... le problème avec amazon

( ... la problème? )

I am wanting to purchase myself some W.H. Auden for reasons which will remain my own. Have been to a few used book stores in Ottawa but they have been either lacking in any Auden or with such paltry offerings I left empty handed.

Have subsequently turned to Amazon and its compatriots. On one hand, this is grand service. Books delivered while you are quarantined = genius in the age of H1N1. However, when it matters most — as it does with books — one is left without crucial details. Though the book's general content is described (title, publication date, blah blah) we are left not knowing how the book feels.

The description may say trade paperback, but of the flat and nicely bound or small and fall-apart-while-it-waits-to-be-read variety? Does the cover have texture? Is it of the newly-popular, flimsy grade-school text-book covering flap style with plastic slime on the cover? (Not a good reading experience that, FYI publishers. Have avoided buying two books as direct result of this binding choice.)

Is the glue still visible on pages? Are the pages already falling out? Is the type toxically glaring on neon-white/yellow pages that are already disintegrating? Are the letters oddly variegated? Too large? weirdly leded?


Sigh. I just want a sympathetic volume of Auden. Suggestions very welcome.

Pencil marks, too.

NB: Also, you are not an informed nor helpful bookstore clerk if when someone says they enjoyed a particular novel you then go about go about grabbing any book sporting a character with a similar name or period. To wit, enjoying Jane Austen's Emma might not lead one to want to watch the DVD Alex & Emma (notably also not a book, but kudos for recognizing a similarity in character names.). Further, volubly applauding Perez Reverte's The Club Dumas does not mean the paltry Thirteenth Tale, Shadow of the Wind or any other book about old books will do. It's not the bloody basic plot that's key, it's the writing, man. Sigh.

I love Perfect Books. And Libraries. But why does the Main Branch of the Ottawa Public Library always smell like a toxic laboratory?

That was totally useless. Thank you.

The minister for Public Safety, Canada, Peter Van Loan, meets the press for Q&A in Ottawa, Nov. 5, 2009. Not so much with the A.

(As seen on Inside Politics, CBC News. Report referenced is available here.)

Question: How long have you had the report from the Commissioner of Firearms?

Hon. Peter Van Loan: The report from the Commissioner of Firearms has to be tabled tomorrow which it will be. I know that some information - some information on it will be coming out shortly. Some of it has already been released in the public accounts. The one that I know has attracted some interest is the number of times that the police access it which is close to three and a half million times. What's very interesting about that statistic is of those three and a half million times only 2.4 percent of the time is it actually information about the registration of a long-gun that would eliminated by the long-gun registry. If the bill to eliminate the long-gun registry is passed and becomes law, 97 percent of the times that the police utilize that information from the firearms centre would continue to be in place because of course the bill does not eliminate the requirement for licensing of gun owners and only, as I said, 2.4 percent of those queries had to do with information related to long-gun registration.

Question: (Inaudible)

Hon. Peter Van Loan: I am referring to the 2008 statistics. And what's more interesting -

Question: (Inaudible)

Hon. Peter Van Loan: If I could finish, what's more interesting -

Question: You haven't answered my question once yet though.

Hon. Peter Van Loan: If I could answer ----

Question: A different question from the one I asked you, sir.

Hon. Peter Van Loan: The report will be tabled tomorrow which is the requirement.

Question: How long have you had it?

Hon. Peter Van Loan: What is more interesting -

Question: Well, no -

Hon. Peter Van Loan: --- what is more interesting is that -

Question: (Inaudible) what's more interesting we ask the questions.

Hon. Peter Van Loan: --- the proportion of times when in 2003, for example, eight percent, 8.3 percent of the time that police accessed information from the National Firearms Centre it was information related to the registry of long guns, right?

Question: Okay, great.

(Several reporters speaking at once.)

Hon. Peter Van Loan: That proportion, that percentage has gone down every single year since 2003 -

Question: So how long have you had it?

Hon. Peter Van Loan: --- to last year when it was 2.4 percent. So what the information -

Question: How long have you had it?

Hon. Peter Van Loan: --- what this report demonstrates is exactly what we have been saying.

Question: How long have you had the Commissioner of Firearms report?

Hon. Peter Van Loan: If I could finish -

Question: No, sir, you haven't answered the question that I asked you. You're answering a completely different question.

Hon. Peter Van Loan: What the report demonstrates is what we have been saying all along -

Question: How long have you had the Firearms Commissioner's report, sir?

