Yearly Archives: 2020

July 5, 2020

What a beautiful day for a bike ride… so, off I went, on a long one.

Usually, these rides wind up down by the water somewhere… Spanish Banks, Kits, out by Science World, English Bay, Stanley Park. I always manage to wind up at one of them. Today, it was most of them. And certainly, almost always, Vanier Park –- that beautiful, wide-open green space behind the Planetarium. Back in the 90s, when I lived near Granville Island, I was there almost daily. I’d usually walk west from my place… sometimes so lost in thought, I’d suddenly (well, a few hours later) find myself at UBC and have to take a bus back home.

But Vanier Park… there were two reasons I loved that spot. One, my favourite bench (which is still there, overlooking the water) and two… Ray Bethell.

If that name doesn’t ring a bell, it’s about to… because if you were ever down there at some point over the last 40 years, you’ll almost certainly remember the guy whose kite flying was so out-of-this-word that it was hard to imagine that what you were seeing was actually real. The guy flying three kites at once; one from each hand, the third tied to his waist, all three synchronized and doing acrobatics that were hard to believe and astonishingly beautiful.

I got to know Ray pretty well back then, and I’d often stop and chat with him. In fact, when he passed away in December of 2018, I wrote a little bit about it… back in the days when I didn’t post much to Facebook, haha. You can read it here:

https://www.facebook.com/kemeny.ca/posts/10156384761247481

And so today, as I was riding around that corner that used to be his turf, I thought about an interesting aspect of his life; he was older than I am today when he picked up his first kite. He then lived another 38 years… where, over time, he simply became the best in the world. As I wrote in that piece, whether you’ve seen him doing his thing or not, go re-live some memories and/or prepare to be astonished. Just Google the name or find him on YouTube. The dark, leathery tan… the wide grin… the unique cap. A lot of tattoos, with a lot of stories to go with them. And, of course, the kites.

It just goes to show, sometimes you can teach an old dog new tricks. Ray himself had a most interesting life, an eclectic collection of jobs. It was after he retired that he took up kites… which led to sponsorships and world travel and a whole 2ⁿᵈ act of his life.

Especially for those from whom this pandemic has been a life pause/reset/restart… or, at least, has led to some sort of introspection that further leads to thinking “what next” -– there you go. It’s never too late to do something else… and to eventually be doing it far better than you ever imagined.

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By |2020-10-08T01:21:27-07:00July 5th, 2020|Categories: COVID-19 Daily Report, Politics, Science of COVID-19, Life in Vancouver, Space & Astronomy, Philosophy, Art & Literature|Tags: , , , , , , , , |6 Comments
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July 4, 2020

I grew up watching a show called The Dukes of Hazzard… which, in its time, was very entertaining. The two super-cool cousins with their awesome car that could virtually fly over rivers… the buffoon cop Roscoe always chasing them… the even bigger buffoon Boss Hogg — the rich guy who ran the town and for some reason had it in for the Duke boys… perhaps some old score to settle with their Uncle Jesse. And of course, Daisy Duke. That was good TV back in the early 80s.

I’m not sure of the status of that show with respect to re-runs… I expect it’s been yanked, not really for the content… but because the real star of the show was a flaming orange 1969 Dodge Charger named The General Lee… with a big confederate flag painted on its roof. As fun as the show was, some things don’t age well. As a kid, I didn’t have a clue about the implications of any of that. Neither did any of my friends, all of whom watched it too.

But today is The Fourth of July — Happy 244ᵗʰ birthday to our neighbour to the south. You know, thinking back, we’ve all had birthday years we’d all like to forget about? I suspect in hindsight, this will certainly be one of those for the U.S.

Hazzard county was in Georgia, and there’s a lot more to worry about down there these days than those two cousins in their speedy car bootlegging moonshine, or their other cousin who made famous those shorts. I wish that were their biggest problem today… but it’s not.

