All About Nothing... or is it?

Wow!  I really suck at this blog!  I guess I may consider myself lucky lately since I've not had an "Asshole of the Week" in some time.  And I am much more focused on my animal blog, which really is like my yoga, and I forget all the f**ktards I encounter in my travels.

How about those occasional movie reviews I've done in the past?  Well, I cannot really remember the last NEW movie I saw.  I think it may have been the final installment of the Harry Potter series...  which I give good praise to.  It was exciting and certainly made up for the pt 1 of the final chapter which I found to be very long and drawn out.

And with the closing of Blockbusters everywhere, I don't really go out and buy dvds these days.  I always enjoyed Blockbuster not for the rentals but picking up my "wants" when they became available for sale used.

Rogers Video still lingers around but none are that close and convenient for me.

So, what have I watched in the past month?

First off, Fred Claus.  Tis the season, right?  I don't mind Vince Vaughan's performances and Paul Giamatti is great overall in the movies I have seen of his.  Fred Claus is a fun Christmas flick, hitting the perfect hour and a half time span.  And I found that with this movie, I can now say I have one Sinead O'Conner song that I like, and I really like it.  She's does a great almost haunting version of "Silent Night".

From Fred Claus, I moved on to "Shoot 'Em Up".  A ridiculously fun ride with Clive Owen and once again Paul Giamatti.  It's overkill with crazy shooting, stunts and killing.  And gives me another reason to carry around carrot sticks...  not because they are full of goodness and are great for your eyes, not because of the occasional Deer encounters I have and feeding them, but man, they are a great weapon when some gangster is coming at you (if he doesn't shoot you first).

I revisited Mulletville.  A low budget fun film of an evening party with some red necks in a trailer park.  Silly stuff but anyone who grew up in the hair metal era might relate and say "hey, I think I was at that party, or one like it...  or knew a guy just like him, and him, or that one".

I acknowledged the loss of Bianca Butthole a decade ago with a viewing of the Betty Blowtorch documentary.  A hard rocking chick band that were very short lived.  Bianca seemed like a wonderful misfit who loved rock, animals and collecting lunch boxes.  Here's a snippit.

So, ya, not much else going on that I care to expose to the world here.  But if you want a bit more, you can always check out my animal blog...

I will try in the new year to be a tad more regular with this blog.  I do enjoy writing when I get the chance.

So please bear with me and see yas in the new year.  All the best through the holiday season!  It doesn't matter about how many people you spend the time with, it's the quality of the people you share the time with.

Cheers!

A couple real Assholes last month...

So, not much action here lately...  but it's not like I haven't had anything to say either.  I have a couple movies I would like to recommend at a future blog.  But for the moment, I need to let out about a couple real assholes I ran into, and one was almost literally and these guys were only separated by about 36 hours.

First off, out on a nature walk in the Claireville Conservation Area last month (August).  When suddenly out of nowhere a full grown Rottweiler came running up to me, growling and snarling away.

There were no people in sight, but the dog had a leash/collar on.  He wasn't allowing me to move even as slow and cautious as I was trying to step back from him.  Soon I did see a person come running to us from off in the distance.  He was calling the dog but of course the dog was not responding.  What seemed like forever was probably only 90 seconds before the guy reached us and grabbed his dog.  He assured me the dog was very friendly.  I commented on how the dog was with me, showing signs of aggression.  And his reply was, "oh, I guess he just doesn't like you."  And off he walked!  No apology, nothing.  Seriously, what an asshole!

Claireville is not a leash free area.  There are signs as soon as you drive into the park to keep your dog on leash as it is a wildlife sensitive area.  And I'd hate to think worst case scenario if this dog did indeed attack me, out in the middle of nowhere...  and suppose the guy just grabbed his dog and disappeared into the woods somewhere.  There was nobody else around.  I got back to my truck, which is the opposite direction they went, and there were no other vehicles.  So it's not like I could have even gotten a licence plate. 

But, good thing it ended the way it did.  Makes me wonder how much a can of pepper spray is?  I ought to start carrying it in my nature walks alone.

Next up happened a few weeks back.  I had just picked up Angie from the subway station after the Def Leppard concert, and I had just finished a shift at work.  We are on Jane Street, it's near 1am, and find ourselves sitting at a red light.  I am in the right lane, there is a car beside me waiting for the light as well.  The light turns green and I begin to accelerate, and am just about through the intersection when I hear Ang say "watch out for the guy on the bike."  Next I know, some kid is right in front of us and I am slamming on the brakes as hard as I can, wailing on the horn.  He's on a ten speed, and riding an empty bicycle along next to him.  He went white as a ghost as he saw our 4x4 right in front of him, almost on top of him.  And he made it to the curb, where he wipes out himself and both bikes.  Thankfully we did not hit him.  I did want to get out and kick his punk ass because I was so angry at his stupidity.  Who runs a red light on not one but two bicycles at one in the morning when there is traffic?  A real asshole is who!

