Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Disturbing

The newest Tickle-me-Elmo doll has secret moves. In order to advertise this doll without giving away the secret, Fisher-Price has decided to make probably the most disturbing, obscene commercial I have ever seen. Enjoy!

Monday, December 17, 2007

Barmizvah Brothers

The Barmitzvah Brothers, from Guelf Ontario, are neither Jewish nor are they related. But don't hold that against them. The trio's newest album, Let's Express our Motives, is "An Album of Under-appreciated Jobs", and features songs like "Bookbinder", "Library Page", "Thrift Store Owner" and my favourite of the moment, "Piano Tuner".

He's there on a bicycle
And there on his feet
You can see his wide bell out there on the street,
he claims its not a business but a dedication:
fifteen years and gratification.

Always a musician, he played the clarinet,
But working on the Steinways is the best that it gets

The Grand Spinnets the old uprights
it doesn't seem to attract young men, but eventually it might

You can keep a piano going two hundred years
if you use the right touch
he says he'll never retire, it's just not his style,
He just likes his job too much
Because it can't be taught, no it can't be taught,
Practice not training,
Just you go and ask him, he loves to tell you, and he'll start explaining:

There's fewer young men in tuning
you don't make your money right away.
Most are musicians having hard times
who need something to do with their day

The Grand Spinnets the old uprights
it doesn't seem to attract young men, but eventually it might

basic a440 then an octave down in relationship with that combination of tunes to make a good sound, up a fifth, down a fourth a circle of fifths and an octave, when you get it balanced in fourths and fifths you take thirds and sixths and you've got it, make sure it's balanced the rest of the octaves from up high down to down low, all you need is to count the beats and you can tune a piano

His mother told him he should consider
a job where he would use his ears.
His perfect pitch for working on the ivories
and he didn't think of it again for years,
but later he was able to see himself in the role his mother had once described
so he read as many books as he could gather and worked for free where he could try.

To do before Friday

Figure out what to do with Perelandra

Clean the house
Tidy living room
Clean bathroom
Clean kitchen
Clean bedroom
Finish laundry
Do dishes

Pack

Finish buying presents

Write a book review

Renew driver's licence and health card

Tie up all loose ends re: Youth

Order academic transcripts

Patience

It is Advent, and has been for three weeks now.

I have a very strict policy about Advent and Christmas. I don't allow myself to start counting down for Christmas until Advent begins. We don't decorate our apartment until the First of Advent, and even though it is one of the greatest pleasures of my life, I don't buy any eggnog until then either.

But once the first of Advent comes around, the decorations come out, the Christmas music starts playing and the eggnog starts flowing.

Advent, like Lent, is a period of waiting, of preparation. It is a time of repentance and of penitence. We make ourselves ready for the feast, and patiently count down the days.

David Widdicombe, the Rector of St. Margaret's gave a few sermons on patience recently. He talked about our tendency to call for patience in others mostly when we have lost our own. He talked about patience not only as a virtue, but as one of God's defining characteristics.

In the creation, God made space and time for creatures unlike himself. And this is the meaning of patience--making space and time for others. And now, in advent is, we have a time to practice patience. Not only to practice in the sense of rehearse, but to practice in the sense of to act out.

And although I am tempted to ask when my patience will finally be rewarded, when I can stop being patient, that is of course an impatient attitude. So I strive once again for patience as I make my way to Christmas.

Happy Advent