Don't Taze Me Bro, Eh?

One of the fun things about travel is the opportunity to see a wider range of proof of the idiocy of mankind. Here is a flyer that's posted on lampposts all over downtown Vancouver. It seems, the Vancouver Police tased some guy and he's hoping there are witnesses--with video.

Let's examine his case. He was at ground zero for the club scene. It was Saturday night. The death of the Polish guy who got lost at the airport, followed by the death of a guy in Montreal, followed by the death of an inmate in Nova Scotia has to make the police cautious about using tasers. So, I'll have to say that this guy was probably drunk, belligerent, and deserved to be tased.

Il Neige (It's Snowing)

It snowed last night. Schools are closed, trains are derailing, and traffic is bad. But victory is mine because Chapters was open and I got the latest l'Express whose cover story is about Barack Obama. So I'm off to read about Obama en francais.

The snow was heavy up in the mountains which affects me because tonight I'm heading up Grouse Mountain. Every year at this time there is an "event" called Dine Out Vancouver where dozens of local restaurants develop a $15, $25 or $35 fixed 3 course menu. Each course has a recommended BC wine. Tonight 8 of us will eat at The Observatory overlooking a snowy Vancouver at night. It will be wonderful. If anyone ever wants to come to Vancouver, the Dineout Vancouver is a great time to come--just make your reservations early because the places fill up fast.

Bon Voyage Party, Feb 9

Our party is decided. Elena and I will have a bon voyage party at a friend's house. It will be Saturday, February 9. If you didn't get an invitation, and you know either Elena or me (or someone else who knows one of us), then email us and we'll add you to the list. We're expecting a lot of people from the Greater Vancouver Area, so it'll be a good time.

Elevator at Elena's

One of things I get to look forward to over the course of my voyage is mechanical failures and breakdowns. "En panne" is something I expect to see and hear a lot in Africa. So in my first step on my journey to Vancouver, I get a taste of things to come.

I'm staying with Elena at the moment. Her building, is 12 stories high and has 2 elevators. Except, one of them is out of service and has been since I got here a month ago. So when you call the elevator, it can take a really long time. I've discovered that there is a lady on the 6th floor who has a friend on the second floor. She visits a lot.

Today, I went out to write into my journal over a beer and hamburger. When I came back, the elevator was on the 9th floor. I called it by pushing the button. I watched it as is slowly descended: 8........7........6........ Please 5! Please! No, stopped on 6. I figured there was a 50/50 chance that would mean a stop on 2. It restarted. 5.......4........3.......2........ Please 1! Please. Nope. Stopped on 2. It finally arrived. I got on and came up. I hope the fix the elevator soon.

Democrats Abroad

It seems that there is an organization called Democrats Abroad that will aid those of us who are abroad and would still like to vote. I looked into joining, but you have to choose a country and then you have to be approved by the local branch in that country. Well, I'm in Canada right now, but at the time of the election, who knows where I'll be? If Obama is the nominee, I'll certainly try to be in Kenya to watch their reaction to a native son running for the White House. On the more likely event that it's Hillary, I'll be anywhere. Who knows where. Ethiopia? Kenya? Still stuck in Cameroon? Maybe traipsing around a place I'm not even considering right now (after all, I might meet a woman during my travels--in Seattle I'm just another plain, boring software developer, but in Africa, I'll be a courageous, fascinating adventurer).

I would like to vote, not because I think my vote will affect the Presidential race (if a Republican wins WA, they won anyway), Senatorial race (after Murray and Cantwell, this is our year off), or the House race (Capitol Hill will never elect an elephant--and McDermott will run again), but because my vote could affect the governor's race. In the last election against Dino Rossi, Christine Gregoire won after a couple of recounts, starting from behind, by a mere 129 votes. It looks like Rossi wants to run again and I hope Gregoire wants to run again. So my vote might count in that. The thing I need to figure out is how to join Democrats Abroad when I'm traveling through multiple countries with only a vague idea of an itinerary.

Loonie vs Greenback

I'm glad I made a couple of purchases and withdrew a bunch of cash when I did--back when it only took about 97 cents to buy a Canadian dollar. Now it's almost back to par. Man, I picked the wrong time to travel. The US dollar is so weak. It does have the salutary effect of making me watch my budget more closely than ever. But, I suppose we are at a point where it can't get too much better, anyway. The American public has been consuming more than it produces and paying the difference with debt. Now they are all maxed out and the world can't find enough stuff to buy from us to make our dollars worth anything. I'm glad I'm getting out to see the world now. Some tough times are ahead.

Yoga "Goddess Pose" Mystery

As you know if you've been reading this blog, I started doing yoga at Yaletown Yoga. I've been doing "Power Yoga" and "Hot Yoga". I've noticed a few difference between the yoga I used to do at Samadhi in Seattle and the yoga at Yaletown. Some of the difference are nomenclature and some are operational differences. The heat at Yaletown is obviously one big difference.

One difference has been extra strange to me. What we call alternatively the "Exalted Warrior" or "Reverse Warrior" at Samadhi is not called that at Yaletown Yoga. Rather, they call it the "Goddess Pose". So I decided to google the terms and see if I could determine if there is any difference between these, and if not, what communities use each term with what frequency.

There seems to be a lot of support for calling the pose "Exalted Warrior" and "Reverse Warrior", but I was completely unable to find any google evidence of that pose being called "Goddess Pose". Maybe I just didn't look hard enough? Rather, I did find that "Goddess Pose" is an actual term for what we called "Supta Baddha Konasana". There is a lot of googly evidence for this translation.

So what's up with Yaletown Yoga's nomenclature? Is it a Vancouver thing? Or a Yaletown thing? Or a British Columbia thing? I'll have to dig deeper into this mystery.