Bad Gyms

What ever you do- Don't join Goodlife Fitness!

My gym is filthy, it is always in disarray- no one is hired to put the weights back, and they just expect the members to do it because they put signs up asking it- meanwhile, it takes people 5 minutes to find specific dumbbells because they are often tucked away at different corners of the gym. This is no way to run a gym. This is no way to run anything!

There are chalk marks everywhere- no one ever cleans it up! It's disgusting.

The music? Cheesy 60's Calypso! Why the can't play typical gym music at a gym is beyond my considerable imagination.

They open late in the morning and although it's a regular request by fellow members to open earlier- the manager doesn't care.

I even once complained and gave critical feedback- all I got was an angry call from the Manager. I got off the phone with her after she called me a horrible person and mean spirited thinking that I would get a call from the Regional manager- but it never came! And nothing changed at the gym!

So- believe me, unless you want frustration aggravation, filthy gyms don't join Goodlife!!!

One thing great about Goodlife Gym is that they finally have promoted promoted decent talent. My friend Mark has gotten promoted to assistant head trainer at a Goodlife (different from the one I attend).

Avast ye maties!

The tall sloops of the late 18th century are shaking off their cobwebs and coming out of storage this week to reenact the battle of Trafalgar off the coast of Britain today.

Whenever I think of Naval battles- I remember a book I read two years ago- a two volume series on the war of 1812 between the US and Canada.

On Lake Erie in 1813 there was a tremendous battle between the two fleets! It totally crippled both navies and was the largest fresh water battle in the history of naval warfare. What was amazing was the planning for the battle that was executed. It involved spies reporting back details of ships under construction- and the reaction of the navies to the others ships. For example- the spies would see that the Canadian fleet was building a three masted, 60 foot vessel with 6 guns on each side- so they got to work on a 70 foot, three masted vessel with 8 guns on each side. The Canadian spies saw this and abandoned plans for the mere 60 footer for a behemoth 80 footer with 11 guns on each side... and there was always speed vs. size vs. reach of cannons.

All of this and they had to complete their own fleet before their enemies fleet got finished on the opposite bank of the lake, or it would be a simple matter of a float by shooting to destroy all boats, facilities and the entire town.

I think there's a lesson to be learned from these old salts about logistics management.

Thought for the day

There is no 'I' in team, but there's plenty of T & A.

I started reading Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything. I got through the first 2 chapters- I don't think I'm going to finish it. It's all just science and to me science doesn't explain anything interesting. The things I am interested in getting explained to me is why do we approach science the way we do? Why is culture the way it is? How do people's minds work? How does society function? Why does it function that way? Where does it fall short?

All those questions are raised by Jane Jacobs in The Dark Age Ahead which I am totally digging- and Malcolm Gladwell's Blink. So- before any of you ask- I am NOT working for Amazon now.

Enough about the brain! Let's move down to the stomach! I found the ultimate burger! Brie cheese, Sauteed onions (but not too many that give you the toots) and oven roasted tomatoes. mmmmm! Beaconsfield across the street from the Drake. And no- I'm not working for Beaconsfield either.

I just hope the burger wasn't made with that filthy, disease-ridden, low-low quality American beef... Well- that's what you get when you import beef and take away jobs from honest hard working Canadian cattle farmers...

Happy Pride, Sailors!

Well- it's Pride weekend again and that means I'm gay for a day! Of course- even though I'm gay- doesn't mean I'm available- The Beady eyed friend would kill me!!!

Some people ask "Why have Gay Pride??? We don't have straight Pride!" And that's a fair question- fair if a bit myopic...

• Not straight pride because you're not told that your lifestyle is an abomination to God.
• Not straight pride beccause don't feel obliged to act gay in front of your co-workers and bosses for fear of career repricussions.
• Not straight pride because you're not pressured by family and friends to try being with someone of your own gender just once...
• Not straight pride because you're not shunned and ostracised for being straight.

Happy gay pride all- and remember- just because you're straight doesn't mean you can't join the party!

Moralism and Super Heroes...

I went to see Batman Begins last night with my Beady Eyed friend.

Over the past couple of years- I've been taking another look at Comic book heroes and how it's a great deal deeper than meets the eye.

With Batman- a re-occurring discussion was about balance.

A character representing the personification of Justice played by Katie Holmes as an idealistic lawyer said that Justice is balance. You can't go out taking the law into your own hands and dolling out your own justice, because that's not justice- it's vengeance!