My birthday wish… for Hazzard country, for Georgia and for the whole country… get better soon.

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By |2020-10-08T01:21:27-07:00July 4th, 2020|Categories: COVID-19 Daily Report, Sports & Gaming, Philosophy, Art & Literature|Tags: , , , |15 Comments
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July 3, 2020

Donald Trump has been pontificating about his southern border wall for as long as we can all remember. He’ll build the wall, Mexico will pay for it, blah blah. Well… it’s interesting, it may end up happening just like that, for exactly the opposite reason. Certainly, nobody is rushing into those southern states these days, but… on the flip-side, Mexico has problems of their own, and like Canada these days, is not interested in a swarm of American tourists. Build a wall and keep them in…

Up here, we’re dealing with the same thing. There’s a bit of a hole in our virtual wall – the free pass that Alaskan residents get on their way from Washington… they’re supposed to go straight home, but somehow, license plates from Texas, California, Washington etc… have been spotted pretty far from whatever could be defined as a corridor to Alaska. We’re not supposed to be open to American tourist traffic. Especially with this weather.

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By |2020-10-08T01:21:27-07:00July 3rd, 2020|Categories: COVID-19 Daily Report, Politics, Life in Vancouver|Tags: , , , , |5 Comments
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July 2, 2020

This is a personal taste issue…. but to be honest, I never feel more ripped off than when I go to bite into a chocolate-chip cookie, and it turns out to be oatmeal-raisin. I’m not bashing oatmeal-raisin cookies; I understand some people love them… possibly more than chocolate-chip cookies (inconceivable!)… but it’s not my thing. Oatmeal, meh. Raisins… nah. Put them together? Whatever. But… chocolate-chip cookies?! Man… that’s where it’s at. I really like chocolate-chip cookies. I don’t like oatmeal-raisin.

And let’s start with that… there’s a big difference… between… I like X, I don’t like X, I dislike X. All three mean very different things, but we often confuse the last two; “I don’t like something”… to most people means you dislike it. But it shouldn’t.

  1. I like chocolate-chip cookies (YAY)

  2. I don’t like oatmeal-raisin cookies (WHATEVER)

  3. I dislike raw liver (BOO)

    The English language fails to address the neutrality of “I don’t like”, which really means the same thing as “I don’t dislike”, but I think it’s becoming more important to recognize it these days, especially because of the polarization that’s taken place with respect to opinions. Nobody seems to be neutral on anything… and this is especially relevant when it comes to associating things that shouldn’t be placed in the same cookie jar, but are. A good example is Trump supporters and masks. Those two things should have nothing to do with each other, but do. If you like Trump, you dislike masks. You don’t “not like” masks… you actually “dislike” them. And yeah yeah, I’m generalizing. It’s not everyone… just most. And by most, I mean like the bar owner in Texas who’s banned masks. While some business will allow you to walk in the door without a mask, this guy will prevent you from coming in if you have one. Similar to the gas station convenience store in Kentucky where masks are banned. Or, an L.A. flooring store where masks are banned, but handshakes and hugs are encouraged. These people don’t “not like” masks. They dislike them… a lot. You know how most people don’t like getting sick… as we’ve learned, that’s not accurate. They dislike it. Many of them will soon be able to make the distinction themselves.

    Here is some U.S. data for new cases, averaged over 7-day periods. Up to yesterday, here are the new-cases per-day average for the last 6 weeks:

    5/21 – 5/27: 22,059

    5/28 – 6/03: 22,260

    6/4 – 6/10: 23,426

    6/11 – 6/17: 24,001

    6/18 – 6/24: 32,747

    6/25 – 7/01: 44,989

I was going to say I don’t like what’s going on south of the border, but that’s wrong. Let me be clear: I dislike it… very much.