Hon. Peter Van Loan: --- that the registry - the long-gun registry is not used by police to prevent crime. It's thoroughly ineffective and that when we eliminate the long-gun registry, 97 percent - over 97 percent of the occasions -

Question: This isn't a news conference, these are questions. How long have you had the Firearms report?

Hon. Peter Van Loan: --- over 97 percent of the occasions that -

Question: This is not QP, okay?

Hon. Peter Van Loan: --- that individuals -

Question: We're asking you a question. How long have you had this report?

Hon. Peter Van Loan: --- that the police access the registry will be continued.

Question: How long have you had it? Has it been weeks?

Question: Why did you hide it before the vote? How long have you had this report?

Hon. Peter Van Loan: This report has not been hidden. I think when people see the report -

Question: How long have you had it then?

Hon. Peter Van Loan: --- when people see - it's been available to me a matter of days.

Question: How many days?

Question: Did your department receive it in April, is that true?

Hon. Peter Van Loan: I don't know. I don't believe so but I -

Question: When?

Hon. Peter Van Loan: I certainly did not see it back in April or May?

Question: Well, when did it (inaudible) your office?

Hon. Peter Van Loan: It's - I received it and looked at just recently, in recent days.

Question: When? Recently meaning what?

Hon. Peter Van Loan: However - in days. I could go back and find that for you. It's not terribly relevant because the information -

Question: (Inaudible)

Hon. Peter Van Loan: The information that is revealed is exactly what we say.

Question: But the information was revealed after the vote.

Hon. Peter Van Loan: The long-gun registry is not utilized by police to prevent police. In fact, the information that they utilize, 97 percent of it, more than 97 percent of it now is information they will still have after the elimination of the long-gun registry because we maintain -

Question: Useful information for MPs who don't know so why didn't you give it to them before yesterday's vote?

Hon. Peter Van Loan: Well, it's the same information. We had the report last year revealed the same trend. The year before revealed the same trend. The year before revealed the same trend. There's no new information in that. What we know is the same thing -

Question: So you decide what information should be or should not be made public because you don't find it's interesting enough?

Hon. Peter Van Loan: We release it as the statute requires, as the rules require and it'll be released tomorrow in accordance with the rules.

Question: How long have you had the statistics about that?

Hon. Peter Van Loan: That's what we do with reports. But what's interesting is the report has said -

Question: You decide what's interesting ---

Hon. Peter Van Loan: --- every single year that the information -

Question: --- you decide what people can know before they vote so you ---

Hon. Peter Van Loan: No, we table the report as we are required to.

Question: After the vote though.

Hon. Peter Van Loan: What's interesting though is this is -

Question: No, you don't get to decide what's interesting.

Hon. Peter Van Loan: No, here -

Question: We're asking you a very simple question. When did you get that report?

Hon. Peter Van Loan: Here's one more - here's one more thing -

Question: When did you get that report, sir?

Hon. Peter Van Loan: --- here's one more thing, in fairness, that's interesting about the report.

Question: We don't care what you find interesting.

Hon. Peter Van Loan: What you're going to see tomorrow in this report produced by the National Firearms Centre to justify the existence is that the statistics I just gave you were not included. Whoever put it together didn't put in there the information that only 2.4 percent of those three and a half million queries were actually related to information about a long-gun registration number or about a serial number of a gun. Only 4.5 percent.

Question: Why do you think that is?

Hon. Peter Van Loan: And that shows -

Question: (Inaudible) that's why you didn't make it public? Is that what you're saying?

Hon. Peter Van Loan: No, that information was not put there by the people at the National Firearms Registry so you should ask them why that information wasn't there. We've gone and got that information -

Question: And that's why you decided not to make it public, because that information was not there?

Hon. Peter Van Loan: No, no. We're putting it out there on the public table at the time that's required under the law. But the more important question is why was that piece of information I gave you not revealed by the Firearms Centre and that's a very important piece of information for Canadians to have. That's why I'm sharing it with you. Thank you very much.

Question: That was totally useless. Thank you.

newsrooms as they should be

A Washington Post style copy editor takes down writer. Literally. Flying tackle and punches. 70-year-old man doing the tackling.

LAST week.

Fuck, yeah. Newsrooms as they should be: wiry, brawly people (note non-gender specific), fit and cock-eyed enough to take aggressive leaps through a desk, idea, politician.

Now, sadly, this latest brawl occurred after a slur ("cocksucker, reportedly — which among my friends can be a term of endearment, along with cuntlicker and master of cock). Sadly, this brawl was not over what *should* make it in to the paper, lack of balance in reporting or, even, grammatical choices ("I dare you to come over here and tell me Oxford commas SUCK ...").

