Gwynne Dyer

My favorite writer/columnist to date, Gwynne Dyer! I've read just about everything he's written, from Future:Tense to Climate Wars. Last year, I heard him speak at the University of Victoria on the subject of the future of Iraq. I didn't get in on question period by the smallest of margins, but I managed to get in on the mob of people that came to talk to him afterward for over and hour and have a private Q and A which he was gracious enough to provide. He is wise, experienced, insightful, educated (very!) and had an answer for just about everything. Unfortunately, ACK! I didn't make it in time to get tickets for his lecture at North Island College. He was speaking in MY HOME TOWN, and I didn't get to see him. How painful! How shameful! How horrible!
Anyhoo, I was sorry to miss it, was that clear? And now I'm looking for anyone who DID attend the event to tell me what it was like. As I learned from attending his lecture that followed his book "The Mess They Made", the lectures are not identical to the works they are based around. One can hear all kinds of revisions, corrections and elaborations that you just can't find with the written word. If anyone out there attended and has stories or impressions to share, I'd love to hear them. If anyone attended his lecture in Victoria, I'd love to discuss that one too, it was awesome!

The UFC

I just watched UFC One for the first time the other day. I got to say, I approve of how its shaped up over the years. Many people probably think its stupid macho crap, I've heard those exact words used, but consider the competition. Boxing is so corrupt as to have lost all dignity. Wrestling? Forget it! What's left? Cable tv fights from overseas, over UFC here at home. As a martial artist, I enjoy watching competitive fighting. Its helpful, and its especially good when its something where rules and strategy are involved. No hold's barred competitions are, in the words of the venerable Hobbes, nasty, brutish, and short. That was exacltly what UFC One was like. There were only eight competitors, seven matches, and the fights never last more than a few minutes each. And they ended one of two ways, someone got knocked down and whacked one too many times, or they got caught in a choke hold within a few seconds of the bell and tapped out.
The newer fights are much more evenly paced and far less brutal. Good to have rules! Fight!

Sickness and Politics

Well, I finally got laid out by a nasty cold. Tis the season I guess. So yesterday, while sitting indoors and watching the snow fall, I had time to read up on the mess on Parliament Hill. I've been following it with mild interest of late, I guess I kind of got my fill with the re-election of Harper here and Obama's victory in the US. What distresses me is that people are taking sides here, taking the bait from Harper's plea to "preserve the Charter". It bothers me that the opposition parties need to form a coalition to rival Harper, but then again, it wasn't a surprise. I figured as much after the last election. Every other party opposes Harper's agenda but divided, they simply don't have the votes to take him down. If we were a two-party state (God forbid!) Harper would have lost. He simply doesn't have majority support. And his pleas and criticism frankly make me laugh, saying the other parties are trying to hijack the government or take power without earning it. This is a man who has done every dirty trick in the book to take and hold power. When in oppposition, he dedicated himself solely to the task of undermining Martin, exploiting the Sponsorship Scandal endlessly. He then lost the election so he bided his time, exploited the Liberal scandals further, and then called for a non-confidence vote when they were weakest. Once in power, he stole from every other party while silently governing from the right in order to stay in power. But essentially, he's done nothing. He's declared Quebec a nation within a nation (woohoo! mere words!) He apologized to the First Nations for the Residential School system (more words). He's prolongued our involvement in Afghanistan while doing nothing to address our problems there, made every motion a confidence vote, and rough shod over the other parties concerns. When he called a non-confidence vote, he said it was because of the Liberals unwillingness to work with the opposition. Now, he's basically daring all the others to call a non-confidence vote because he thinks he can get away with it. And let's not forget Harper performed a little coaltion of his own back when the Alliance and emasculated Conservative party decided to "unit the right".
In short, he is Prime Minister only because people were tired of hearing about Liberal scandal. He's remained Prime Minister by pandering, theft and because of a lack of viable alternatives. And he's clearly a hypocrite. Dion was no leader, that was clear, and people don't seem to be able to vote for NDP or Green federally. Too left leaning, they seem to think, even though Layton had the only clear and solid agenda. The Liberals have the federal support, the NDP have the agenda, and the Greens have good ideas, so a coalition seems like just the thing. This was exactlty what the united right did, precisely that. The Conservatives were weak but had a federal base, the Alliance had grassroots support but no leader, so they came together. Badabing, badaboom! So the next time people talk about supporting the Charter, I'd like to remind them that there is nothing unconstitutional about a coalition. It if each party has the support and wants to come together, so be it. Harper did it, the Opposition can do it.

Back from the Dead!

Hello! My second blog, yaaaaaaaaaay! Well, as the title suggests, my machine (not me) is back from the dead. Last week it started doing the crashy dance and the sound system didn't work. Now it's back from the shop, working great, so far. But I tell ya, the computer has been to the shop so many times of late that I am actually thinking of switching to a Mac. My girlfriend swears by them, I love their commercials, and what's not to love about their business model? And she has experienced two crashes since claiming her over a year ago. Hell, I experienced two crashes last thursday! There's also the appeal of going with the underdog. She disagrees with me, but I'm pretty sure that in a Mac/PC contest, Mac is the underdog. I always love rooting for the underdog. And it astounds me how easy it would be to take this machine of mine in, convert all its files, and come home satisfied. Nuff PC bashing, I'm off to post some stories and alert my friends I have a blog. Haven't done that yet, and I've paid the price, as in no visitors!

Hello and welcome!

Hi all and welcome to my first blog ever! Let me take this opportunity to introduce myself. I'm Ninja Matt, TKD doing, story writing, teen teaching, coffee and beer addicted, Comox Valley loving dude! I love nature and the outdoors, which is why I live here. I also love travel, books, culture, history, and writing of course. In fact, I've taken to creating this blog primarily to share my writing with the reading public. I enjoy writing speculative fiction, sci-fi, and history-based stuff. I also like to read and enjoy the classics and works of satire. Last, I like to compare notes whenever possible with other writers and avid readers. So feel free to leave me with some constructive criticism or point me in the direction of something you yourself liked or created. I promise to return the favour wherever and whenever possible.