Earth: Home or Fantasy? |
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Adventures in University and the great outdoors. "You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself Any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And you are the one who'll decide where to go ..." - Dr. Seuss 
Great Adventures Chic Chocs 2002 X-C Skiing Trip Report Chic Chocs 2003 Telemark Trip Report Patagonia Cycling Trip 2004 (Posted by Nick and Andrew) European Cycling Trip 2005 ---------- Bio Who: Benjamin Heumann Where: McGill University, Montreal, Quebec Why: Graduate School Major Malfunctions: Snow, Telemark Skiing, Snoeshowing, monkeys, Winter Camping, Back Country Skiing, Hiking, Cycling, monkeys, Sea Kayaking, and Rivers (river monkeys). e-mail:benjamin.heumann [at] mail.mcgill.ca Current Reading:The Star Diaries Lem Books of Note (Recently Read): The Futurological Congress, Lem Before Mao, Patrick Lescot Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro Plot Against America, Phillip Roth The Great Shark Hunt Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, R.I.P. Stranger in a Strange LandRobert A. Heilein Give War A Chance PJ O'Rourke Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Animal Farm Reefer Madness Cadillac Desert Ender's Game (again) Kingdom of Fear ------------ Links School Global Environmental and Climate Change Centre Homepage Other Internet Readings "When you think of how many kids died drinking alcohol, I feel I've saved millions of lives," -Tommy Chong
Archives
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Monday, May 31, 2004
FILLER:
Name Acronym Generator From Go-Quiz.com Thursday, May 27, 2004
ELECTIONS: For most of you, elections are still several months away. But here in the north land federal elections are less than a month away. The posters are up, the tv ads are going and one can even see campaign buses from time to time. Here at the green light basement (our new name for the apartment), the Green Party is moving into full action. The Green Party of Canada has few actually candidates and doesn't expect to win any seat. Instead, they are using the election as an opportunity to raise awareness of the environmentally weak policies of the majority liberal party and the opposition conservative party. My roommates Van and Tania are on the payroll of the Green Party as researchers. They write press releases, research docuements from the other parties, and provide party leaders with important information to form the party platform. In general I agree with what the Green Party stands for: transition to renewable energy and sustainable inductrial activites. Something different about this election compared to past elections is that this federal campaign financing for parties will be determined by voter support of each party. This means that even if one lives in a riding where there is little or no contest, voting for a party will result in $1.75 being contributed for the next election. For the Green Party, this could mean an increased war0chest to get the issues out during the next election cycle. Monday, May 24, 2004
LIGHT POSTING: Generally I like to post something daily, so that there is something new for the few people who do read this. Lately I have been dealing with what to do with the rest of my life, in addition to work, and a lot of fun. My friend Evan was up for the week, clearing out his apartment. Sort of a sad affair but things change and one must go along with the changes. Speaking of changes, I'm ready for a change. Currently I'm leaning towards going to the University of Alaska Fairbank for grad studies next year. Out of the bleu and (and into the white) I know but I really love winter, the outdoors and field studies. And then I could start drinking stories with "When I lived in Alaska" and "Up in Alaska" and "One time in Alaska". That I this is really the only time in my life when I will move to Alaska, because let's face, no same person would. Tuesday, May 18, 2004
I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE: Someone found my site by searching for "Why did I get rejected from grad school?" I don't know, but I feel your pain. Saturday, May 15, 2004
THE CORPORATION: This is the best movie I have ever seen. Yes, it is that good. I have about 1000 words of notes on stuff I want to write about based on this movie, but it will take me time to have it in publishable form. But GO SEE IT! Friday, May 14, 2004
JUST KILL THE HIM ALREADY: It seems that in another brilliant move my the idiotic Zimbabwe government (in case you can't tell I really hate Mbeki), they have closed all private schools because their fees are too high and exclude black people. This from the government that brought "agricultural reform" and has caused a severe food shortage in a country that used to provide the rest of Africa with food. I was reading an article in Atlantic Montly back in January when I was in South America about how Zimbabwe was so poor in hard currency, that it couldn't buy the paper and ink to print more money. I understand that the Rhodesian government was extremely racists and that a large majority of the land and wealth belonged to the minority white population, but this is not an excuse to run one of the few economically viable countries in Africa into the ground. (Via Reason) BAD ACCOUNTING: Nortel is being investigated by the RCMP, SEC, and the Feds. This will be a hard blow on a company who had to layoff most of its workforce just three years ago during the .com crash. My friend Mike was an electrical engineer for Nortel. He got away lucky: six months full pay. He was also offered a new job immediately after leaving Nortel, which meant he could take a few months off (fully paid!) and go climbing. Most people were not that lucky. I'm sure for those still with the company, things will only get worst. Wednesday, May 12, 2004
Tuesday, May 11, 2004
