A new Library in America

 In these hard times of library closings and box store openings, my wife, doing what she always does, did the change she wants to see in the world.  It has been a long time coming since she first envisioned creating a community library and this weekend we had our grand unveiling party.  We provided some refreshments and some snacks and asked people to bring 2 books that they think are good books.  I imagine that we will become obsessed with making sure there are good books in this library and not a dumping ground for peoples old Microsoft 2003 owners manuals.

Our good neighbours came up big loading up the library with many excellent books, and a good time was had by all. 

 Moments after a quick speech on the importance of books and the importance of reading CT yanked off the white sheet exposing the library to great cheers... and then the kids got in there to grab a book.

 For the record we are now as a household interested in receiving book donations... clearly to maintain some good reading material it would be wise to have a collection of fine literature so that we can amend this literary supply.

Me being a natural maniac had visions of a sign out sheet and perhaps as the sequence goes into the absurd i show up at somebodies house who has a book out for too long... i saunter in say "he how's it going"... "Nice lamp... is it yours", and the person replies "why yes it is one of my favourite pieces".  I then swat the lamp on the floor watching it smash... "damn shame" i say and then pause... as the home owner gulps and tears well up i casually bring up the over due book.   I guess that's my character in the TV series Portlandia... the library Nazi.

I won't do that of course... I've always been more of an egging kind of guy.  i can see it now, I'll be walking to school with the kids and somebody will be talking about how their house got egged late last night... perhaps i could say "were they organic eggs, oh by the way are you done with that book you took from the library", and then give them a stern eyeballing.

Probably a safe bet my wife would be against an egging of a house down the block, so lets just keep this between you me and the internet OK.

Did i mention some moron brought "The tale of Squirrel Nutkin" by Beatrix Potter, for the library... everybody thought that one was funny as I'll get out... just laughing it up. Apparently it's a good book however... I have it and will read it to the twins as they are very eager to hear a story about a squirrel read by me.

Hey it's great, anything to get people interested in books, the more books we can get in our heads the better neighbourhood we will have.

In fact a local school librarian stopped by the other day and complimented the selection of books we had, she took 4 and said she will come back with 4 good books... I gave her a hug, which was really a cover to plant a tracking device on her backside.

I'm joking of course.  This is a pure experiment in doing good for the sake of doing good, to inspire doing good, putting good ideas in peoples heads and bettering the community.

I was actually in Powell's books the other day, as it is across the street from my kids "do Jump" activity and i think i will approach them.  Perhaps they might end up with some "damaged" but highly readable books from time to time.. is it possible for those books to end up in a community library?    Is it one of those situations where a book store has to send back the cover to the publisher to redeem credit for the book?  If so, a good book without a cover is still a good book.

In our library there are 3 shelves, adult books, kids books.. and i was thinking Canadian books.  Perhaps i can get donations from Dave Bidini, Grant Lawrence, Jenn Farrell, Aaron Chapman, Brian Kaufman... Canadian authors and publishers i kind of know. Dare to dream Robertson, dare to dream.

I have been throwing some music in there as well.. so far 4 CD's i made have disappeared.  I will be feeding the library various Canada Lynx Records albums, because i have them, and i think they are good.  Well i probably won't put the Chicken EP in there, but you never know.

I might put some excess garden produce by the library come high garden production time.. it could be a good place to share fresh organic produce.  I like that idea... somebody goes out for a walk and gets a good book and some healthy food.. you could make somebodies day with that kind of action.  And if you can make somebodies day then you just might inspire positive change

On another level it has been neat seeing the books coming and going... sometimes you just want to read a random book and now i have a stash of them in my front yard... my kids go out and play in the tree and grab a book... all three of them were in the tree reading a book, or at least looking at it (in the twins case).  This can't be bad on any level, and i am having more conversations with the local folk who stop in front of our house.  Just a little thing that was fun to do.

Fluoride in the drinking water...

So i went to the dentist today for a little of the old poke and stab at my gums.  My first trip to a non Canadian dentist...  "Oh you didn't grow up here i see"... "you must have come from a place where they put Fluoride in the water" my dentist tells me looking at my teeth for a second.  Yes this is correct.

You see the city of Portland Oregon is about to vote over a measure to put Fluoride in the drinking water.  This is clearly a divisive concept, with many calling to keep the clean water clean, and others rallying for the dental health of the poor and disadvantaged.

Funny thing i saw the other day... people with vote no to Fluoridation chemicals signs asking people to honk their car horns in support of clean water.  People driving a polluting vehicle solo in a car honking a horn because they care so much about the environment.  I always like a good irony alert.

Now as a scientist i look for the right answer... is it a good idea?  We do know that there are chemicals in the drinking water already right... like chlorine right around the same spot on the periodic table... of course if there wasn't chlorine in the water we would have to install more toilets in the city because people would have the shits due to beaver fever.

