November 25, 2009 Sketch
I haven’t seen sunlight in a week. This seems to happen every year in Hamilton. In late Autumn the sun takes shelter behind a grey curtain of clouds for days on end. The last leaves fall from the trees and I begrudgingly add extra layers under my jacket to insulate my adventures into the dreariness.
Then, suddenly, the cloud cover will part and the sun will emerge, and although it is irredeemably cold, it is reassuring because the change has run it’s course. The sun is shining again and everything is right in the world.
Sometimes it doesn’t happen until the first snow. Those days are brilliant. Glistening white virgin snow covers the streets and the world looks like it has just been born. Winter, at last.
Not yet, though. Some things just can’t be rushed, and the weather is one of them. The sun is still hiding, the temperature is still dropping, the snow has not fallen. Winter is later than usual this year. In the meantime, we are stuck in the fog of limbo.
Your body can be read like the weather if you know what signs to look for. Unlike the seasons, though, the cycle is not predetermined. Some people get stuck in limbo for years at a time before their sun returns. Others, tragically, never do.
It has taken me a long time to learn to read the weather signs of my body. Multiple sports-related injuries has made me more sensitive to nerve pain and muscle soreness. Once I learned how to react (read: exercise), the injured area became an accurate barometer of my health.
The weather may be out of our control, but your health is not. You can learn to read the signs of your body and react accordingly. You may get stuck in the rain a few times before you figure it out, but with a little experimentation you will learn when to bring your umbrella. It’s a learning curve.
Not everyone learns, though. Some people smoke themselves to emphysema. Others eat themselves to obesity. That’s like pissing into the wind.
Once you learn to read the signs, you can work with the weather instead of against it. That piss smell will go away eventually.
Are you stuck in a dreary spell, like the weather here? Perhaps it is best to wait it out. On the other hand, maybe it’s time to rip open the cloud cover and yank the sun back into the sky. It’s up to you.
11/22
On the Anniversary of Kennedy’s Death, Extremism Lives On “A visit to Texas and a lost letter remind one man that the ire aimed at President Obama is something history should have warned us against by now.” (Esquire)
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11/21
Eat Well Guide, a good way to find local sustainable organic food in your area
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11/20
The Rigorous Intuition blog is alive again, faintly.
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November 19, 2009 Culture, Review, Technology
It all starts with the beat of a heart. The entrance corridor pulses red in time. Just like the beginning of a human life.
Body Worlds & The Story of the Heart is located in the Ontario Science Center and features over two hundred specimens. The complex arrangement of the cardiovascular system, especially how the heart connects with other anatomical systems, is revealed with stunning transparency.
Every figure, cross section, and model is poised to give the viewer a three hundred and sixty degree panorama. Sometimes a specific part of the system in question is accented in the display, like the major blood vessels or the nervous system, but the whole body is powered by the beating of the heart.
The full-sized figures are the premier attraction. They are frozen in the poses they are named after. The Ski Jumper is caught mid-jump. The Archer is captured right after she releases her arrow. Each of the dozen figures is arranged differently to show a unique view of the muscles and organs.
Surely, you’re thinking, these people didn’t die that way. No, they donated their bodies to science. Gunther van Hagens came up with a process called Plastination in 1977 as a smarter way to preserve organs for medical study. After much improvement, this method was brought to the public. Now Body Worlds has been seen by the eyes of millions and there are currently six exhibitions running on three continents.
The heart’s role in our life and history is emphasized throughout the exhibit, as is the importance of a healthy heart to living a happy life. The heart has always been of pivotal importance in literature and religion. Science is no different.
The exhibit runs until February 9, 2010. It is located on Don Mills Road in Toronto, south of the intersection of Don Mills and Eglinton. Entrance is $28.50 for an adult, and $18.50 for a child, which includes a ticket to Body Worlds and access to most of the Center.
11/18
McSweeney’s Internet Tendency hosts writing both hilarious and hardy
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11/17
BLDGBLOG architecture & more.
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11/17
The Morning News goes well with coffee.
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11/15
A Wake//At Sea by Torontonian indie ska/rock septet Stop Drop, an album review
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November 15, 2009 Books, Music, Review
the album
The Satanic Satanist by Portugal. The Man
At the rate of one solid album per year, Portugal. The Man is a veritable record factory. The first time I saw them live I was in a small, nameless venue in Philadelphia. That was back in 2006 when they dropped Waiter: You Vultures. I was hooked before I even knew their name, and I never forgot it. If you haven’t heard of them you have a lot of catching up to do, because back in July they came out with LP #4.
This one is called The Satanic Satanist and, as with each album before it, their sound seems to rise reborn out of the ashes of the previous release like some experimental musical phoenix. The soothing sing-along melodies and simple acoustic chords are still there, but the background is punctuated with ambient tracks for a more upbeat pace. The guitars are heavier, with a good dose of scorching blues riffs, and the lyrics, as always, are wonderfully weird. For icing on the cake, there is a twin album called The Majestic Majesty with acoustic versions of ten of the eleven new songs.
the novel
Bright Shiny Morning by James Frey
Bright Shiny Morning is like a walk through the streets of Los Angeles. You see a huge cast of characters. Some are famous, some are poor. Some pass through in the length of a page, others in the length of a line. A select few return on spurts throughout the book. One famous actor’s private sexual proclivity causes an expensive scandal. In Venice Beach, a homeless drunk searches for a purpose to his life. Meanwhile, the history of The City of Angels is revealed chronologically in the breaks between these stories. There is tragedy next to humor, sex beside love, and beauty beneath skid row.
On the down side, some of the long lists of names and places are skim-worthy, and Frey’s grammar is often so convoluted it becomes necessary to reread a sentence two or three times. However, despite the unusual, almost anti-novelistic approach that he takes, James Frey proves to be a compelling storyteller. Bathed in the enduring California sunshine, his characters seek the fulfillment of their American Dreams in a city where hopeless hysteria lives down the street from perfect serenity.