Some thoughts...
So I guess Rosa Parks, made famous by the Outkast song (and some act of civil disobedience) passed away today at the age of 92. To be completely honest, I've always held ambivalent feelings towards black history. It's not that I think that black people haven't contributed significantly to history but rather that the one month a year that we are taught black history is almost a cop-out. Why integrate black history in the regular curriculum when you can jam-pack it into four weeks. This does a disservice to the material because it creates the impression that it's not what was accomplished that is important but who accomplished it. Rosa Parks' story and all that she unintentionally stood for are important in and of themselves. Our Prime Minister Paul Martin hit it on the head when, discussing gay rights, he said that to deny human rights to one subsection of the population is to deny it to all.
On a different note, I've wondered lately what the consequences of the internet (specifically instant messaging) will have on the friendships of the generations who have grown up with it. You can't really lose touch with people anymore. Even from half a world away, they pop up in front of your face with a picture and a quirky little nickname: "Trixie - going fishing" or "Sebastien...when will it end???". You can catch little glimpses into the life of people with whom you've only ever shared email addresses. For better or for worse, it makes it more difficult to let people slide into the recesses of the mind. Old friends, co-workers, lovers, teammates and the memories these people evoke are constantly brought back to the forefront of our thoughts. Is this a good thing? Well I suppose it depends on the feelings that are associated with the friend but no longer can they be stored away in a shoebox to be opened on rainy Sunday afternoons only.
If anyone thinks the new rules established by the NHL are bad for the game is batshit insane. Being a native Montrealer, it is sacreligious for me to say this but I was never a huge hockey fan (in fact, I only ever really learned how to skate in CEGEP for a figure skating course - I also took a class in walking) but this year the games I have watched have made me a fan. It is a faster-paced game and no longer is a team holding a one-goal lead a lock for the win. If this is the new NHL, you can count me as a plus one in the fan department.
Like MastaCSG, I too will be having my 1000th visit to my blog since I've added the sitemeter. Unlike him though, I haven't had anyone referred to my site by googling how much their gun is worth. I do have a fan from the GTA who google searches "glen bremner" - it kind of creeps me out, to be honest. If I recognize the 1000th visitor, I'll make sure to send them a congratulatory email or something.
Wow, I feel like Rezaul.
So I guess Rosa Parks, made famous by the Outkast song (and some act of civil disobedience) passed away today at the age of 92. To be completely honest, I've always held ambivalent feelings towards black history. It's not that I think that black people haven't contributed significantly to history but rather that the one month a year that we are taught black history is almost a cop-out. Why integrate black history in the regular curriculum when you can jam-pack it into four weeks. This does a disservice to the material because it creates the impression that it's not what was accomplished that is important but who accomplished it. Rosa Parks' story and all that she unintentionally stood for are important in and of themselves. Our Prime Minister Paul Martin hit it on the head when, discussing gay rights, he said that to deny human rights to one subsection of the population is to deny it to all.
On a different note, I've wondered lately what the consequences of the internet (specifically instant messaging) will have on the friendships of the generations who have grown up with it. You can't really lose touch with people anymore. Even from half a world away, they pop up in front of your face with a picture and a quirky little nickname: "Trixie - going fishing" or "Sebastien...when will it end???". You can catch little glimpses into the life of people with whom you've only ever shared email addresses. For better or for worse, it makes it more difficult to let people slide into the recesses of the mind. Old friends, co-workers, lovers, teammates and the memories these people evoke are constantly brought back to the forefront of our thoughts. Is this a good thing? Well I suppose it depends on the feelings that are associated with the friend but no longer can they be stored away in a shoebox to be opened on rainy Sunday afternoons only.
If anyone thinks the new rules established by the NHL are bad for the game is batshit insane. Being a native Montrealer, it is sacreligious for me to say this but I was never a huge hockey fan (in fact, I only ever really learned how to skate in CEGEP for a figure skating course - I also took a class in walking) but this year the games I have watched have made me a fan. It is a faster-paced game and no longer is a team holding a one-goal lead a lock for the win. If this is the new NHL, you can count me as a plus one in the fan department.
