By the same logic, if a gym asks you to wear white-soled tennis shoes in their squash court that means that the gym values its floor more than its customers (and the fees they pay!).
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Odd Logic
Some people say that if you ask guests to take their shoes off you are implying that your floor is more important than your guests.
By the same logic, if a gym asks you to wear white-soled tennis shoes in their squash court that means that the gym values its floor more than its customers (and the fees they pay!).
By the same logic, if a gym asks you to wear white-soled tennis shoes in their squash court that means that the gym values its floor more than its customers (and the fees they pay!).
Friday, September 3, 2010
Kate Gosselin
According to a fan site, an American television personality I had never heard of called Kate Gosselin has a shoes-off policy in her home. Good for her.
Kosovo
It was only last month that the International Court of Justice ruled that the Kosovan declaration of independence from Serbia did not breach international law. Many countries have not recognised the sovereignty of Kosovo, but this ruling by the International Court of Justice will probably lead to more countries doing so.
I am not entirely sure what my opinion is on the subject. It is easy to sympathize with the ethnic Albanian Kosovars who want independence. On the other hand, what about the large ethnic Serbian minority? Will their rights be respected in the new Kosovar nation?
Evangelical Protestants in Kosovo are mostly from an ethnic Albanian and converted from a Muslim background, so tend to be strongly pro-independence. The danger for them is that they exclude the Serbian minority.
Whatever the rights and wrongs of Kosovar independence, I want to remind the ethnic Serbians and ethnic Albanian Kosovars that one thing they have in common is the custom of removing shoes in homes. It is a small thing, but maybe the small things in life that unite us are as important as the big things that divide us.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
An Ode to Summer
'An Ode to Summer'
Yellow powdered feet and wings, that stick and cling and fly and sting, and bring sweet memories home for the tasting; savoring breezes in a backyard, trees light waning greens, oranges, framed by a blue sky, nights kiss; sinking into dreams, melting into the lap of long unwinding roads of sleepy landscapes, where breath is gone and life is floating along, a cold foot on a warm wooden porch suns embrace, sons embrace, brothers laughter, mothers grace, nephew wide eyed innocence over-gripping in the throng of existence, relief and persistence; savory sweet full of expectations and drowning in comforts relaxation; dark blue white light filtered in from windows shade, adjusting silence sitting inside the presence of peaceful mindedness, engaging in the heart ache of sitting sorrowful and sound, peace creeps across the mind shutting doors and cellars soaring stellar stars that come crashing down to earth, meadows filled with the bright explosions of a day past into the shade of our minds, and we sit hugging our knees, tight like a seed, filled with natures own longing to succeed and grow; what amber light throws shadows that bend and stretch around sharp corners and reflect a dimension of a dark selfless border containing secrets that only life in the tiniest forms have seen; it reaches and crumbles the dirt between creases in the skin worn thin and wise with time it binds the heart and soul to passion; turning wheels that send out prayers in the absence of players on sidewalk stages, hand in hand crossed like star struck gazes melting the world away with water color imaginations, these one and two connected to all through actions and phrases where words and languages are obsolete, emotions make the soul complete.
