Revival of the Fittest

I have new toy! Soil blockers I ordered from pottingblocks.com, sounds like a stupid punk band from Woodstock but trust me these little babies are gonna be a trend for urban homesteaders and guerrilla gardeners alike. I plan to transform my modest community garden plot into a lush, fertile bounty of produce .. err something like that. Anyway stay tuned, new opportunity is abound and this is just the beginning. My new home in Kitchener Waterloo is well suited to me and my wife, and I am excited to make the best of it.

A LETTER TO MY BROTHERS

I think you are going to find that there is more than what you see in front of you to this world. You can have great peace of mind knowing that with change comes understanding, and you can use that understanding to make the changes that you want. The problem is that sometimes we just dont know what we want, and finding out can feel like a daunting task. But if you have the will anything is possible.
Mind our mother, she is a kind woman and wants nothing more in this world than your happiness.Her friendship and guidence can be powerful and inspiring if you let her in, despite what you may think she understands more than you know and does not judge. She is your mother, and she loves you.
We are four brothers, do not underestimate the importance or of that. Life is an interesting place and we are experienceing it together whether we like it or not, no matter the distance. We are stong and capable and should act as such, to not do so only takes away from eachother and ourselves. Confidence does not come easily without knowledge, and there are 3 other people who think just like you, who ask the same questions, and have the same thoughts, talk to them. You might learn something. Read.
I'm tired and I have to work tomorrow, hope you sleep well tonight, good sleep is hard to come by. -T

THE RICE EXPERIMENT

Lots of people have been asking me what the hell this is all about, so I decided to post about it. The idea iS not new, with movies like THE SECRET and WHAT THE BLEEP DO YOU KNOW out there raising all sort of questions about the affects of human thought on reality I thought I would take a stab at it. The results were so amazing I encourage everyone to try it for themselves, here is what you will need.
1. 2 Classico pasta sauce jars, cleaned and sterilized in boiling water. (Any glass jar will do I just took advantage of my rampant pasta addiction)
2. 1 red and 1 blue marker
3. post it notes
4. 2 cups cooked rice (any kind will do)
5. time and a suspense of disbelief
Place 1 cup of the cooked rice in each jar. Microbes grow best between 4C and 60C (40F-140F) so putting the rice in hot will encourage rapid growth. Using the post-it-notes with the red marker label one jar "Hateful stupid rice" and the other in blue "Grateful loving rice". Put the lids on and place in somewhere where they will get your attention ( I put them out of the way at first, but if they are visible you are more likely to pay attention to them which is the purpose of this experiment). Every day ( every time you have see them is better) tell the grateful rice how good and wonderful it is and let the insults fly on the stupid rice. If you feel silly you can simply read the label, keeping in mind that you must direct your attention accordingly. As you get used to speaking to inanimate objects work on directing emotion as well, I try and use emotions that I am experiencing to my advantage. If I am feeling particularly angry or upset I take it out on the rice, and vice versa.
The visible affects do not get dramatic for some time so it is good if you have a digital camera to document the progression, otherwise you wont have a frame of reference for comparison as the changes manifest themselves.
For more information on this phenomenon check out Dr. Emoto's message from water, and the Global consciousness project, I have posted more photos of the rice experiment in my online album and on facebook. -T

YOUR NOT WHAT YOU THINK YOU ARE, NOTHING IS

In the most recent edition of SEED MAGAZINE a picture on page 36 caught my attention. They generated an image by sorting 800,000 published studies into 776 different scientific paradigms based on how often the papers were cited together by authors of other papers. Links were made between the paradigms that shared papers, and the result was nothing less than profound. After I saw that picture I was practically foaming at the mouth to read Charles Seife’s new book on information theory DECODING THE UNIVERSE. After a heated battle with understanding k log 2 (suck my dick Schrodinger!), and a little math brush-up I really got to the meat of this book quickly, (not nearly as fast as your bitchy girlfriend got to mine). Focusing on the link between entropy and information theory Seife draws connections between scientific paradigms and fills the holes we find in relativity and quantum theory. With implications that go far beyond the regular run of the mill SCI-FI techno weenie fantasies, I found myself seeing the limitless possibilities of information theory in everything from making babies to particle physics to ham sandwiches (three of my favorite things). Just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how much we are going to be changing our ideas of how the universe works. An awesome read for anyone that gives a shit.