Nonetheless, I do appreciate the sentiment, undermining the bureaucratic numbness, excess middle-management with accompanying lack of decision-making which has taken over the business. We need passion, again.

And more scotch.

Can't get enough of this song

Snotty play frowned upon

It is 3:50 p.m. After spending two and a bit hours in line to get a ticket, friend L.  returned to the Tom Brown arena, Ottawa, at her appointed 3 p.m. time for H1N1 inoculation with her one-year-old child.


She is now, reportedly, overdressed as she thought she'd be standing in the rain (as previously) with child while they waited.

Instead, they are in holding tents with other parents and children. Her child, G., at last report was eating an arrowroot cookie and "deciding if he should be upset."

There is no playing; it is, therefore, very loud due to numbers and louder still with upset children who want to shove sticky fingers up each others' noses. Inoculation tent etiquette, as Laura tells me, precludes that, as anybody could be sick. Even though they are all there to be inoculated.

"Oh, no, G. just sneezed. Now everyone is looking at him," she says.


Anyone else read Blindness?

H1N1, artfully experienced?

One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors. — Plato

I remain frustratingly undecided about being inoculated against H1N1 — but I have some time to decide. Weeks, in my case, not just the four+ hours many are spending to get tickets or be told to come back tomorrow — as sources are reporting is the case in Ottawa. (The Gatineau clinics stopped taking any more names as of early this morning.)

Friend L., mother of one-year-old G., has ventured into the fray today. Their plan is for L. to go stand in line while baby waits at home with dad, to be brought only when required.

They're using me as update link, particularly with reference to the alleged wristband process (a process which may or may not be implemented today; not, according to staff at the Tom Brown arena via L. who, as a lawyer and nervous mother, can question almost as well as a journalist).

We're told there will be a presser about this before the clinics open at 2:30 p.m. When it happens, I will call to inform L of the details, so she ca then inform those running the clinic what they should be doing. ... as they have told her they have no way of knowing what the City is planning after the presser occurs. sigh.

A breakthrough has been made, though. The choice of arena as clinic location no longer eludes L. She informs the choice was not for added parking, as those coming for the vaccine are not allowed to use the parking lot — even though it is rather empty. Nor was it picked for the space to keep those hundreds in queue warm, as the inoculatees — those who are most vulnerable, including the very young, elderly, ill and pregnant — must wait outside ... to then take off their jackets, roll up their sleeves and be inoculated outside.

Wise of the city, really. Arenas are such awful places to sit and sip hot cocoa. And hold so few people.

"They picked this arena so we could be soothed by the brown and orange view. The ambience is just perfect," she said.

Am beginning to wonder if the entire process is not some grand installation art piece commenting on the effect of fear-mongering on people's tolerance levels. Or make us begin to love the 70s architecture of our community centre/arenas as a source of glorious, yet elusive warmth (and bathrooms). Or, it is a way to decimate population numbers. Who needs voters, anyway.

After this debacle of distribution, I remain convinced stockpiling in case of real emergency should be a choice for Ottawa's citizens. In this relatively mild emergency, where are their trained and experienced emergency preparedness staff? And, if there are none - forbid - why not make use of those who can manage and distribute required vaccinations/goods? The Red Cross office is a few blocks over, oh Mayor and council. The army is a baseball's throw away.


Hell, I'd do a better job.

All (Hallow's) Eve read

Have written about this chap before, but care not. If you are at all seeking a good novel to read (and you should be) and/or seeking something intelligent and not too dreadful as Hallowe'en fare I recommend this series by Phil Rickman. Not a vampire to be found, I fear, rather a very foibled Anglican priest (female) who finds herself the area exorcist. In tiny villages on the border between Wales and England. oooOOooOOoooOOoo old churches and pagan worship.

Great characterization, a little spook, some mystery and well crafted prose = good times, my friend. Have just received this latest softcover series installment and am planning a good hermitage to enjoy it.

On Monday. Erg. Tuesday. Got that sleep study Monday night.

Not sure how they expect anyone to sleep well with people watching you through a two-way mirror*. Still not sure if I am allowed to bring my own pillow and duvet. Hospital blankets always suck. Someone please explain to me how airlines can get it better.

*what friend L. predicts shall occur, with my prancing about all evening taunting them.

Devastation

Have inadvertantly uncovered information which has left me sobbing at almost 4 a.m. in the morning.

And I'm wondering now, why? What good do these tears? Why be so affected?