Yellow powdered feet and wings, that stick and cling and fly and sting, and bring sweet memories home for the tasting; savoring breezes in a backyard, trees light waning greens, oranges, framed by a blue sky, nights kiss; sinking into dreams, melting into the lap of long unwinding roads of sleepy landscapes, where breath is gone and life is floating along, a cold foot on a warm wooden porch suns embrace, sons embrace, brothers laughter, mothers grace, nephew wide eyed innocence over-gripping in the throng of existence, relief and persistence; savory sweet full of expectations and drowning in comforts relaxation; dark blue white light filtered in from windows shade, adjusting silence sitting inside the presence of peaceful mindedness, engaging in the heart ache of sitting sorrowful and sound, peace creeps across the mind shutting doors and cellars soaring stellar stars that come crashing down to earth, meadows filled with the bright explosions of a day past into the shade of our minds, and we sit hugging our knees, tight like a seed, filled with natures own longing to succeed and grow; what amber light throws shadows that bend and stretch around sharp corners and reflect a dimension of a dark selfless border containing secrets that only life in the tiniest forms have seen; it reaches and crumbles the dirt between creases in the skin worn thin and wise with time it binds the heart and soul to passion; turning wheels that send out prayers in the absence of players on sidewalk stages, hand in hand crossed like star struck gazes melting the world away with water color imaginations, these one and two connected to all through actions and phrases where words and languages are obsolete, emotions make the soul complete.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Dust
re-post
You will have noticed that there is lots of dust on the streets, unless you live in Finland, where the streets are immaculate.
You will also have noticed that on dry days soily ground is dusty. It is estimated that 35% of household dust originates in outdoor soil.
Naturally, as much of it originates from the ground, dust contains all the sort of things that are on the ground, such as pesticides, weed killer and lead. Things which are not good for your health. Keeping as much of this dust out of the home is a really sensible idea and this means taking off your shoes at the door and asking visitors to do the same.
Even if the dust that gets in is not full of toxins, it is good to reduce it. It reduces the quality of indoor air and can be a source of allergies.
A fashionable strategy is to remove carpets, as they absorb dust. However, this may be counterproductive as without the carpet, the dust is exposed. If you are going to go carpetless, you either need to opt for shoes-off (for all) or sweep very often. Hence, whether you choose to opt for carpet or sans carpet, a shoes-off policy is totally adviseable.
You will have noticed that there is lots of dust on the streets, unless you live in Finland, where the streets are immaculate.
You will also have noticed that on dry days soily ground is dusty. It is estimated that 35% of household dust originates in outdoor soil.
Naturally, as much of it originates from the ground, dust contains all the sort of things that are on the ground, such as pesticides, weed killer and lead. Things which are not good for your health. Keeping as much of this dust out of the home is a really sensible idea and this means taking off your shoes at the door and asking visitors to do the same.
Even if the dust that gets in is not full of toxins, it is good to reduce it. It reduces the quality of indoor air and can be a source of allergies.
A fashionable strategy is to remove carpets, as they absorb dust. However, this may be counterproductive as without the carpet, the dust is exposed. If you are going to go carpetless, you either need to opt for shoes-off (for all) or sweep very often. Hence, whether you choose to opt for carpet or sans carpet, a shoes-off policy is totally adviseable.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Culture
re-post
Some people in Britain and the USA have an interesting perspective on this subject. They feel happy taking off their shoes at the home of an Asian person whose culture demands removal of shoes, but consider it deeply rude for a British or American person to insist on visitors to her home removing their shoes.
There are two problems with this attitude. Firstly, there is a touch of cultural arrogance about it. It implies that the Asian custom of removing shoes is purely of spiritual or cultural significance with no practical value. Maybe Asian people are primarily concerned about keeping their homes clean! Behind the pretended respect for a foreign culture, there is the unspoken assumption that Western practice is superior.
Secondly, this attitude seems to take a rather static view of culture, seeing it as a set of chains that bind people to particular rules of behaviour. In fact, culture is dynamic and fluid, it changes over time.
It seems to me to be quite obvious that if a person of Asian descent can be considered British while keeping her home shoe-free, it is perfectly acceptable for a White British person to keep her home shoe-free.
It may be the norm in Britain and most of the USA for shoes to stay on in homes now, but this may change. In fact, I believe it probably will. Many White Americans and even British people are adopting the custom of shoes-off in homes.
We are living in a global village with increased immigration, travel and communication between different cultures. There is tremendous potential for different cultural practices to migrate across geographical boundaries.
Some people in Britain and the USA have an interesting perspective on this subject. They feel happy taking off their shoes at the home of an Asian person whose culture demands removal of shoes, but consider it deeply rude for a British or American person to insist on visitors to her home removing their shoes.