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By |2020-10-08T01:21:28-07:00July 2nd, 2020|Categories: COVID-19 Daily Report, Politics, Business & Economics, Philosophy, Art & Literature|Tags: , , , , , , , |15 Comments
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July 1, 2020

Happy Canada Day, everyone!! … and as I mentioned yesterday, as always, July 1st also marks that tipping point — the halfway point of the year. Although it seems like ten thousand, we’ve only experienced 184 days in 2020. There are 185 days left.

You know how when you go away somewhere, it always feels like you’ve been there forever… but it’s only been a few days. It has to do with how we perceive time. When you’re doing something new, you’re much more “in the moment”… and you remember it, and you remember the time it took to experience it. As opposed to things we do routinely, on auto-pilot. We barely remember it, and time just flies by. Instead of taking the usual way home, next time, veer into some side streets you’ve never navigated. The 5 or 10 minutes you add to your trip will feel like 30. Simply the result of engaging your conscious brain, which then has to actually deal with what’s being thrown at it… as opposed to letting your subconscious deal with it. This year… every day has been something new, something way out of normal, something to remember. And it’s felt like forever.

So what will the latter half of this year bring? Well, I had a long list of ideas, hopes and aspirations for 2020. I wrote those down in late December, read them on New Year’s Day… and like everyone who made resolutions and plans this year, I couldn’t possibly have been more wrong. The old “Wow… didn’t see that coming…” which gets a fair sure of use during normal times… has certainly been worn out.

I reflect today on the fact of how lucky we are… and by “we”, I mean the majority of people reading this… who I assume to be in Canada, mostly B.C. Across this province and across the entire country, there’s no better day to celebrate that. I can’t begin to tell you what this 154th year of this country will look like, though these days, we’re learning a lot more about the great — and not so great — history of this country. For all the good and bad that went into it, and especially these days. acknowledging the bad… and undertaking to do something about it… this is still without a doubt the greatest country in the world. If you don’t believe me, go visit some others. It doesn’t matter where I’ve been or what I’ve experienced… for me, coming home is always the greatest feeling. Landing at YVR and then stepping outside, and taking a deep breath of that crisp, clear air… Ill never get tired of that.

Indeed, my life in Canada began that way, as a little kid… an immigrant, ESL, a whole new culture. I remember my first day in Canada, back in July of 1974… in detail. I don’t remember the subsequent 17,000 or so days anywhere near as clearly. As per above, you get into a routine… but let’s not take it for granted, and be appreciative of what we have. It’s hard sometimes to do that, because we’re so used to it… but as we can see from around the world, it doesn’t take much to send things in the wrong direction. It’s important to remember that, especially these days… we are very fortunate, and we have a lot to celebrate.

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By |2020-10-08T01:21:28-07:00July 1st, 2020|Categories: COVID-19 Daily Report, Philosophy, Art & Literature|Tags: , , , , , |16 Comments
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June 30, 2020

Lobsters are fascinating creatures… they can live to be over 100 years old, they’re fertile till the day they die, they have blue blood, and every other sea creature generally leaves them alone to live their lives. They live long, untroubled lives… unless they wind up in a dirty tank at the front of a restaurant with their claws trapped by rubber bands.

Many years ago I was at a Chinese restaurant and was looking at the menu which was written in both English and Chinese… so I was trying to map the 3 Chinese characters to what they mean. By comparing “Lemon Chicken” and “Sesame Chicken”, I could figure out “Chicken” and then quickly figure out “Lemon” and “Sesame” and verify it against “Sesame Vegetables” and figure out more from there. A fun brain exercise. A fun game of decoding. Anyway, what I think I figured out is that “Lobster” is described in Chinese as “Little Sea Dragon” — isn’t that cute? I was so proud of myself for figuring that out.

Actually, another restaurant story… this one from Costa Rica… a group of us went to a really good restaurant… seafood, of course, right on the beach. We were there for about 5 hours and consumed at least twice as many bottles of wine. And when we were staggering out of there in the wee hours of the morning, we passed the lobster tank near the door. It was full of normal sized lobsters, and one giant monster. One of my friends… Scotty, who is almost certainly reading this… asked about that lobster… how old is he, how long has he been here? And upon hearing the answers, declared, “I’m freeing him!!”