A group of Ninjas (or is it Ninju?) have made it their duty to create the justice and manufacture the balance at the cost of all the people's lives in Gotham City.

Finally- Batman's father was looking at balance from an economic point of view where we all have a responsibility- even the uber-riche... no- especially the uber-riche to ensure that there is a modicum amount of class-balance- and thus became a philanthropic benefactor of many things in the city from public transport to medical facilities.

All things- characters, elements, etc... were very representative. In that way- I think it was better than some other comic book character movies that shall remain nameless that had potential, but didn't nearly go far enough *COUGH- electra* *WHEEEZE-daredevil-HACK*

In conclusion- a great comic book movie is a good pie crust. Not too flaky, a little dry, but not too much so- and lots and lot of layers, and Batman Returns certainly fit the Pie Pan.

Cabbies make me Crabbies

As most people know about me- the only group of people I'm prejudiced against is cabbies. I'm not saying that I don't have compassion for them- I mean, they work like dogs to feed their families- I'm just saying that I really really don't like them- Not driving on the street. Not talking to them in person. Nothing!

My first bad run in with a cab was when I was 20 years old and filled with self-righteous moralism. I was taking a Womyn's studies class as an elective (easy A's for all males in the class) and umbrageous about social injustices! This cabbie picked me up from the train station on a visit home from University. We pulled up to a stop light and he looked into the next car beside us shouted "Hey baby! Why don't you come here and sit on my cock!"
If that's not enough- I had to pay with Credit card because I was out of cash (Now where did the other cash go???? Where-oh-WHERE would a University student spend money on a long weekend??? beer, perhaps?) and this... colorful gentleman (I use that term loosely) tried to rip me off!


Second run-in, I was jogging on the sidewalk and go to cross a street and a cab came out of no where and had to slam on his breaks to keep from hitting me- and almost didn't hit me... almost. I got a bruise on the side of my kneecap and a sore throat from screaming at him.

Third- I was in a cab and he was driving erratically- no- Maniacally! I asked
"Is there a reason you're driving like this?"
He answered something to the degree of "I'm just showing some hustle!"
I actually had a question that stumped him in response to that: "Are you certain it's safe to drive like this???" He didn't have an answer because he knew it's NOT safe to drive like that.

The final one- I was driving up Spadina between Eglinton and the Village. I was going about 40 because it's a school zone- and a Taxi was not just behind me- he was tailgating me! It made me feel pretty uncomfortable, but I decided to try to ignore it. So- driving along- I see a squirrel in the middle of the road and slow down suddenly to not make roadkill. The cabbie had to slam on his brakes to avoid me. The Cabbie obviously thought I was being malicious because he then sped into the oncoming traffic lane until he passed me and suddenly slammed on his brakes as soon as he was in front of me. Luckily- I didn't hit him- but I did politely and ask him to pull over so I could have a word with him. I even called him 'sir'. "Go Fuck yourself you fucking asshole!!!!" was his response. Classy!

So- even after all that- cabbies are generally the worst, most inconsiderate and dangerous drivers on the road.

Now they block off the routes to the Airports and want our sympathy???

Little (or well) Known Factoids about me

• I have 4 holes in my body from peircings, but no current peircings in my body
• I never used to be allergic to dogs, until last year. Now I am.
• I had an allergy to wasp and yellow jacket stings. I went to an allergist for weekly shots on Thursday mornings. I am no longer remotely afraid of needles.
• I refuse to get freezing at the dentist.
• I have nothing but distain for black licorice.
• I prefer brunettes to blondes.
• I enjoy the taste of liver.
• My eyes are slightly crossed, and as a result, my depth perception sucks. I cannot play pool or shoot with accuracy, but for some reason, I can paralell park.
• I don't like soup.
• I can read hebrew, I can't understand what I'm reading though.
• One of my favorite things to eat is terriaki anything on rice. Terriaki Chicken, Terriaki Salmon, Terriaki shrimp, Terriaki Jelly Bellys, Terriaki Beady-eyed friend...
• I am self-conscious about my crossed eyes- that's the only thing I'm self conscious about.
• I don't have a fear of spiders or flies or bugs, but I kill them if i find them crawling around my house because I don't want them to lay eggs and cause and infestation.
• I don't like my grandmother.
• I have a deep seated secret longing to travel in space.
• One of my favorite people in the world and the person who I think knows me best is my Sister.
• I have three sisters- all of them older.
• I grew up with cats. Snow from the age of 1-7, and when I was 8 or so, we got two brothers- Scooter and Jasper who both died last year.
• I try to beleive in the good in others and try to give them the benefit of the doubt. When I don't- I feel guilty. I am rarely wrong about my gut to not trust them.
• I would read a non-fiction over a fiction book any day.