There are two problems with this attitude. Firstly, there is a touch of cultural arrogance about it. It implies that the Asian custom of removing shoes is purely of spiritual or cultural significance with no practical value. Maybe Asian people are primarily concerned about keeping their homes clean! Behind the pretended respect for a foreign culture, there is the unspoken assumption that Western practice is superior.
Secondly, this attitude seems to take a rather static view of culture, seeing it as a set of chains that bind people to particular rules of behaviour. In fact, culture is dynamic and fluid, it changes over time.
It seems to me to be quite obvious that if a person of Asian descent can be considered British while keeping her home shoe-free, it is perfectly acceptable for a White British person to keep her home shoe-free.
It may be the norm in Britain and most of the USA for shoes to stay on in homes now, but this may change. In fact, I believe it probably will. Many White Americans and even British people are adopting the custom of shoes-off in homes.
We are living in a global village with increased immigration, travel and communication between different cultures. There is tremendous potential for different cultural practices to migrate across geographical boundaries.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Big Chicken
Name this problem.
Yowza! Bouldering is hard, no? Well, at least grabbing sharp crystals and bearing down on them with all your might is hard (read: PAINFUL).
It has been two years since I have been in Squamish due to unforeseen border crossing requirements that took place in 2009, but I'm BACK! I mean, I just GOT back from a fabulous trip to the almighty Squaw. And oh how nothing has changed. I mean it, NOTHING has changed, except well, I'm a little fatter, balder, and weaker. But all that aside, it was a really nice three days filled with random social encounters, great weather, sketchy landings, and TONS of finger scraping granite slopers and crimpers.
This is the first time I have been to Squamish without at least 5 or 6 people in tow. Instead it was just me and Jimmy. It kind of felt like a business trip. We were there to 'take care of business', the first of which was a campsite. So far our mission was a failure, so we headed for the boulders instead. Black dyke, sloppy poppy, great for the warming up of forearms and fingers. Next, ATD!! Everything so far felt coated in a nice layer of moist chalk and as I shakily humped myself up the heinous mantle of ATD and walked down from the top out huffing and puffing I knew the next two days were going to be very difficult. So I basically stood back and made sure Jimmy didn't kill himself topping out everything he got on.
Jimmy went on a little Rampage of his own. Over the three days we were there he killed a handful of classics like Squealing Pork, Gibb's Cave, Worm World Cave, ATD, and literally finished the trip by sending Big Chicken. Oh yeah, as a side note we also made a short morning trip out to the Sport Temple where he managed a .13a second go. I would like to forget about my performance on the ropes that morning.
All in all it was a great trip! And, I broke down and bought the shiny new guidebook, which BTW is one of the best purchases I have made. Tons of new problems, updates to old problems, and good general info.
Now, time for some pictures:
Resurrection(V.9)
Resurrection(V.9)
Ride the Lightning(V.8)
The story about the camping goes something like this:
We were about to shell out $30 for ONE night at Klahanie falls when we were approached by a woman who identified us as climbers and offered us a spot at her site where she had her trailer and would be staying for the month. Jen was a climber as well and a very gracious host, down to earth and very fond of Rockband. We ended up paying her $20 for two nights and almost got arrested while enjoying a fire on our second night, completely oblivious to the fact that Squamish was under a very strict burn ban (sorry Canada). But it was a great deal, we enjoyed the toilets, hot water, and the picnic table that cane with the site, and even got to hang out in her trailer one night. Thanks Jen!!
Exactly how fast is this in miles per hour?
Jimmy takes a stroll down Sesame Street(V.9)
Okay, I didn't exactly get any pictures of actual sends but I will be posting a video soon of Jimmy's redpoint of Big Chicken(V.10). Check here soon.
And, we'll be headed back for round two next week. Hope to see you guys out there!
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