GENIUS OR COMPLETE FUCKING ACCIDENT?

Its been a while since my last post so forgive me if this one isn't as objective or specific as it could be. There is so much to cover I could almost quit my job (if I had one) and cover full time. First, The Trailer Park Boys DVD release has to be mentioned. For those of you who do not understand the TPB phenomenon move along, for the rest of you lets try and get two birds stoned. If you decide to pick up this little doozy be prepared for a whole new creative twist on colorful language that rivals the first South Park Movie and nearly made me piss my pants. The rest of the movie is your classic lineup of TPB regulars including J-Roc who until the last half hour doesn't make an appearance but when he does its worth the wait. Second I picked up the latest Makezine with a complete guide on Kirlian high voltage photography. But wait theres more, the "how to's" dont stop there. Make a cosmic cloud chamber, tie a bullwhip, build the amazing vortex tube that defies Maxwells demon along with many other projects for the expert basement physicist as well as rat shack tinker buddies who only want to build the 5 dollar guitar amp made out of a box of Captain Crunch. Either way its well worth the 17 dollar price tag to learn how to build quality useless shit like a psionic detection device. On that note I will close in pointing out that I have updated my web album with another trip to the market and a lazy afternoon exploring the beach with my fiance as well as a random Cory sighting here in Vancouver. This creature can usually be found in any number of smelly watering holes fashioning crude guitars out of plastic tubing and dental floss, only to scream at onlookers and possibly smash the hand crafted instrument to tiny bits, but not before serenading the crowd into awe with a composure of epic proportions.

EXTREME ASS-KICKERY

Extreme over the top ultimate hardcore Asian wire fighting x2 would be a phrase worthy of describing Shinobi. Chalk full of typical battle to the death for honor scenarios as well as a hefty portion of high flying, bullet timing, ass kickery to the max.
Having never played the original Shinobi video game all the way to the end I couldn’t tell you if it fits the story lines of the 1988 release or any of the other hits in the franchise. However that’s not to say the movie didn’t have a typical video game layout complete with characters that could be fresh off the console.
The DVD comes loaded with extras and if one is so inclined they can go the Shinobi website and read the secret story behind each character.
Another DVD to watch for is the new Marie Antoinette staring Kirsten Dunst. If you can suspend the disbelief that a 25 year old with a crazy rack is actually a 15 year old girl then you can enjoy the rest of this movie. Its stylized look brings pop culture to the 18th century with tenacity that screams volumes about Sofia Coppola’s ability as a storyteller. With a contemporary spin on the story Sofia has re-told a classic that appeals easily to a salivating “rock star” generation.

NEEDS MORE ATTENTION THAN YOUR BITCHY GIRLFRIEND

It started pretty early I suppose, when I was about 7 or so baking “Blonde brownies” with my mother. But it wasn’t enough, roti, saltfish and oxtail with my aunt Mira, rabbit, duck and the maple farm with my grandparents, food had a hold on me I would never understand until now. What no one will tell you is that food talks, you can learn a lot from food, chemistry, climate, society, culture and that’s just a start. Food can tell you how old a person is, where they are from and if they have been in love, but only if you speak the language. Food can teach respect, discipline and honor for anyone who cares to listen. But there is a trade off, once you build a relationship with food it demands attention, fiercely.
I have been avoiding food and it is not happy with me, it keeps me up at night, wanting to talk, wanting to fight, wanting to make love, anything to make me pay attention. The more I ignore it the louder it speaks, so I went to visit and now it is louder than ever.
Granville Island Market is the home of food here in Vancouver and it’s a fifteen minute walk form my house, which makes it extremely hard to ignore, especially when you speak the language. A technicolor array of seasonal organic fruits and vegetables, as well as meat and seafood variety that dominates anything you would find at your local grocer. The extras alone could be worthy of a whole article of coverage all to itself. It was an awesome West Coast reflection of the relationship I had with Toronto’s own St Lawrence Market. I neglect to go into further detail this post is not long enough to do it justice, but don’t fear there is more to come I am not even close to exploring the culinary playground of Vancouver.