Like MastaCSG, I too will be having my 1000th visit to my blog since I've added the sitemeter. Unlike him though, I haven't had anyone referred to my site by googling how much their gun is worth. I do have a fan from the GTA who google searches "glen bremner" - it kind of creeps me out, to be honest. If I recognize the 1000th visitor, I'll make sure to send them a congratulatory email or something.
Wow, I feel like Rezaul.
11 Comments:
A+ for the rosa comment! to tell you the truth i never understood why they have black history month or women's day for that matter.
HOckey is sick and is so much fun to watch! go see a LHJMQ game while you are there.
and yep your msn list needs a clean up every now and then, just delete contacts you dont use anymore.
By
Anonymous, at Wed Oct 26, 11:30:00 AM
yep, I think that is why you can delete or block users on chat interfaces. You still get to choose who you do/don't let into your life via internet chat systems. It just gives you the ability to hang on and peek into their life if you so choose. Its the random blog readers you really have to worry about.
and of course you know that everyone that reads this is now googling your name to see if your blog is the first site found.
By
Anonymous, at Wed Oct 26, 01:57:00 PM
Ridiculous. I don't clean up my msn list. I just let it grow wild and free like a field of dandelions.
I think the real fallacy of Black History Month is that someone was actually silly enough to segregate it from the rest of american history, as if everything done by black people occured in some seperate universe. Furthermore, it should be called, American Black History Month, because lots of stuff hapenned to Black People before we were enslaved by the Europeans. Like Morgan Freeman in Robin Hood. Or all those black guys who attacked Minas Tirith in Return of the King. And who could forget James Earl Jones as that black guy in Conan the Barbarian 2.
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Masta, at Wed Oct 26, 09:00:00 PM
Hey concerning this site-meter thing, do you find you get a lot of people searching for pics of scarlett Jo? Some guy from Qatar hit my blog looking for a picture of her I"m sure I got from your site. And someone, (possibly Scarlett) from britain actually did a search for my name, and browsed the site for some time.
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Masta, at Wed Oct 26, 09:14:00 PM
Actually I would say most of my hits are from people google searching Shiva or viruses. I referenced Shiva the destroyer once when I was talking about using the,umm, powder room. Virus was when my old computer went kapoot. Another big hit are the lobster pictures.
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Glen, at Wed Oct 26, 10:17:00 PM
Amazing post as always Glen. Couldn't agree with you more on Rosa Parks and the new look NHL. By the way I too took that skating course as well as the walking course. (Walking? Stupid Champlain with it's lack of choice, couldn't they have an actual sport for phys ed, instead of something that I don't know, I do every day!)
Thanks for the plug at the bottom of your post. By sheer coincidence I've updated my blog for my three loyal readers. You being one of them.
By
Rez, at Thu Oct 27, 12:17:00 AM
This was Chris's first choice of opening lines: "Ridiculous. I don't clean up my msn list. I just let it grow wild and free like my grown-man areas."
Anyway, I've only started skating 2 years ago, so you're ahead of me.
And it's so true about "American" Black history month. Some of these black leaders in the states choose to ignore blacks elsewhere, like they don't exist, yet turn around and insist on being called African-American. I don't get it. If you're white, I'm gonna call you white. If you're black, you're black. There's nothing racist about it. It's a simple description.
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Anonymous, at Thu Oct 27, 08:59:00 AM
I've only ever blocked or deleted one person from my msn list and that was Eric Brosseau's little cousin (I didn't even know her either). Man, she was annoying.
As far as random blog readers, most of the time I would say they leave disappointed since the average time they spend on my site is 0.00 minutes.
If you're interested to see who has blocked or deleted you from msn you can go to the site: http://msn.41m.com. Beware that it'll change your msn name to show that you visited that site. I found out that the person that inspired me to write that second paragraph has deleted me from her list.
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Glen, at Thu Oct 27, 10:51:00 AM
ACTUALLY,that site will put many viruses on your computer. Furthermore, I don't think it just includes people who have blocked you, but also people who appear offline.
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Masta, at Thu Oct 27, 08:51:00 PM
Damn.. didn't realize that and my norton antivirus didn't say a damn thing.
Oh, and I suspect that my 1000th visitor was Rez but I'm not sure.
By
Glen, at Thu Oct 27, 10:01:00 PM
I use something called Spyware Doctor. That's good stuff.
By
Masta, at Fri Oct 28, 07:46:00 PM
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