairless and any age.
• Bear - a man with a stocky or heavyset build. Can be hairy or hairless and can be of any age.
• Cub - a younger (or younger looking) version of a Bear, typically but not always with a smaller frame. The term is sometimes used to imply the passive partner in a relationship. Can be hairy or hairless.
• Daddy bear - is an older guy sometimes looking for a daddy/son relationship with either a younger Bear, Cub, Otter, Wolf or Chaser.
• Goldilocks - A female, often heterosexual, who is often in the company of bears. A bear's fag hag. Also can be referred to as an Ursula.
• Muscle bear - a muscular version of a Bear. A muscle cub is a younger or smaller, yet muscular, version. Can be hairy or hairless and of any age.
• Panda bear - a bear of Asian ethnicity. A panda cub is younger version. Usually hairless.
• Polar bear - a silver- or white-haired Bear.
• Otter - a man who is hairy, but is not large or stocky - typically thinner, or with lean muscle. Slimmer version of a Bear with little pockets of fat like love handles or a tiny gut, but not as lean as a Wolf.
• Woof - A greeting often used when a Bear spots another Bear in public and wants to express physical attraction. He might make a growling noise ("Grrr!") or say "Woof!"
• Bear run - a gathering or circuit party for Bear/Cub types and their Admirers.

Kevin Smith has a nice bit about this whole phenomenon in the second An Evening With... DVD. A gay friend told him that if he were ever to switch teams, he could get a really really hot boyfriend, 'cuz the cute muscly hairless guys really go for the chubby hairy dudes.

So, to all the "chasers" -- uh, thanks. Thanks for diggin' my scene. You can look but don't touch.

PS: I now have a full beard. Oo, I'm such a tease.

Stuff I'm learning from Google Analytics

A few months ago, I signed to set up Google Analytics for bigasssuperstar.com. It uses a little embedded tag in the web pages to keep track of web traffic in more depth than my usual log analysis would show. It's free and pretty cool. But it's teaching me stuff I didn't know about my traffic.

In the past month, for example, Google Analytics tells me:

• I had two visits from Iceland
• 100 from Brazil
• One each from Zambia and Botswana
• 40 from Russia
• 66 from Saudia Arabia ... 40 from Iran ... only two from Syria
• Two from Khazakstan (wa wa wee wa!)
• 4,334 absolute unique visitors. Seriously?
• 18 viewed on their Playstation Portable, 4 on the PS3, 3 on the wii
• 79% of visitors use Internet Explorer, 16% use Firefox, with Safari, Opera and PSP following
• 86% arrive from search engines, mostly Google. 7.5% come directly. 6.77% show up through referring sites.
• Most popular search key words are "big ass" (67%), "bigass", "ass big" and "big ass adventures"
• Only 4% of visitors indicate they still use dial-up

Now ... more than four thousand visitors? Granted, most of you are looking for big ass. Big ass videos, big ass adventures, big ass small waist, whatever. I'm clearly getting most of my traffic from folks looking for large behinds. Sure, they find it, but unless they're looking for "hairy big ass" or "sweaty big ass" or "maritime big ass eating pizza and cheeseburgers and sometimes donairs", I'm probably not the big ass they're looking for.

Still -- you big ass hunters -- drop a note, huh? Fine, you speak Greek or Italian or French -- or Estonian, a lot of you. "Suur Eesel üli-täht!" Write some comments. Send an email. Show yourselves, dammit! I feel like people are calling me up night and day and not even saying "oops, wrong number!" before hanging up.

Miscellaneous updates

Alright, in an effort to clear the backlog of stuff-I-ain't-blogged-about lately ... here's a clearinghouse post about things and junk.

My noon-hour news show has been dropped in favour of more talk-show action. They've shrunk the noon newscast to seven action-packed minutes. It's going alright. The big afternoon news wheel now starts at 3pm instead of 3:30. An extra half-hour of reading. Interesting times! Ratings are on. Let's hope for big numbers.