“What, señor?”

“You heard me! I’m buying that lobster right now, and I’m setting him free!!”

So he did. Not a cheap lobster… but we all ceremoniously marched him down to the water and launched him into the pitch-black abyss of freedom. I’d like to hope he made it into deeper water, and wasn’t to be found back in that tank a week later.

Actually, another side-note… there’s a very interesting/bizarre movie called “The Lobster”. If you want a real “WTF was that?!” movie experience, I highly recommend it. Don’t google it or read about it; just watch it… and… nah, ok, no spoilers.

Lobsters… here’s the thing… a lobster is actually a soft-tissued creature that happens to live in a shell all its life. And as it grows, it needs bigger shells. Multiple times in its life, it’ll shed its shell by a process called “molting”, and inhabit the new one it’s been growing. The interesting thing is that it only grows into a new shell when it’s grown big enough to get uncomfortable in its current one. In other words, the lobster only grows as a result of its discomfort. If he were a happy little lobster never pushing his boundaries of comfort, he’d never grow. Which is all, of course, a bit of a metaphor to simply state that as we navigate through life, it’s sometimes when we push through our points of discomfort and challenge ourselves a bit, that we grow. Correction — that’s pretty much the only time we actually grow. Knowledge can come from the outside, but growth comes from the inside. And if we all sit around getting fat and lazy because life no longer poses any challenges, I guess it’s up to us individually to impose some discomfort onto ourselves and make the best of it.

Certainly this pandemic has thrown us all into an unforeseen amount of discomfort; what we do with it seems to be about the only thing left in our control. And to extend the meaning a bit further… the lobster is most vulnerable when it sheds its shell… for a period of time… between a few minutes up to a few hours, he is without his armour… naked and exposed to the world. The epitome of truly uncomfortable. If that’s the way 2020 has left you feeling so far, you’re not alone… but tomorrow begins the latter half of the year… every day is one day closer to being able to look back at this year with 20/20 hindsight (haha, that used to be a lot funnier) and figure out what we made of it. The shell we’re all trying to grow is a silver lining around a pretty big cloud.. what it all ends up looking like… individually, collectively… remains to be seen.

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By |2020-10-08T01:21:58-07:00June 30th, 2020|Categories: COVID-19 Daily Report, Humour, Sports & Gaming, Philosophy, Art & Literature|Tags: , , , , , |16 Comments
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June 29, 2020

One good thing about Mondays is we get some updated data for everything.. and for the most part, at least in Canada, it looks pretty good. An average of 9 new cases a day over the last few days, here in B.C., though I suspect we’ll see that go up in a week or two. A little family cluster may make a small difference, but Brandi’s?

Those guys were operating with the same sort of license and permission as a pub or restaurant — many of which are open… as opposed to a nightclub, all of which are still closed, as they should be. But from a disease-transmission point-of-view, I’d have to think Brandi’s to be a higher risk than a typical nightclub, let alone a restaurant/pub. Not speaking from experience… but I’m pretty sure whatever guidelines should have been in place… were not being followed, though I’d be curious to see what an acceptably-socially-distanced lap-dance might look like.

Brandi’s is presently shut down, and is likely to remain that way… so we may never know. But I’m sure at least a few people who were there on those nights when they may have been exposed… are not too keen to come forward… and, as such, might themselves become patient zeroes of their own clusters. That “Honey, I’m going to be working late at the office” crowd… we shall see.

