Random September


It's still September. Marginally. But here it is, just under the wire and not a complete link-o-rama. Still being nice to my shoulder and what do you know, it may actually be working (shhhh! Don't anybody say that out loud, please).

My latest movie from Rogers Video Direct (Canadian version of Netflix) was The Love Trap. Made in 1929, it was the first movie to use sound, but oddly, only for the last 20 min., the rest of it was silent. Charming little movie that I enjoyed thoroughly and it made me realize how much is communicated without words. Sure, for the silent bits, there was a bit more gestures, but really, you got the gist of what was happening through watching body language, facial expressions, etc. It was actually a nice change. Quite restful.

Found this article on somebody's tweet - I click on links, they open in the tab, I don't have time to read for days, so I have no idea who originally tweeted this. It's about the restored painting of a naked dwarf from the mid-16th century. Aside from the rather fascinating history of the painting, it provides a look into what it was like to have one particular kind of disability hundreds of years ago. It made you property, not quite human and if you were lucky, you became the property of someone powerful and then it was your job to amuse them. By e.g., fighting monkeys. While I may bitch about inaccessibility and discrimination, at least no one makes me fight primates. Which is a good thing, because they freak me out. As do clowns and mimes. Bit of an abrupt segue, but I'm feeling highly random.

Found an article in Wednesday's paper about the harassment of children with food allergies. Also a look into another world, one where kids are separated, taunted and threatened because they're different. It reminded me of when I was in elementary school, relentlessly bullied because I was different. It's sad to see that apparently, nothing has changed. And that these kids are facing not just bullying, but actually threats that endanger their lives? Makes you shudder.

Someone raised a crocodile. And then taught it to do tricks. I'm speechless.

Remember Rob Ford? One of the candidates in the race for mayor of Toronto, the guy who has no problem using the R-word in his campaign literature and who's famous - infamous? - for saying things that no one in their right mind would. Unbelievably, he has become the front-runner in the race and if he gets elected, I'm in for four years of high blood pressure. He's running on reducing waste at City Hall, really hitting that "we're overtaxed" button, despite the fact that the part of our taxes that go to the City is in the single digit percent. To prove this statement, does he trot out reports, statistics and the like? Nope. He says "everybody knows there's a lot of waste at City Hall." Right, Rob. Because that's what I want in a Mayor: someone who uses the "everybody knows" argument of stereotypes, not to mention padding his lies to gargantuan proportions. And as further proof of his… erm… I'm not quite sure how to phrase this, but let's call it lack of couth... class? Credibility? in that same article, he also refers to himself in the third person. More than once. Excuse me while I go bang my head against a wall.

And lastly I believe Gaina tweeted this one: F**k It chocolate.  Wonderful.


Comments

AlisonH said…
Re the crocodile: just one tourist spooking that croc, and... My heavens.

My daughter carefully inquired at a restaurant once, got assured that yes, this dish is safe, and then the waiter mocked her afterwards and neener neener no it wasn't.

When she told me that awful experience I exclaimed, My stars, did you call the POLICE?!  (No...) And this was an adult! If there are no consequences when they're kids they grow up into people who could do such a thing.

On a happier note, there was a restaurant where she went to college where the owner actually kept separate dairy/no dairy dishes and not only made things to order for her but taught her how to make them. When we took her there at her graduation, he came out himself to introduce himself and tell us what a fine, fine daughter we had and how much he was going to miss her. 

I will forever be grateful to that good man.
Gaina said…
Thanks for the linkage! I've got some funnies in my blog tonight if you'd like to check them out.

Now, if'll you excuse me I have a monkey's ass to kick.... :-D
Gaina said…
sorry just got to add a 'follow' to this comment thread....how come yours is so complicated and mine's dead simple?
Lucia said…
Having been bullied for most of my school career, I can testify that if it weren't about food allergies it would be about something else. Here in the US, possibly because by and large we're more litigious than Canadians, or anyone else for that matter, the response to one kid's food allergy is often to declare a whole school or at any rate a whole classroom a peanut-free zone. At least in the case of peanuts I just buy soy butter and use that instead. It's harder when someone has an allergy to, say, gluten -- you can't really ban bread -- but I haven't heard anything about anyone's being bullied for it in this country. I'm sure it happens somewhere, though. What really needs to be banned from school is bullying. And that waiter needs to be banned from his place of employment until he learns rule #1 of customer service. (Rule #1: the customer is always right. Rule #2: if the customer is ever wrong, refer to rule #1.)

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