Ugly, Pugly and Fugly.

Over the past few months- the ROM has been undergoing a face lift.

The construction of the new wing has been absolutely fascinating! Because of the polyhydronic face, while under construction, the structure looks like a Behemoth blunder of engineering with rods and beams pointing in every which way- but more specifically in a way that suggests they are collapsing.

Now- Toronto is not virgin to landmark foul-ups; The Sky Dome was built at a massive price, only to find out after construction that the roof leaked.

They built the North York Centre for the Performing Arts- and then found out it was located in North York! That's a write off right there!

While under construction, the fouled-up looking ROM was absolutely gorgeous to me. I love weird and odd looking stuff for some reason (Beady eyed aside- She's gorgeous, not odd looking in the least). Now that the twin polyhedrons are now complete and there's no more haphazardish i-beams pointing and collapsing leeward, it's lost some of the appeal. The Monster is no monster at all- it's a glorious modern glass and steel edifice that's in the shape of two massive diamonds...*yawn*

For some reason- these unusual and odd things just have a great aesthetic value to me. That's why I voted for The Pugly Awards, but voted a 'thumbs up' for everything!

New and weird: Love it!
Old world charm: Love it!
Post-Modern Industrial: Love it!
Strange and striking: Love it!

I guess that's why I wouldn't make a good Environmental Psychologist- I'd just think everything would work... Not that Enviro-psych. is that difficult anyways... Whose nose am I tweaking now?

I fought the Law...

I got a parking ticket the other day.

Did I deserve it?
absolutely!
Why?
Gross stupidity!
Did that stop me from fighting the ticket?
Hell no!
Why not?
I paid the 6 bucks so that I wouldn't have to pay the $30 fine. Just because I'm an idiot doesn't mean I should pay more, does it?

I'm an idiot because the parking billet come in two sections- The receipt and the ticket. They are separated by a perforated down the centre. Thus allowing people to display the ticket inside the vehicle and pocket the receipt to double check when their parking is expired.

Silly me- the Chuckle-head extraordinaire pocketed the ticket and displayed the receipt face up on my dash.

I do have a great excuse for my complete knuckle-headery. It was Saturday after my run, so my head was still foggy with dehydration.

In the end- I went to the Parking Control office this morning on my way to work armed with the receipt, the ticket and the fine. Everyone else at the other kiosks were angry and shouting and pleading and swearing!!

Luckily- my years in business have taught me something very valuable- if you want something- smile!

A kiosk is available immediately, and it was staffed by a man... so much for flirting my way out of a ticket (I've done that before). I smiled as I approached- but not too broadly- Too broadly would be contrived. I make eye contact and ask how he is. I give him my ticket, receipt and fine, say please, say thank you.

I tell him that the ticket must have flipped over when I closed the door, so it was face down... I am so going to hell for that lie.

He told me he didn't want to make a habit out this- but he'll let me off this one time. I thanked him profusely and wished him a nice weekend... at least- I hope I wished him a nice weekend- I was probably so happy I might have wished him happy birthday.

As long as I didn't threaten to anally violate him unless he cleans up his mis-en-place, I guess it was alright...

Playing with knives can help mend relationships...

Last night I talked with my eldest sister.

That in itself is an unusual feat. As many who know me know the relationship is not acrimonious, but more, we sometimes have trouble connecting.

I don't blame her for anything, and I am certain she doesn't blame me for anything, but we had some tough times a few years ago, and sometimes that's a little tough to get past.

However- we talked last night and we got along- I even- dare I say- enjoyed chatting with her!

What did we talk about- you might ask? Well- we talked about one potty mouthed, dirty brained author of great books. No- not Phillip Roth. No- not Charles Bukowski either. No- Not Jane Jacobs, but I am reading The Dark Age Ahead right now and enjoying it... Yes! We talked about Anthony Bourdain!

We were talking about how I'm moving to Dublin and am going to have to lay the smack down on people leaving their dirty dishes everywhere... and then I quipped that I could just scream at them "Clean up your mis-en-place or I'm going to f*ck you in your a*s!!!" at which she cackled and said "You sound just like Anthony Bourdain!!!!" who is exactly the source of that colorful little phrase.