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By |2020-10-08T01:21:58-07:00June 29th, 2020|Categories: COVID-19 Daily Report|Tags: , , |10 Comments
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June 28, 2020

I’m not a big fan of countries or provinces deciding to limit their reporting on new cases and whatever else. It’s like they’re deciding what they think we need to know, or want to know. I think we’re all sick and tired of misinformation, and lack of information is the same thing. It’s funny… we used to laugh at places that did this. There were those rather amusing episodes of the Iraqi information minister, during the 2003 invasion… the guy just making it up as he went along, claiming with indignation that the Americans were nowhere near Baghdad — even as, in the background, American tanks could be seen and heard rolling by. It was really funny when it was them. But now, south of the border… the president has been at it for a while, and now the vice-president is getting in on the act… standing up in front of crowds, the media, the world… spewing complete and utter bullshit.

“We have made truly remarkable progress in moving our nation forward,” Pence announced… somehow disregarding the 2,500,000 infections, 125,000 deaths and surging numbers in the majority of states. The worst numbers on the planet. “As we stand here today, all 50 states and the territories across this country are opening up safely and responsibly.” Wow. Now it’s not so funny, is it.

Well, I will do what I can reporting whatever numbers are made available… usual disclaimer, if it’s in italics and grey and smaller font, it’s just a guess. Average, extrapolation, intelligent guess… until I can (hopefully) backfill it with some real numbers. Quebec’s explanation is that they’re doing so well that they don’t need to update things daily. Well, that’s fantastic until the weekly update shows up with a 500% increase. I hope that doesn’t happen.

And looking at the evolving disaster south of the border… where half the people, including those fearless leaders, are telling you “Mission Accomplished!”… while the other half are trying to be heard, saying… no… it’s not. Their numbers are up-to-date. And scary.

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By |2020-10-08T01:21:58-07:00June 28th, 2020|Categories: COVID-19 Daily Report, Politics|Tags: , , , , , , |1 Comment
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June 27, 2020

Until I run out of interesting words, I’ll keep coming up with them… such as…

Lachesism (noun): The desire to be struck by disaster – to survive a plane crash, or to lose everything in a fire.

It’s an interesting one alright… and perhaps one that’s relatable to anyone who at some point in life has felt like they need to hit a big reset button. There are some interesting pieces out there, written by people whose lives have gotten immeasurably better as a result of this pandemic. Trapped in a low-paying crappy job, or crappy living situation… or both… and with no way out. But suddenly… the job is gone. The bad roommate situation dissolves. The government helps. The online business takes off.

If there’s a lesson to be learned from that, it’s that you don’t have to wait for a huge disaster to start making changes. We’re all aware of what keeps us from making those big, life-changing decisions… usually fear. But it’s interesting… that when that decision gets made for you, people often surprise themselves with the ability to step up and deal with it. If it doesn’t kill you, it makes you stronger… and that often means stepping out of your comfort zone. Some people just can’t do it, but are very appreciative, in hindsight, when what’s on the other side of the comfort zone turns out to be a lot better. They just needed a little nudge. Or a huge, unexpected kick.

 

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By |2020-10-08T01:21:59-07:00June 27th, 2020|Categories: COVID-19 Daily Report, Politics, Business & Economics, Interesting Words, Travel Stories|Tags: , , |2 Comments
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June 26, 2020

Here’s another interesting word…

Mauerbauertraurigkeit: (noun) The inexplicable urge to push people away, even close friends who you like.

The context I’ll use to describe won’t involve a person, but rather an entire province… that being Quebec, who’ve announced they will no longer be announcing daily numbers…. and since they, by far, involve the greatest number of cases in the country… it now messes up all the numbers. I guess I will make intelligent guesses, based on pure speculation and a bit of math… and once a week, there will be a correcting entry to show just how off I am. Italic numbers in shaded grey are just good guesses.

Indeed, it feels like they’re pushing us away… “let us deal with our own issues” — but, of course, it affects us all. The national numbers will be off continually. My opinion… it’s a little too soon for that.

 

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By |2020-10-08T01:21:59-07:00June 26th, 2020|Categories: COVID-19 Daily Report, Interesting Words|Tags: , |6 Comments
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