Lust in the dust?

I just watched Duel in the Sun and I can't say I was too taken by it. There were a few good moments, it was nice to see Gregory Peck playing against type as an obnoxious bad guy, but overall I think I found it overly melodramatic even for a soap opera (which it is). Frankly, the movie seems kind of silly.

But that's my immediate gut response. I'll have to think about this one.

Tarzan and the movies

Yes, hard to believe but I have put up a new review and have a fistfull of other movies to watch. The review? Tarzan the Ape Man, kind of a curious little something from 1932 that led to a whole bunch of subsequent Tarzan movies.

A cottage near Rimbey

I just got back from a cottage near Rimbey. (That's in Alberta. And that's in Canada.) I don't have much to say about it. I'll let the images do the talking.

Leaders debate: canadian election

I watched a good deal of the leaders English debate last night. I have to be honest, what struck me most was how annoying the NDP's Jack Layton was. He managed to undermine his good points, including his very significant point that the Liberals and Conservatives were running campaigns about what not to vote for rather than what to vote for, by his constant interruptions and haranguing. Frankly, I found him rude and ill-behaved.

As for the rest, I thought the Liberal's Paul Martin did fairly well given that he was under almost constant attack, and the Conservative's Stephen Harper did well also managing to score points without coming across the way Jack Layton did. However, it should also be said all the candidates with the exception of the Bloc Quebecois' Gilles Duceppe appeared pre-programmed. So it wasn't so much a debate as it was recorded announcements playing simultaneously.

And the question remains: forget the leaders, what kind of parties are the Liberals and the Conservatives? What kind of people will be running the Canadian government should one of these two be voted in?

A day of day surgery

I was thinking last night about this hernia operation. In the world of medical procedures, it's not a huge thing but, when you have a dislike for anything like this, as I do, it's big enough.

I began in the Day Ward, on the first floor (U.of A. Hospital). The procedure was on the third floor, Operating Theatre 4. So I was taken on a bed ride.

It was quite cool. I kept thinking, "Steadi-cam. That's what I need - a steadi-cam." Because I was seeing it all in terms of film and how it would appear (from my prone position on the bed, head slightly elevated). It wasn't quite the frantic rush you would see on TV. Rather, it was leisurely and much more interesting that way.

Anyway ... next up, Operating Theatre 4. Frankly, I've seen too many movies. So I had far too many disagreeable images and scenes playing out in my head.

The worst: the IV thing. So I'm hooked up. And they placed the oxygen thing over my nose and mouth while putting the anti-nausea, knock-out stuff into me via the IV. And I kept thinking, "This is how they do the execution thing. Death by lethal injection. This is how they do it."

This is not the sort of shit you want running through your head. But that's what was in mine.

When I came to afterwards, it was just like coming to after fainting or a seizure - both of which I'm overly familiar with. Again, quite disagreeable. I hadn't a clue who I was or where I was or who belonged to the voices I was hearing. I know I suddenly had chills and was shivering madly and someone said something about Demerol and morphine and - poof! I was out again.

The next time I came too, sort of the same thing - minus the shivering. But I stayed conscious and quickly recalled the who, the where, the why and so on. My throat was dry and sore (like a sore throat) and I damn near died when I started coughing. You'd be amazed at how involved your stomach muscles are in everything!

And then ... the long wait to get sensible enough and physically up to scratch sufficiently so they could say, "Adios," and send me home.

Lovely day.

dear me - yeeouch!!!

Hernia operation tomorrow. Ack!!! Not something I look forward to. I don't care for doctors, hospitals and I'm predisposed to anxiety. In fact, I'd be drinking heavily right now but I understand it's frowned on pre-operation.

Anyway ... I'll be pretty geographically restricted for a few days so ... who knows? I may get Piddleville updated a bit. (Maybe another movie review or two?)

choose your poison - canadian election 2004

All the parties have slogans for the election (though for the life of me I can't recall what they are). I've come up with my own - Choose Your Poison.

As usual, we've got another election that sort of works like negative opt-in. We'll be voting for what we don't want, rather than what we do. In other words, we'll be voting against something.

What are our choices? With the three major English Canadian parties they seem to be corruption, incompetence or the tooth fairy.

Personally, I wouldn't have a problem voting for Paul Martin. I wouldn't be enthusiastic about it, but I could do it. Unfortunately for Mr. Martin he leads a party that makes Enron executives look like choir boys. They are so morally bankrupt Machiavelli would be proud.

While Steven Harper might not be so bad, you can't really tell. He always gives me the impression of a guy who's doing handstands trying not to say anything but the prerecorded message that has been implanted in him. He also looks like a dentist, so there are some negative associations. And again ... the leader is one thing, the party another. To put it kindly, the Conservatives don't inspire confidence. They also eat their own. All parties do, of course, but they do it publicly and with glee and relish.

With Jack Layton, I still think he looks like a used car salesman urging people to come down to the "Weekend Blowout! Everything must go!" As for the party, they still think it's 1975. It's wonder they know how to use computers.

So where's that leave us? Bored and disgruntled and wondering if there could be a third option. You know, like some award giving organizations have: "We chose not to give an award this year as no one was deserving of it."

You also have to wonder if the anti-monarchists are wrong-headed. Given what we get to choose from in elections, would rule by a foreign king or queen really be so bad? At the very least, could it possibly be worse? You have to wonder.

into the west

Ever since seeing The Lord of the Rings: the Return of the King, I've had that damn song "Into the West" playing in my head. Great song - but I don't want it in my head all the time!

I hate it when this happens.