I think the station is really taking hold. I can tell because of the influx of crackpot callers. We've had recent contact from conspiracy theorists convinced of the reality of chemtrails, lizard people, cattle mutilation and, of course, the 9/11 doubters.

I earned my Yellow Belt at taekwondo just before the summer vacation. The test was a little nerve-wracking, with lots of new Korean terminology to remember. I'm still not smooth and graceful and balanced and powerful, but I'm getting a helluva workout and learning new kicks and punches and strikes and painful holds.

Britney Spears did not look fat on the VMAs. Her dance routine was weak, but she looked just fine, thankyouverymuch.

All these earthquakes lately! How long 'til the big one?

The Belgians want to prosecute the Church of Scientology for fraud and extortion, alleging unlawful practices in medicine, violating privacy laws and using illegal business contracts. Go for it!

I've been back in the studio recording more music. It's fun. Latest recording has been a bit of a departure from past rocking efforts -- taking on Buenas Tardes Amigo by Ween.

Biking to work is fun. Halifax is full of hills, so it's a challenge. I get to work sweaty, but I get home a lot faster.

Nova Scotia's Utility and Review Board has turned down an appeal by heritage groups seeking to block the construction of two 27-storey towers in downtown Halifax. I've got no problem with having such a development in the city. After participating in the process to review and/or challenge the construction of the giant Minto Midtown condos at Yonge and Eglinton in Toronto, I learned to separate NIMBYism from the bigger issues. As much as I don't want the Halifax harbour view blocked, I don't have any other real objections to the "Twisted Sisters" development.

I hear my alma mater Ryerson University now has the only academic HDTV studio in North America. Way to go Rye High! Thanks to Matt from RTA 95 who invited me to the Facebook alumni group -- sorry bud, I'm still not on Facebook. Anyone in the group is welcome to post this web address to the wall or whiteboard or whatever thing they have there.

I tried shrimp recently when Amanda bought some at the Superstore and we grilled it up with steak. And we both tried scallops (pronounced "scollops" out here). She liked them both more than I did, but I didn't hate 'em. Good on me for trying new foods.

Overhauling the old http://www.cygnals.com/ web site is on my perpetual "to-do" list, but it never gets "to-done", in part because it's been almost a decade since I've done any real web work. My 1997-vintage skillz don't hold up today. And neither does my software. Last time I redid the site, I was using Microsoft Frontpage. I find out today that Frontpage doesn't exist any more. So, I don't know what to do to remake the site. Idears?

Are you getting enough Vitamin D? CTV News keeps running stories about how taking 1000 IU of Vitamin D every day is supposed to prevent cancer and do other good things for yo' body. So that's what I'm doing now. Can't say it's making me feel any less cancerous, but, y'know, time will tell.

Calvin Klein coolmax underwear is fantastic. Happy birthday to me. Thanks, baby!

A PR person contacted me recently to ask how many visitors I get here at bigasssuperstar.com. I checked Google Analytics and was astonished at how many -- more than four-thousand, it said. That just don't seem right. Anyway, turns out the lady does PR for Philips Canada. Methinks she arrived here because of my earlier campaign to bring the Philips Bodygroom to Canada. In case you missed it -- it's here now. Hairy dudes, get it. Partners of hairy dudes -- get it for them.

Other web sites to keep you busy 'til I get at this thing again:

http://gigababy.blogspot.com/ - my old friend Cindy writes about celebrities, the news, stress, rage, anger, and motherhood.

http://www.wrestlingobserver.com/wo/ - The Wrestling Observer. Wrestling news without pictures.

http://www.wrestlecrap.com/ - The worst of professional wrestling.

http://www.x-entertainment.com/ - A funny guy who collects stuff in a way that would never be allowed in my home.

http://theswca.com/collectors.html - Don't make fun of my Star Wars collection. Compared to this, I don't HAVE one.

http://members2.boardhost.com/scrapbook/ - Ontario radio people who write on the internet. I'd say more, but they'd probably tear me a new one under assorted pseudonyms.

http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=OnTheAir2005 - Atlantic-Canadian radio people who only write nice things.