Just shut it off, whispers my old, comfortable friend lurking not so unconsciously in my head. What silliness is this pain; what stupidity to allow it to be. Why feel anything at all?



These are the moments when I need to run. Dangerous ground, this.

... where I channel a teen boy and eat cereal for dinner

I have these memories of my brother inhaling bowl after bowl of cereal as soon as he came home from school (while watching Indiana Jones, the theme song for which is now engraved in my song-lexicon forever).

Seems this is a common enough practice for teen boys for reasons which are beyond me as the cereal of choice (Shreddies — Captain Crunch, on occasion) is often not of the satiating sort — not that so much starch ever can be, to me. *shudder*

Obviously, cereal's appeal as snack/meal probably had much to do with ease, demands of growing belly and how petulant Indie becomes if he and his whip are not being watched at precisely 4 p.m. For the 16,134th time.

Now as an adult, having been finally convinced of the merits of eating thrice a day, I am struggling against the demands of nutritionists. Frankly, though I can eat a lot I can not consume as much as "is recommended" or even as laid out as daily instructions.

After trying to appease them in battle to help my body heal, it is time to reassert that I have intrinsic, physical preferences.

(We're getting to the cereal.)

Notably: I prefer a lighter meal in the evening, more protein than starch at breakfast (fish and eggs sounds perfect, thank you) and a more substantial meal at lunch time, work permitting — so long as it does not include pasta as that will make want to fall asleep. Protein in almost any form, sans over processing, is always welcome.

Cereal, therefore, is not something I find palatable first thing in the morning. This includes the high-protein, soy-based-but-very-processed cereals I have tried in an attempt to get more of the protein, grains and nuts needed in my diet. (Those popular refined, sugary cereals will never darken my doors.)

Sadly, my foray through the muesli, organic, granola, health-food-store varieties have been uninspiring (and expensive); too sweet, too light, too disgusting for a meal or even snack, taking ages for me to consume.

Even the quinoa cereals — originally thought a winner — disappointed, though Canada's Gogo Quinoa's cereal would be perfect for the cocoa-puff addict trying to wean themselves towards something more healthy.

Now, why not make my own quinoa with milk as snack or granola for storing and eating as I wish? Well, I could. I do, on occasion but frankly, I'm not a weekly or even monthly granola-maker type. Maybe eventually, but not now.

And luckily I do not have to as I stumbled across some (not very cheap) cereal at my local Independent Grocer that fits my needs precisely. Take note, stockists and get some on your shelves.

Dorset Cereal is crafted just outside Dartmouth, England — that's in Dorset to those who do not know. I say crafted because everything about the stuff smacks of cottage industry (though there was obviously some cunning marketing behind the packaging design of the quaint box).

I cannot tell you what a joy it was to pick up the package and read only whole ingredients listed.

According to their website they make cereals of many varieties, including porridge, bars and a new sweetened cereal for kids. I was faced with a much more limited choice, but decided to buy the fruit, nut and seeds variety which includes 45 per cent of the above and multi-grain flakes.

It is called muesli on their website but it is like no muesli I have ever had, as it stays intact through liberal dousing with milk.

What can I say about its contents? Not sweet as I feared, but not bitter. Everything in it is identifiable in your bowl: dried apricot, raisins, whole hazelnuts, almonds, full grains of various sorts, pumpkin and sunflower seeds.

It's refreshing in its clean-ness and a small bowl is enough, even for a quick dinner after a late-night in the newsroom. I even had it for breakfast a few times, happily. Shocking.

Now, the cereal is not the highest in protein per 60g (6g) nor lowest in calories (230 cal) or sodium (20mg) or fibre (4g) but who cares? It contains all the seeds and nuts you need in one little box without any excess, chemical fuss or content (or added salt). The UK Vegetarian Society also approves.

With this cereal in hand, I'll gladly take more ribbing from my friends that I am, in fact, a pubescent male and leave the weird cranberry-flavoured stuff that comes in huge boxes with unnatural sounding ingredients that lasts only a week to them. So there.

(I do recommend, if you buy, shaking the package a bit as the banana flakes tend to drift to the bottom. My last bowl was a vervet monkey's dream. )

Sadly, last time I was at the store there was none to be found on the shelves. Please, if you do find some, let me know where it is. I have a whole massive line to get through to find my favourites.

Babies

I am somehow not surprised that someone I know's first facebook post postpartum is not about her baby but, rather, how much weight she has lost.

20 pounds, we are told.

Open for debate: is this due to the nature of facebook, privacy, lack of having a name - more than a week on - for the baby and finding that embarrassing or  - um  - something else entirely.