CREATING ANOTHER COLUMBINE: I clearly remember the first day of the school year following Columbine. We were filed into the gym to the start of school assembly. Our principal stood in front of the entire school body in the gym. He gave the usual welcome back Bulldawgs for a new school year. Then he gave a speech bullying will not be tolerated. At this time, there were many calls from educators and politicians to crack down on bullying to prevent another school shooting. Somehow (actually, not surprisingly) school administrators and politicians have lost track of punishing the bullies and are now punishing everyone who is involved in a physical dispute. They call is zero tolerance. I call it brainless Nazis practices SS techniques for the coming of the next dark age. Mitch Albom describes one student's situation. So if a student is picked on by a bully s/he can't fight back. If the student tells, most likely s/he will not only feel crummy for being a snitch, but will get picked on more. S/he becomes more and more frustrated and her/his life becomes more and more miserable. One day he/she has had enough. They grab a weapon, a fist, a knife, or even a gun, and they take actions into their own hands because it is the only way to make it stop. For more on Zero Tolerance, check out Zero Intelligence. Monday, May 10, 2004
AND THE WINNER IS: For curiosity sake, I google myself from time to time. Today I used "Ben Heumann". I discovered that I won an award for something I remember writing but not submitting (in fact, I probably should have refined it a little before sending it). Too bad things have only become worst since I wrote it. Somehow I don't feel like a winner. SWEET TOOTH: This reminds me of a certain roommate of my friend Evan who seem to constantly eat candy. This roommate also would throw her rubbish directly out the window or under she bed. DRUG WAR UPDATE: Drug WarRant reports on argumuments (or lack thereof on the governments part) presented to overturn the law banning ads on public transit promoting the legalization of marajuana. NEW JOB: I started my new job over in East Asian Studies. I am rebuilding a spatial database. What exactly is in the database, I'm still trying to figure out. It involves God worship, irrigation canals, surnames, and land-sue change. Not only to I not have the faintest idea about Chinese religion and community, everything is in Chinese. But I'm going to build them the best gosh-darn GIS database ever! Friday, May 07, 2004
MICHIGAN and NPR: I have been listening to Michigan Radio the last few days at work. Its interesting to listen where letters and callers are from. For example, today on the BBC world news 2/4 letters were from Michigan (Kalamazoo and Whitmore Lake). On the Diane Rehm show yesterday, I would say more than 30% of the callers were from Michigan. So the questions arise: Are Michiganders more active in radio shows than the rest of US?, Do they listen to NPR more? Why do Michiganders end up on NPR more? Does Ann Arbor just attract the sort of people who call or write NPR? Thursday, May 06, 2004
THE AWFUL TRUTH? Personally, I dislike Michael Moore. I think he is a lying, deceiving, slanderer. He uses the distasteful tactics of those he criticizes. And no, I don't think that is ok because he is on the "good" side. I agree with many of his views but not with his lies. Wednesday, May 05, 2004
"DUDE, YOU'RE 22": I had a long discussion yesterday about "life, the universe, and everything" with my friend and colleague Tim. After listening to me state my current situation of being lost in the world because all of my plans have fallen through, he made it all seem clear. "Dude, you're 22. Your best asset is time. Use it. Go have some fun. Fall in love. Go snowshoeing in Alaska and Cycling in Mexico. Then come back and go to grad school in a few years when you really know where and what you want to study. You will be happier and more successful." And he's right. Everything seems that much clearer. Thanks Tim. Monday, May 03, 2004
HOME: Just some stats (from US Census via Freedictionary.com about Sylvan Township, where I lived in High School. I knew it was white and well to do but this really shows it: There are 2,500 households out of which 33.0% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.7% are married couples living together, 8.9% have a female householder with no husband present, and 32.0% are non-families. 28.9% of all households are made up of individuals and 15.3% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.45 and the average family size is 3.03. In the township the population is spread out with 24.7% under the age of 18, 6.0% from 18 to 24, 26.1% from 25 to 44, 24.8% from 45 to 64, and 18.4% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 41 years. For every 100 females there are 91.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 84.6 males. The median income for a household in the township is $56,519, and the median income for a family is $73,450. Males have a median income of $51,424 versus $35,409 for females. The per capita income for the township is $28,781. 3.0% of the population and 2.1% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 2.0% are under the age of 18 and 4.6% are 65 or older. preview not available. Click the link for more information. MAY DAY: Happy Belated May Day. We had a BBQ at my place Saturday. It was wonderful: warm, sunny, lots of people, plenty of beer, and endless meat. I played several games of frisbee, caught up with friends, and generally enjoyed myself until 3am (its started at 3pm). At 3am, I was tired of my party and all my friends had left. So I went and watched a movie somewhere else. When I returned at 6am, the party was still going. I was tired, hundover, cranky. I went for a run. At 7am, the party was still going. I went to work. At 8:30 am the party was still going. I went to bed. At 2pm, there were still people in my house, including a baby. The aftermath was scary, took hours to clean. My roommates have sworn off of alcohol for months (we'll see). We have also banned the crazy Mexicans who arrived at our place at 2am and had to (almost) be forcibly removed at 9am. With that out of my system, its going to be a great summer. |
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