You see sometimes a little toxin can be a benefit, but in this world of misinformation and false ideas of personal choice people can get a little squirrely.  I have tried to look at both sides of the issue, and since i can't vote, as i am not a citizen, i search the truth.   I think from everything i have  read and heard, from talking to dentists and nurses who have had to put young children under anaesthetic  to have their teeth pulled, to talking to anti-fluoride advocates and reading articles i would error on the side of putting fluoride in the drinking water, as a public health service.  It's hard to see a financial advantage to doing it... it doesn't cost much, but it will probably save money in health care.  If you were a skeptic, like i am, you might think that dentists would be against it so that they could get more business, but the dentist i talked to seemed rather keen on compassionate grounds.

Remember people are against vaccinations claiming that they don't work, which is utter nonsense if you were to actually look at the history of humanity and deadly diseases.  Go tell a diabetic that an insulin shot is a waste of time and a conspiracy.   Next time you get strep throat why don't you pass on the antibiotics and do a cleanse instead?

Don't get me wrong, i realize that the people of this world have been misled about the truth of things time and time again, so why would you believe what the authorities tell you?  I totally get that.  It poses a real problem when it comes time to do the right thing... what is the right thing?

The freedom trip in this country is a wonderful source of irony.   Everybody wants to be free to call their own shots, but you can't really.  If you have a medical condition you might not be able to ever quit your job and get another one and be covered for medical insurance.  How fucking free is that?  You are chained to your position in life or risk bankruptcy.  I guess as long as you are healthy you are free to move about without a safety net in a world that is spewing toxins left right and center for the good of the economy.  But if you want to put a little dental enhancement in the water... that is an outrage.

Our kids chew fluoride pills... i think it is safe to say that the scientific data is rather conclusive that fluoride is a positive with respect to dental health.  Sure there are other studies that state otherwise but there is also pages on creation science

n.

1. The effort to provide scientific evidence supporting the account of the creation of the universe related in the Bible.

2. Creationism.

I say to the people who start wars using religious political capitol that put depleted uranium in their bombs to fester on our earth creating everlasting toxins... next time you call for a war have the physicists  from the creation science department design your warplanes,  missiles and killing machines... but you wouldn't do that cause you know then that it's bullshit. 

did we just get on a war rant off a fluoride blog?  I guess we did... ahh but then we got into the mis-information campaign. 

I'd rather not put more chemicals into the water system for sure, but i think a little fluoride might really help some people out... but do they drink water from the tap?  Remember others are against that and like nice safe water that is trucked around in a diesel vehicle and sits in a "safe" plastic container... because they care about the environment.

Hockey Post

Thought i would title the post as that so if you find yourself categorized as a sensitive artist who is against sports talk then you can avoid it.  I know, the league fleeces it's fool consumers to record levels... they don't get my money, but neither do the credit card companies or the shopping malls...

So let's talk Toronto and Vancouver... my two hometown teams ( also noted that the Portland Winterhawks advanced in the whl playoffs).   Now the trade deadline is tomorrow and there is talk of trading a Vancouver goalie to Toronto.  Personally i think that's a bad move for both clubs.   I don't think Toronto will give up a lot for Luongo (the goalie in question), and ultimately their goalies have been performing pretty good.  It seems that in the past years some goalies have come out of the woodwork to play excellent hockey when it mattered most... Brayden Holtby a rookie goalie for the Washington capitals ousted the Cup champs the Boston Bruins in 7 games in the first round of the playoffs last year, and then took the Rangers to game 7 where they lost 1-0.  Jaroslav Halak led the Canadians on a Cinderella run in 2010.  Point is you never really know who is going to get red hot at the right time.  Leafs have 2 goalies who have played well and deserve the chance to shine.

On the other side of the coin we have Vancouver, who have 2 excellent goalies... now if you trade one of them and get little in return and the other goalie gets injured, like Dwayne Roloson was in game one of the  2006 Stanley Cup finals, then having 2 great goalies will come in handy... the Edmonton Oilers didn't have that luxury and lost in 7 games in the final. It is a situation that would be ultimately unacceptable should they trade Luongo and Cory Schneider were to get injured. 

Now both teams have played 36 games and have 44 points each, Toronto actually has one more victory... who would have bet on that?

If Toronto makes the playoffs and perhaps win's a round the city will be very happy as they haven't seen the playoffs in a long long time, while Vancouver's window to win it may be closing... meaning missing the playoffs or making an early exit will heed the call for head's to roll.

So if I'm Vancouver do i want to part with a good goalie (with a huge contract) to get little in return, when that goalie, working in tandem with the other goalie,  may actually give my team the best chance to win.

If I'm Toronto the risk is less... we have money we can buy him out if it doesn't work out, but perhaps you risk tampering with the chemistry your young team is generating, and robbing these up and comers of the chance to play meaningful playoff games, which could hurt their experience.

It's a pretty long bet that the Toronto maple leafs are winning the cup this year... never say never of course, but i would say the young team should go in there as a unit to see what they are made out of and learn.

Vancouver... it's a compact busy season, and apparently it was the long grind that wore them down a few years ago, so maybe having two top goalies and playing them both during the playoffs makes more sense than getting rid of one for little immediate help in return.

that's what i think