...and worse yet, an upper respiratory tract infection. Who would have thought a cat could get pink eye? The vet says he should be better in a week or so. I hope so, because I'm getting a little tired of cat snot on my hands. He's begun to feed (by syringe) and take water, which is good because it turns out he was a bit dehydrated, too. What a way to start off in his new home!

Rufus is taking his own sweet time adjusting to his new surroundings. At the present, he is a KIH--Kitten in Hiding. He was last sited sleeping in the gap between the pedestal and table top of the dining room table, and his current location is rumoured to be under the living room sofa. Other cited hiding spots have been clinging to the inside back panel of the dresser in the bedroom, and the obvious one--under the bed.
In a related story, Katy sent me this nice e-card from Hallmark:
Isn't that sweet? I'll show it to Rufus if he ever comes out.

This is Rufus, he's new. I brought him home yesterday. He's a Seal Point Siamese, 8 weeks old. He's still shy and scared, and won't let me take any other photos right now, but I'm sure I'll have more for you soon. He's registered at Pottery Barn, Williams and Sonoma, and PetsMart.

In early July of this year, I was experiencing some chest pains, and was hospitalized after my blood test results indicated I might have had a heart attack sometime in the previous weeks. I had an echo cardiogram (heart ultrasound) that indicated some abnormal wall motions in the inferior chambers of my heart, which led the doctor to believe that I had indeed suffered a heart attack. From there, I had an angiogram done, which showed no blockages in my arteries that would cause me to have a heart attack, so the diagnosis was that I had percarditis, a viral infection of the muscles lining the heart. Today, I saw my cardiologist again, who reviewed the results of a second echo cardiogram I had on August 13, which state: "COMPLETE RESOLUTION OF THE PREVIOUSLY NOTED WALL MOTION ABNORMALITY." Long and the sort: no heart attack!
In unrelated news: I'm still alive in the SURVIVOR pool at work. Go Cindy!

I've finally got some photos on the vision page. If you like what you see, check out the rest of John's pictures.

The folks at Under The Radar have sent me a back issue from earlier in the year that I missed, plus a copy of Spoon's Gimme Fiction. The subscription should start up soon. Delightful.

Last week when I picked up the new David Gray CD I also bought the latest from Paul McCartney, Chaos and Creation in the Backyard. I'm more of a Wings fan then a Beatles fan, and truthfully I might not have paid so much attention to this CD if it wasn't for the fact that Nigel Godrich produced it. Godrich is the man behind most Radiohead albums, Beck, Travis, and others, and I think he's one of the greatest producers working on the planet. I wondered just how far he'd take old Macca--would they pull a Kid A and get all techno-spaced-out-ambient-freak-fest, or something more subtle and sublime like he did with Beck's Sea Change.
Neither. This is Paul McCartney's best work in I don't know how long--he's playing almost everything on it himself (that's Godrich's doing), and relying on his own skills as musician and songwriter. Godrich's influence is there. There's layers and layers to dig through on some songs, but none of it seems forced or superfluous. He says so himself on the accompanying DVD in limited release with the CD--this is a Paul McCartney album, not an interpretive account as seen through the eyes of Nigel Godrich. I wouldn't have expected to be listing a Paul McCartney CD among my favourites of the year, but I think this one could definitely be in the running.

When I was 17 I fancied myself an intellectual full of inspired thinking and deep foresight; I imagined that one day I'd be a rock star, too, and I would marry my enlightenment with music. I wrote lyrics for a song called "Everything Is Inevitable" which featured the profound couplet "Everything is inevitable/That's just the way it is." What I wanted to say was that I didn't think random incidents happened to us in our lives without reason or without foreshadowing; everything is inextricably linked to everything else, be it people, objects, or events. Moments happen in our lives by way of a chain of events that link together to form a continual thread. But sometimes that thread gets a knot in it, and becomes tangled with other threads, other lives, and the resulting snags bring about a new chain, a new direction, often in patterns we would never foresee from the outside. It's not until we step outside of ourselves and watch the events unfold from different perspectives that we recognize the chain, and can follow its path; make sense of the apparent randomness of our lives. And just when we think we've got it figured out, we come to another diversion, another event that throws yet more chaos and confusion at us, more random moments... and then, in bursts of clarity, like an epiphany, we see the connections, we return to moments we've had before and understand that our actions in the past have lead us to where we are now, and that some day, we will return to this very moment in our minds and witness the truths that are hidden to us now, and we will be faced with the question: what do I do now, knowing what I know now; believing what I believe now? How long will the reality I choose today stay my reality? But the questions come with no answers, because as soon as you ask them of yourself, you realize, quite humbly, that everything is inevitable, that's just the way it is. I just finished watching Paul Haggis's movie Crash. I think you should, too.

Yup, OK, I admit it: I am a SURVIVOR fanatic. I have faithfully watched all 11 seasons, have dissected and analyzed players' strategy ad nauseam, have won a Survivor pool at work, fantasied about contestants, and almost won a Survivor memento on an eBay auction. Still, I'll be the first to admit when Survivor sucks, and tonight's season premiere in the Guatemalan jungle left a lot to be desired. Yes, it was probably the hardest and most grueling challenge in the show's history, and yes I know how hot and disorientating it can be wandering lost in the jungle for 11 miles--I appreciate the physical demands placed on these players. BUT THIS IS TV. Entertain me. Show me some skin. Show me some scandal. Throw in some s#%ts and f*@ks. Who cares about the bottom of Bobby Jon's dehydrated feet? Frankly, I wasn't impressed. But fair shakes, Mark Burnnett, it's only the first episode, and not since Survivor Australian Outback have you thoroughly impressed me first episode out. So I'll give it some time.
By the way, my player in our pool at work is Cindy, so I'm still in. Jim the "old guy" got the boot from Bobby Jon's team (I can't be bothered with these new team names--next time out the tribes will be called by two different guttural throat calls!) so my gal is safe and sound until next week. I hope she doesn't do something stupid like step on a scorpion, or go swimming in a crocodile-infested lake, or worse--get a stone in her shoe while walking to get water. I don't think I could take that much excitement.

