The Perfect Funeral

Personal Bits

I got word last Thursday that a good friend of my father had passed.

He’s not been having a good week, my Da. He just got notice that there’s a cyst-like mass almost blocking the tube from his pancreas to his gut and that will need to be removed. No, thankfully it doesn’t look like the Big C, but it still needs to be removed. Anyway, he’s just got that news the same day his friend passed. God’s been busy.

Ivan was the kind of “generous” that was self-less, the only kind there should be. One of my first memories of Ivan was his utter removal of my father in helping prepare for his own 65th birthday. Da eventually wrestled control of the party back from him but you get the gist: Ivan was an excellent listener, a planner and a highly motivated man.

Thinking back, one of the last conversations I had with Ivan was the night before the Pride 2007 vote for Grand Marshal. Ivan called me and said that he put out as much word as he could without upsetting the board at Prime Timers. While I (shamefully) voiced my negativity at my father’s chance to win the position, Ivan never once said “Let’s pack it in” nor did he ever suggest that Dad would not win. His attitude never wavered. He showed up that night and offered his support just as promised.

Ivan’s funeral was the kind of funeral you secretly fantasize your own will be like: standing room only, slightly more laughter than tears, warm stories from friends, family and work colleagues. Even an ex-lover eulogizing their undying love for you, long after your break up with them. Judging by the over capacity room, Ivan was a man who once you knew, you had a devoted friend for life.

Even though the night before we celebrated my mother’s 75th birthday (expect a happier post later!), my thoughts have been about my Da this week.

Christopher Walken Touched My iPhone

iPhone

dead zone…and now it has a DEAD ZONE.

NOOOOO!!!

Quite suddenly last night, while trying to email a picture to my Flickr account, the little mail icon refused to respond to my touch. I hit the HOME button and flicked things around on the desktop. That was ok. After a while I found that the bottom 1/2 inch zone where it wouldn’t respond to touch. So I couldn’t make calls, open emails, surf web or listen to music.

I’m beside myself.

I factory restored the phone (Bye pics! Bye web favorites! Bye phone contacts!) and reinstalled the software. Nope. I searched the internet and discovered oddly enough the last reports of this being an issue was around the end of August. Even the forums are somewhat devoid of this problem so it seems isolated.

Oh lucky me.

I’m off to the Apple Store here in town to plead my case, but I doubt very much they will repair it (I didn’t buy it! It was a gift! Please! Take your son back and heal his soul!) I am already looking into American influences.

so.

cold.

Can I See some iID Please?

iPhone

My Canuck iPhone is becoming more and more exclusive!

The forumsphere (web forums, not blogs? what do we call these?) has several threads of Canadians and Mexicans being refused sales of iPhones at AT&T and Apple stores over the last 24 hours. I suspect an edict has come down upon high to start refusing non-US citizens purchase of the phones to ensure company AT&T sign ups.

1984, anyone?

Oh thank god! I thought for a moment there that I was going to be surrounded by iPhone dicks!

Chat Like You Were Actually There

Tech

Do you shun video chat because of… well… (whispers) low self esteem issues? Do you use an old photo of yourself from 15 years back, where you’re 20lbs lighter and have all your hair, for your online profiles?

Fear not! The Japanese have come to your rescue!

I love the herky jerky motion of THE HEAD. But damn if that’s not as creepy as the robot kid. Which makes me wonder the same question: Why bother? Are there moments where live video chat is too dangerous for us to do it in real time? The copyright implications are staggering. Imagine seeing yourself on TV uttering terrorist threats while you’re comfortably sitting on your couch eating cheesies.

Natural Selection

Distractions, Personal Bits, Toronto, Work

To the idiot who was waving her used Metro paper, approaching the poor TTC worker who was trying really hard to close a bag of garbage (he was actually on one knee, wrestling with the monster bag) and had the audacity to ask: “Too late to put one more in?”: Please. Throw yourself in front of a train.

To the lady on the cell phone who let everyone on the streetcar know that she was in the movie industry and was having a big drama day: You know the drill… throw yourself in front of the streetcar.

To my Doctor: Please just once acknowledge one of my jokes. I know you’re beleaguered and busy. Stop and laugh. Show me you’re human. Or throw yourself in front of your Audi. Whatever works.

To the homeless lady still outside my window yelling like there is an emergency, from my return home at 5pm-ish to now, 9:30pm: Seek help. If you won’t seek help, throw yourself in front of a crack dealer. Oh. You already did that.

To the one manager in my office who insists on flooding us with useless graphics requests that go absolutely nowhere but yet we have to honour them all the same because you have one grain of respectability that seems to shine in someone’s eyes: Visit India, reserve a spot on an elephant safari and then throw yourself in front of a pachyderm.