Anyways- from that we started talking about food and restaurants- and now she's looking forward to getting back to Toronto so she can try Lee's. She- like the remaining 90% of us haven't had the means for Susur, so at least we can get him Walmart prices. Then again- $100/head isn't exactly Walmart prices- but at least I don't have to make the choice- "Feed myself for the next month, or eat the appetiser..."

Tough call...

Crazy Cabbies??? Nahhh....

Ottawa Sun Online: NEWS - Cab hits boy, then takes off

What??? I didn't know that Cabbies were psychotic drivers prone to vengeful dangerous driving and road rage...

Jackson...

Regarding the Michael Jackson trial: justice has been served and an innocent man has been acquitted in a court of law by a jury of his peers.

Although- I think that if they really wanted a jury consisting of his true peers, they'd get 12 sick freakshows to sit...

Amazon tours

This weekend I took the plunge and made my first Amazon purchase. It's been a long time coming, and I don't know why I didn't do it sooner.

At any rate- I bought three great books that I'm looking forward to reading. Yes- all of the non-fiction. I'm kind of a non-fiction junkie- all of my favorite books seem to be non-fictions. Maybe it has something to do with also loving documentaries. I saw a great one this weekend

Game over: Kasparov versus the Machine. I've talked about a common view of technology before- how so many people feel that it's man versus machine. Is this just an extension of the 'us and them' mentality? In the movie there were a number of references to man's struggle against the machine and eventual defeat. The simple fact that men can create a machine which can excel should not be a point of fear for us- it should be a point of celebration!

I guess something that's very common to human nature is a knee-jerk resistance to change and the unknown, even if it's completely baseless. I know I've been guilty of it too- I've been resistant to living in residences next year, but I guess I realize that it's probably not economically viable to not live in res- due to the prohibitive price of rent in Dublin. Add to the fact that I don't have a roommate or 3 exacerbates the problem.

I'll find a way to manage- and probably end up enjoying it immensely. Speaking of things I enjoy immensely- one thing that I'm not enjoying immensely these days is running.

It's hot, sticky, humid, and smog thick enough to choke on. The Beady eyed friend keeps telling me I'm going to collapse of heat stroke on my run. I think she's secretly hoping I do just to prove her right ;P

I had a wonderful run through High Park on Saturday. I don't recall ever being there before, so after running through there, touring around, whizzing through the zoo, through trails, and by people fishing in the pond, I headed out the South end and ran along the Lake to Queen's Quay where I took the subway back home.

And I didn't collapse even once...

Angry Yoga

Yesterday I went to my favorite yoga studio after taking quite a bit of time off yoga classes, and just doing it on my own.

Ohhhhh baby! David R was the teacher- and that man knows his sh-t! After the hour and half yoga class- I felt amazing. I have fallen in love with yoga all over again- and it’s a good thing too.

I’m giving up weights in September, and instead doing rigorous astanga yoga with power yoga variations.

Power yoga seems to have a bad rap with a lot of yogites. I’ve been kicked out of yoga shalas for doing power variations! Shala people! Shalas! The kind with Myosory classes, so it’s not even distracting other students from their practice!

Anyways- That’s the thing that I’ve found about some communities- The Mac community, the yoga community, and in some cases- the MBA community- people are so wrapped up in taking themselves seriously that they become incensed with any deviation from their little esoteric group. They are umbrageous from any divergence and the answer is always black and white- you’re either with them or against them.

I can understand the fundamental motivation- in order to promote group cohesion you need strong identity ties to that group. In this case- people identify themselves as members of this group because of a psychological imperative to associate themselves with a cohesive, esoteric group.

Emile Durkheim spoke of this- but much more destructive ends- in relation to deviant groups.

Now, I’d like to think that I’m a tolerant guy, and an understanding guy who has extensive patience for many stripes of identity, and as my friends can attest- one of my favorite sayings is “Who am I to judge?” but I have to admit it can get a little silly.

Banning me from a school because I like to do reverse plank pose during my warrior salutations, indeed!
Telling me how I’m contributing to the dark ages of information technology because I use an operating system that is industry standard indeed!
Preaching to me how because I’m going to Stanford or Harvard that my MBA is worthless indeed!

