On Your Marks, Get Set, Shop!

Some of us, we're hardly ever here,
the rest of us, we're born to disappear.
How do I stop myself from being just a number?
How will I hold my head to keep from going under?
~Vultures ~ John Mayer Trio~


The busiest shopping day of the holiday season is traditionally the day after Thanksgiving in the US, and so the insanity of holiday shopping officially begins with that smoking gun everywhere else too. For me, however, 'tis the season to be slothful. Winter is upon us a bit early this year, and I am finding it increasingly harder to get out of bed in the mornings because it's so cold everywhere else but under my duvet. This past week I only worked three out of five days due to snow and nasty negative temperatures with, I dread to say this... windchill. Windchill is evil and easily the one factor that makes winter such a hardship. There are many names for Windchill, for instance, this past week, our cold front was called an Alberta Clipper. That name alone sounds so bloody COLD that it strikes fear in my heart. I'll be digging out my winter jacket now. I was in denial before, but I'm slowly coming to terms with it. This winter is just going to suck and probably last until next May. Fuck you Winter!
So, anyways, two weeks from now I am going to get the shittiest paycheque ever for this work period. I also did nothing productive during the days I had off but sleep in and go swimming once with Gosha. Oh, and of course I've been watching a lot of Buffy and trying to get through the third season of Curb Your Enthusiasm. My favourite episode so far is 'Club Soda & Salt'. Some classic comedy there... I won't go any further except to say the last minute of the episode had me crying with laughter.
So should I count my blessings that I will still get at least one paycheque before Christmas? Probably.
However, 'tis also the season of lay-offs and I am dreading that day more and more, especially since you never can tell when the axe is going to fall. I live paycheque to paycheque and I just bought two new pairs of shoes. I think I have a shopping problem. I must rearrange finances so I can at least say that I accomplished paying back OSAP and buying Christmas gifts before I have no income. The worst thing is that every time I get a paycheque I also get a receipt with a summary of all the taxes taken off etc., but there is also an evil little column summarizing how much I have made so far this year. I cannot bring myself to look at that number without cringing since it always leads to me wanting to sit down and cry and then berate myself for not knowing how it all slipped through my fingers. None of it went to paying off debt so much as maintaining the status quo, which means only a fraction went to paying monthly interest charges. It's a grim situation.

On the days I did work this week, we were working within the ossuary enclosure because part of it is starting to fall out of the wall with all the thawing and freezing that is going on. So, we were cleaning up piles of human bone and bagging it before the construction company has their engineer come in and build sandbag support for the winter.
I have seen the ossuary a few times but have only been inside the tent a few minutes at a time. Working so close to it for a full day was completely different. I just had these overwhelming feelings of sorrow and depression. It was kind of a tight squeeze to fit four of us under the tarp though, so perhaps a lot of it was in my head and it was just the oppressive nature of the enclosure. Although I somehow doubt it. I just don't get that bothered by death unless it's right there smack in my face. Seeing that much bone probably triggered some sort of emotional response or extrasensory perception. Whatever it was, it eased off as the day continued, but the first few hours were kind of intense.

The latest development for the ossuary is that the native groups involved in the negotiations of dealing with this site have agreed to have DNA testing done on the remains. This is basically being done in order to figure out which group can claim the final right to decide if the ossuary will stay or move. It is purely a political move, but regardless of those motives it is really cool (and progressive) that this kind of study is going to be done. The only other archaeological DNA study I have heard of is the one that is being carried out in Lebanon and North Africa (Libya) where researchers are testing the local populations for genetic links with the Phoenicians. I assume there are probably more studies of this sort being undertaken throughout the world at this time and that it will become more commonplace in the next few years. It's definitely going to play into national ideologies of ethnicity and identity... probably demonstrating that Archaeology can play to both good and bad politics. We shall see I am sure.

And now for another totally different topic... if you're a Canadian and you use the iTunes store, are you not pissed off by how inadequate our music selection is? I mean I guess I can applaud iTunes for being really aware of promoting Canadian content (actually I credit that to the CRTC, SOCAN, and whatever other groups work to promote Canadian artists, moreso than iTunes itself) but at the same time, there is so much good music that is available in the American store that I want to buy but can't because I don't have a credit card registered to an American postal code. It's probably not that great of an argument to say that Canadian and American entertainment culture is so similar that we should get the same musical treatments, but I am going to play the devil's advocate here and say that we kind of are and I want a lot of the music available there to be available here. Also, our celebrity playlists are so BORING compared to the ones that are published for the US. The Canadian iTunes store has only been online for about a year now, so I guess we are still playing catch up with a lot of content, but sometimes I am so damn frustrated by how limited my musical choices are on that store. I am trying to do the right thing here and purchase my music legally but it's getting hard to do that when the content just isn't there. So... my solution? Well, it's evil, it probably hurts more people than it should, but it satisfies my craving. I just BitTorrent the shit out of everything I want to sample and if I like it, I'll eventually buy it.
Yes, I do like the cold hard CD copy in my hands. I would never buy a full album off of iTunes unless it was a limited edition online release, because I am not satisfied by digital full album downloading. I like to know that the money I spend is also going towards a nice package put together by the artists. It's probably irrational, but isn't it nice to know that when iTunes crashes during an upgrade or some other disastrous event, that you can just copy all your music back onto your computer again? The thought satisfies me...

Ok so speaking of BAD music, I saw on the iTunes store this week that the White Stripes did a cover of Tegan and Sara's "Walking with a Ghost" which is an awesome song. Now, I kind of loathe the White Stripes except recently I was digging that 'My Doorbell' song, so I thought to myself, 'I can sample the 30-second clip on iTunes' but what I heard was so blasphemous and painful to the eardrums that I was horrified. Firstly, it's kind of weird that the White Stripes chose to cover a recent song that was also a single for Tegan and Sara, but they are not a rational band in my mind, so who knows what the logic is there. And secondly, they did such a bloody bust up of that song, that it just solidifies in my mind how CRAP they STILL are. I bet Tegan and Sara were honoured that a group that is praised to high heaven by critics (who are also insane in my mind) wanted to cover their song, but really girls, protect your musical and artistic integrity here. RECLAIM your song from these evil evil people. Your song is awesome, their version blows donkey dongs. I hope you were paid so much money that you can retire with your banjoes, guitars, mandolins, and whatever else, strumming to the back porch of a house in a tropical paradise. And of course, laughing all the way to the bank.
I guess you had nothing to lose since you can still sing your song better and Jack White still howls like an off-key coyote. I guess that mostly, I'm just disappointed by the sell-out nature of this entire debacle. Ok, well, I will get over it because I won't ever listen to that P.O.S. again, but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth, and I want you to know that. So there.

Also on the topic of covers, I kind of like that Alanis cover of Seal's 'Crazy'. I still think Seal can sing it better, but it's interesting to hear some new range coming out of Alanis' mouth. So thumbs up on that one Ms. Morrissette. It's a way better offering than other artists have to give (still glaring at Jack White).