http://www.videohelp.com/ - Q&A about video editing, converting, encoding, etc. Geek stuff, for sure.

http://taggedbagged.blogspot.com/ - Look at all the Halifax graffiti. And look at how the "graffiti artists" who call themselves "writers" can't spell, use punctuation, or conduct themselves with any sense of decorum or respect. The blogger has a good heart, though.

http://alley.ethercat.com/door/ - Read what departed Scientologists have to say about their time in the "Church".

http://groups.google.ca/group/alt.religion.scientology/topics - See how spam, crackpots, trolls, intellectuals and wannabes interact around the subject of Scientology.

http://line6.com/ - You play guitar? You want these toys.

and finally ... http://icanhascheezburger.com/ - Funny cats. Lolz. Seriously, I'm laughing all day with this one.

Okay, that's it. I'm done for now. Time to make more news.

Still faceless, but feeling the pressure

I'm still not on Facebook.

But, I'm not sure how long I'll stay that way.

I've received invites from several people in the past week or two -- from a former coworker at a TV station, from a university classmate, and a grade-school/high school classmate.

I know that I've told several people my own reasons for not being on Facebook so far -- but now I'm down to bargaining with myself to see if there's a way to be signed up, yet still hold to my objections.

Today I did a google search on "why I'm not on facebook". I only got seven hits.

Other searches turned up a few results, but not much to solidly reinforce my own opposition.

One argument is that if people want to find me, I'm easily found via Google. You'll land right at bigasssuperstar.com. A poster at penmachine.com offers a similar point of view:

I have this thing about trying to keep my online existence stable, so if you link to something of mine, it will still be around in a few years. If I gave you my email address or ICQ account number in 1996, or my blog URL in 2000, it still works. I don't regularly create and abandon new blogs and podcasts, or delete them and start over. I like to have an archive that persists. Sorry if I'm weird and not cool that way.

Maus Congeniality concurs:

1. I've been on the internet a long time. Any people from my past that I wanted to find again, I already have.2. I'm already on myspace, flickr, friendster, livejournal, blogger, twitter, friendsreunited, ringo, bebo and have had - in my life - at least 5 more 'blogs' in various other places ... No wonder I get so much spam.I really, really don't need to make any more marks on the internet.3. See above: it's really not difficult for curious former schoolmates/workmates to find me online.4. I'm getting a bit old and a bit busy for social networking, although I'm sure it's plenty fun when you've got time on your hands and want to look up names you remember from primary school or whatever.

Another echo from prgirlz.com:

High school was fine. I didn't hate it, I had some good times, I made great friends. In fact, my closest friends are from those years. But I'm in touch with everyone I need to be. If I've lost touch, well, what can I say? I don't miss you! If we weren't friends then, why do we want to pretend to care about each other now, just because of this site? This site IS high school. How many friends do you have? Are people writing on your wall? Are you dating someone? Not married yet? Do you have a good job?

In my case, I've never felt very socially connected, and I never kept in touch with people who I probably could have kept in touch with over the years. That's not to say I have an urge to become close buddies with people I haven't seen or spoken with in 15 or 20 years. But I admit to being curious about how their lives turned out.

My other arguments against joining?

Well, I have a history of computer over-use dating back to the days when computers were things only nerds used. And I was a nerd who used computers, often to excess. I have a "been there, done that" attitude about some of this social-computering stuff. I had my fill of IRC and message boards and mutli-line chat before most people even had an e-mail address. I've summed it up publically as "I don't need one more thing to keep me sitting in front of a computer instead of doing useful, productive things." Kind of like a reformed alcoholic debating whether to check out the new bar that everyone's been buzzing about.

My bargaining-with-myself (or, bullshit justification for doing what I want, depending on your perspective) solution to this would be to use facebook only at home -- not at work, where I've seen it consume much of peoples' daytime hours -- and only for, say, 20 minutes a week. As much as I can find fun stuff addictive, Facebook doesn't sound like so much fun that I'd be addicted. But I'm sure some people said that about crystal meth, so...