Indeed…

So- I’ll keep doing my yoga my way because it’s fun for me. If you don’t want to do it my, you can do it your way. I promise I won’t judge.
Mac is a fine computer system, but I am a PC guy- I have always been a PC and that’s not to say that I won’t switch later on, but right now, I need my MS office with all the great PC functionality, but a scaled down, perverted and hacked Mac answer to it. I also need MS Project, and MS Visio.
While Harvard and Stanford are great schools, I believe that no MBA is worthless. A great deal of the MBA is what you put in. What I want to put into my MBA experience is all my passion and all my efforts, and what I will bring out is formal business education, and a great attitude, so in a way I’ll come out one up on you.

Hmm- you know- some one who just had a great yoga experience- I sure sound awfully morally indignant…

Desperately Seeking...

OK- Now I'm all psyched for going to Dublin. There is the whole matter of the accommodation though.

Dublin is notoriously expensive, and the GSB dormitories are... well.. nice enough, from the stuff I'm reading about them, but- the apartments are 6 bedrooms with shared kitchen and living space, and let's face it: People can be real slobs and I don't necessarily want to have to live in someone else's mess.

I can just imagine heading back to the residence after a brutal day in classes, exhausted, famished and almost able taste the pasta dish I'll make myself- only to find the kitchen filled with dirty pots and pans and no one willing to clean it up, and no clean pots available. I would just lose it! RRRAWWWR!

Potty Mouthed Chinese

Taiwanese restaurant attracts diners with bizarre toilet bowl theme

In Taiwan, apparently "Eat Shit." used to be a pejorative. Now it's a culinary review!

Running Joke

Wooohooo!
Yesterday filled with energy and passion, I headed out for my weekend run. Recently- my runs have been longer and longer.

Now I've broken from my usual paths and head out to get lost.

Last week I headed into territory in East York. A notorious maze of Cull-de-sacs and dead ends, decorated with monster homes and leafy trees and luxury SUVs. As I was running along- I found myself lost (quell surprise!).

I asked a woman who seemed fairly comfortable with the area- she was decked out in a sun visor, a pair of very spiffy running shoes and a track suit and I said "Hey! I'm lost! Please help me get out of here."
She looked at her watch "Eight-thirty."
"Um- no- listen to me. I'm lost. I just need you to point how to leave this area and get back to the annex." She didn't have an answer- she just mumbled something indecipherable and walked away- so I called after her "Why won't you help me?" but she didn't look back.

So as I ran past her- she was walking in the direction I was running anyways- I asked "What's wrong with you?" which i thought was a perfectly valid question... Running time: 86 minutes.



Yesterday I was dropped off at Queen and Bathurst and I started running South to Lakeshore and the East. As I was running- I found a fellow who was basically goiong the same speed, so we ran together for about 30 minutes. I ran East along the Martin Goodman Trail until I got the Leslie Street Spit and then turned north and ran through the West Beaches and up to Victoria Park and Danfourth. Running time: 80 minutes.

Don't bulls-it a bulls-tter.

I was in my favorite coffee shop yesterday. I was reading for work- and yes- actually wanting to read for work and a young man at the next table starts a conversation with me.

I immediately didn't like something about him- you know that sometimes people just seem a little off? Anyways- this young man was in his mid twenties, tall, lanky with shaggy long brown hair that covered his eyes, and bad skin. It wasn't his appearance that just seemed off about him- it was different. I was just reading in the careers section of the paper that morning that the mark of a leader is one who is friendly to every one- even though he or she doesn't like. So- I was putting it into practice.

Anyways- he starts telling me his life story- and it is all just lies! Lies lies lies lies lies! He told me he has an MBA from Bedford. He tells me he's in Medical School at U of T. He tells me he's writing two of books, publishing a CD and has a side business doing marketing consulting for health care product start ups.

I'm a sweet guy- and I don't lie to people. And until a few years ago- I didn't suspect others did, but there's one thing that I'm glad about with my business experience, and that's the ability to detect bulls-it quickly. The need for someone to bullsh-t me in that context is beyond me. I didn't want to find out though- I rushed through my coffee and got out of there before he sarted to sell me Amway.

It was great coffee though.

Due Diligence and other nonsense...

I'm doing my research into Irish life before I go to Dublin for my MBA at UCD (the school of the Smurfs).

I watched Leprechaun, In the Name of the Father, Devil's Own and The Commitments.

Due to the nature of the first three movies, which I must assume are accurate portrayals of normal Irish daily life- in addition to a business suit, I will be buying a flack jacket...

And due to the nature of the fourth movie- I will buy matching ear plugs.