With social interaction and a workout taken care of (in one shot: that's what I love about dragon boating), today will effectively be my Sunday, whereas tomorrow will be, well, Sunday as well.
This is a 'lotsa links' post. The timestamp will be updated accordingly, with most recently read or blogged link at the top of the list.
- Interview with Naomi Klein. It's “healthy for Canada to acknowledge that we don't have the same interests as the United States”? Someone's in denial. But then again, she's a leftist: that's what she's supposed to say.
- Review of Panjabi MC's Beware. The Indian influence in hip-hop is fairly new, and Timbaland can take some credit in injecting it into the mainstream. Jay-Z gets credit for legitimizing it even further. It's a rare day that goes by without hearing bhangra banging out of the speakers of a passing car: there is a fairly large Indian minority population in the Lower Mainland, so it makes sense. Panjabi MC has been on the scene for a while (I've known about him for 3 years), and now he may be crossing over thanks to Jay-Z et al.
- The final irony describes what irony really means and the types of irony. Favourite quote: “[FHM is] effectively saying "women are neither objects, nor non-objects - and here are some tits!'” Also: the bit with Canadians with American accents is hilarious!
- How to complain effectively. People complain to me about shit I have no control over, and it tends only to strain the relationship I have with that person. Telling me what's wrong and how I can help you will, more often than not, convince me to help you. Even better is when you can tell me how it benefits me to help you.
- Here's illustration of a good way to give advice and a bad way, all on one page! You can safely ignore my comment on that page, which is my way of saying "you're not allowed to do that". If you focus on kristine's and Santiago's comments, you'll see the good way to give advice and the bad, respectively. kristine simply gives information about an alternative solution (that Mozilla and an extension provide the same service) and lets the reader decide if they should investigate further. Santiago tells you what to do, which makes people feel bad. Who likes being told what to do?
- Tim Bray nails it: the only time Canadians get into a nationalistic frenzy is when there's an international hockey tournament involved. (The 1995 rally in Montreal opposing the Quebec separatist movement seemed at the time a little forced.)
- You know, it must be a triumph of lust over fear. Not that I've thought about it much. And not that I read that blog or anything.
- (not that she didn't look damn good already)
- Online Dating Sheds Its Stigma as Losers.com: yet another in the 'online dating isn't creepy anymore' series.
- Through Her Lens, the Lovelorn Go Courting, an article about SingleShots, which takes photos suitable for online dating profiles. The camera doesn't love me—well, maybe it does, but I certainly don't love it—and it comes across. A photographer friend, who's actually rather good (and is one of the few people whose modesty is genuine) has promised to take some nice photos of me. Our first foray yielded some not-too-hot shots. At least this time it was not the photographer's or the photographee's fault, but bad weather and some equipment difficulties.