I have no intention of becoming the sort of person who lives his or her life through the screen. I don't care to update a Facebook photo gallery with all my latest party pictures -- I have Flickr already. And for the minutae of my life, well, I already have this blog.

I feel secure enough in my self and my grounding in reality that I wouldn't believe I'm more popular or socially worthy because I have x number of "friends" on a web site.

I also have a history of being a little too open about my life. Definitely more so in the 90s than now, but I was shamelessly exhibitionistic about aspects of my personality in a "hey, look at me, aren't I interesting (if a little odd)" kind of way. As I've matured, I've gained more respect for my own privacy. I was afraid that Facebook would expose me more than I'm comfortable with, but I've since been told that the system is flexible enough that I could share just what I want and lock down the rest.

My other big public objection was that I'm not a fad-follower. I tend not to get involved with things just because they're cool. I like to be an early adopter or a way-past-the-fad adopter. It took me a long time to want to get an ipod. I only started blogging when I moved to Halifax. And I still don't have an HDTV (nor do I feel like I need one for another year or two, unless we win the IWK Lottery dream house). Well, if I'm to examine this objection, joining now would put me well outside the early-adopter Facebook crowd. It's even past the "cool" "fad" phase. It's now at a level of ubiquity at which the addicts have already become bored with it. Sounds like a good time for someone like me to get on board.

So, bottom line ... I'm thinkin' about it. I don't think I'd want the pimped-out, full-ass, here's-my-whole-life-in-pixels Facebook experience. Just a "hey, you're looking for me? You found me. Go to my web site" profile, with an opportunity to say to a few folks, "oh, hi. You're now a chemist in Lichtenstein? Very nice. Glad you remember me. Be well."

Stand left, stand right

The Toronto Transit Commission has removed the "Walk Left, Stand Right" signs from its escalators. Apparently, walking on escalators is a no-no, even when they're stopped.

The Globe and Mail reports:

Dexter Collins, the TTC's acting superintendent of elevating devices, said the decals were originally installed years ago at the busiest subway stations, Yonge-Bloor and St. George, where herds of rush-hour passengers change trains, taking escalators from platform to platform. Over the decades, the stickers
migrated to all escalators across the system.

Then some employees of the provincial Technical Standards & Safety Authority, the agency that regulates and inspects escalators, noticed the decals at Islington Station -- near the TSSA's headquarters -- and brought them up in one of their regular meetings with the transit agency.

The TSSA, Mr. Collins said, recommended the signs' removal because they appeared to condone people walking on the escalators.

So, one less thing for people like me to fuss about on the TTC. I guess "Please move to the back / Use rear doors to exit" will be the new pet peeve.

Excellent blog on Halifax graffiti

Regular readers, and those who know me, know of my ongoing frustration with the plague of graffiti tags around Halifax. I've written at least one ranting article about it, and I have a collection of photos of ugly graffiti tags from parts of the city.

Another blogger has gone a few steps further with a blog dedicated to the issue. He's apparently a parent who appreciates some of the artier graffiti murals, but is not pleased with the more blatant vandalism of some of the taggers. On other points, it's harder to gauge his opinion.

He's done a fantastic job of decoding some of the tags, figuring out which taggers are associated with others, and documenting some of the more prolific criminals working the city streets.

His blog is neither an apologetic's manifesto from the inside, nor a derisive condemnation of paint-weilding miscreants. It reads as a rather balanced, curious look at the graffiti situation in HRM, and seems to attract both the pro- and anti-graffiti readers.

You can check out the Tagged and Bagged blog at http://taggedbagged.blogspot.com/, and his matching Flickr page at http://www.flickr.com/photos/47272382@N00/.

My beef with Burger King

Above you will find an advertisement that's been posted in the window of the Burger King restaurant across the street from my office.

Notice anything wrong with it?

No, I don't mean the message behind the ad -- I don't quite understand it, actually.

It's about the grammar. It reads "More flavour less adjectives."

Shouldn't that be "More flavour, Fewer adjectives"? Adjectives can be counted with numbers, so, yes, it should be "fewer". Unless they actually mean les