He was heading east, while we were heading north.  It's dark out, I got a vehicle beside me, so I couldn't see him until this point in front of us.  He made it across three lanes of traffic into the fourth (my lane) as his light turned red, mine turned green and I made it across the intersection where we almost collided.  We, and a couple other vehicles stopped.  Other drivers were all saying he ran the light, they would be witnesses if anything came of this.  We asked him if he was alright, he appeared okay, other than he probably deposited his last meal in his shorts right about now.  He gathered himself up pretty quick, along with the bikes, and disappeared into the darkness of a side street.

I am a cautious driver and I don't have a lead foot at stop lights.  One would think others would have more sense at intersections, not challenging 3,000 plus pound vehicles, especially when riding a bicycle and breaking the laws of the road...  you will always lose.

I guess the plague of being an asshole shows no discrimination when it comes to age is what I just had to say...

Asshole of the Week

Well, I had great intentions with this blog because I see so much shit from one week to another, crap that I need to vent about, and as this BLOG is titled "I Just Had To Say" which gives me all the opportunity and reason to just do that. But somehow it's gotten lost over the past year. I miss writing... it's something I have always enjoyed. My love of photography and exploring the world outside has taken over hugely. Snapping pics of birds and animals, sharing to friends of what I see so close to home, is something I get joy from now. The fact that some people I know are now actually stopping to look at the different birds around them is great. Having more people aware of our animal friends will be beneficial to the animals in the long run and I hope that it might make some people look at life a little differently, enhancing it... like how beautiful the simplest things are around us. I mean, what does it cost a person to stop and look a bird in a tree? Their time? The morning song of an American Robin could be the beginning soundtrack to a great day, sending one off into the world with a smile before they get into their vehicle on the way to work.

Anyhoo, back to the reason I am writing here. I have encountered my "Asshole of the Week". Shit, it was only Tuesday when this happened, I hope I am not jumping the gun with this one and soon run into a worse one before the weekend hits.

The joy of the internet. The joy of Facebook. All a part of my virtual world and sharing what I see with my friends near and far that cannot see what I see. Facebook has many groups one can join, pick an interest of yours, and there probably is a group on Facebook with fellow enthusiasts. A few of the groups I belong to are nature groups, backyard bird watching groups, stuff like that.

So, occasionally I share some of my photos within these groups. I have become much more selective these days with that when a while back one of the group admins *borrowed* one of my prized Owl photos without my permission. I was so proud of that shot, not that it was spectacularly clear, but the fact that I saw two Long-eared Owls sitting in a tree together. But that is another story and that is another asshole whom I should have blogged about a while back.

Well, I shared a photo, and a few hours later I got a private message from someone here in Canada who also belongs to that group on Facebook. For whatever reason he sure felt the need to express to me his disliking to my current Facebook profile picture.


Ya, that's my pic. A shot I took of one of the McFarlane Toys Spawn figures line-up. His name is "The Freak". I collect a few toys, he is in the mix. I like this figure. And somehow I see myself as this character when I step outside. Well, not really how I see myself, but how I sometimes think others see me. Look at that long-haired guy... what a freak! Boy there's a list of assholes behind that one. If this really bothered me, I would'a gave in years ago and become more of a norm I suppose. But I really don't care what most people think.

So buddy writes me an e-mail containing a few lines on what he thought of my profile picture. He stated he really didn't like it. He thought I was wrong to be on Facebook and having something so grotesque for my photo. Oh, and I was a coward as well for not showing my real face to the world. No true animal lover would have a photo like that to represent themselves.

What was the point? I know this guy like I know the subway system in Tokyo. How high is the horse this guy rides around on? How miserable is one's life to just go off like that? Jezus pal, get a grip on yourself, either a good tight grip around your own neck and do us all a favor or maybe have a time out alone somewhere, getting a grip on another part of your body before you start the day, and then walk out to the world much more relaxed.

I chose ignore with this goof. As much as I wanted to retaliate. Take the high road on this one, let him think he's done something right. Hopefully he just goes away, finds someone else to bother, and eventually crawls back into his deep dark hole until the next time Jupiter's moons are all in alignment or something similar. Like I really know if Jupiter's moons ever line up.

Well, I spent enough time blogging about this guy and I just had to say "he's definitely the asshole of the week (so far)!"