I still remember the first time I put David Gray's White Ladder into my CD player, and heard the opening moments of "Please Forgive Me". I was drawn in, instantly to this lo-tech rat-ta-ta-tat, and then eventually blown away by how such a simple song could create such a large emotional response (if you ever get the chance to see him perform it live you'll know what I mean). White Ladder is high on the list of my favourite albums of all-time, and his latest, LIfe In Slow Motion, may soon join it predecessor there. He's left the lo-fi soundscapes locked in the bedroom studio where he made his last two albums, and moved into a full studio with producer Marius de Vries at the helm. de Vries' previous credits include Rufus Wainwright (my hero) and parts of ...Slow Motion remind me of Want One and Want Two. The difference here is that where some of Wainwright's compositions demand an over-the-top delivery, Gray's work is much more intimate. de Vries shows definite restraint; orchestral flourishes add to tracks without dominating them. It almost feels like he's leading Gray out of the bedroom, letting his eyes adjust to the daylight, and pointing out the possibilities that are out there for his songs. Lyrically, he's moving away from personal accounts towards a more cinematic vision: "The One I Love" is sung from the point of view of a man bleeding to death. The lyrics paint a picture so heartbreakingly sad ("Perfect summer's night/Not a wind that breathes/Just the bullets whispering gentle/'Mongst the new green leaves") that they run in direct contrast to the achingly beautiful music. It's a contradiction that only heightens the song's emotional punch. A pick-me-up this albums isn't; "Nos Da Cariad" is all love and death, doom and gloom ("Hold on to St. Christopher/The sky is murderous red/Go to sleep my one true love/Our glory lies ahead") and there is an overwhelming feeling of despair everywhere here. Still, LIfe In Slow Motion is drawing me in with each listen. Maybe its de Vries' touch, adding soft nuances that come out with repeated playing, or its the novelty of Gray's new lyrical stories; regardless, this album can and will draw you in, over and over again, just like White Ladder did.

So excited, I was, to report on the arrival of the iPod nano earlier this week. So foolish I was, to not realize that with the iPod nano comes the death of my beloved iPod mini. I was just browsing at the Apple Store looking for an additional hard drive for my Mac mini when I realized that the iPod mini is no longer even FOR SALE online. How ya like them apples? Remember when I said technology is great? Yeah, well, so much for that. Anyone want to play road hockey with my mini so that I can go get myself a nano without having to feel guilty about spending yet more money? Or better yet: Wanna buy a mini? Seriously, do you? Interested buyers leave me email or leave a comment for this post below.

If you've been visiting this site and wondered what would be on some of the pages that were under construction, wonder no more: "Year Zero" is now up and ready to go. Have a look by clicking here and let me know what you think.

I just finished watching what has to be one of the most stylish, grittiest, and intriguing movies I have seen in I don't know how long. I was a big comic book aficionado growing up, and a fan of Frank Miller's work on the various Batman titles, but I never got into his Sin City graphic novels. I was more of a superhero kinda-guy, and the gritty, dirty twisted-reality world he created didn't really intrigue me. Sitting down to watch the movie version of these graphic novels, I came with no pre-concieved notions or expectations. What I got was a dark, beautifully realized piece of cinema that plays against the stereotypical adaption movie: this one is 100% faithful to its source material. There is no other way to describe it. The digital scenery could have been cut and pasted right out of Miller's drawings; you would swear that Frank Miller was some kind of clairvoyant, having drawn these characters back in the 80's and then seeing his creations brought to life by actors in 2005 that bear more than just a passing similarity to their graphic novel counterparts (see the Behind The Scenes extra to hear Miller talk about this coincidence). And what a cast: Bruce Willis, Clive Owen, Benico Del Toro, Jessica Alba, Elijah Wood, Josh Harnett, Brittney Murphy, and Micky Rourke in what must be the role he was born to play. Is it violent? Hell, yes. Regardless, you won't be able to take your eyes off the screen. Do yourself a favour, and don't watch the bonus material until after you've sat through the movie; then marvel at the sight of these actors playing in front of green screens as you remember the intricate details of the set around them.

warchild.com's latest musical aid release, HELP: A Day In The Life is now available at their website (click here). The second HELP album arrives 10 years on from its predecessor, and follows the same basic formula: give artists 24 hours to record a track, print, press, and distribute the music immediately for release. This time around, the album was recorded and made available online all within a 24 hour period on 09 September 2005. It's the morning of the 10th right now, and I just finished downloading the album. I would have had it last night when I purchased it but the traffic to the site was so overwhelming I had to wait to get my downloads. Take a look, listen, ...and help.

This past Sunday, I spent the day at the CNE (Canadian National Exhibition, for all of you non-Canuks), and picked myself up a great little vintage-looking turntable made by TEAC Audio called the SL-A100. Mine is metallic silver, as opposed to the red sample we have here. It doesn't need to be connected to a Phono jack because it's a line level output, so I'm looking forward to connecting it to my iMic and ripping some of my old vinyl record collection. So what should I do with this newly burned music? Perhaps sometime soon, I can purchase myself a new iPod nano (I think I'd go to black for this, even though I'm a Mac white-grey-silver traditionalist). Isn't technology great? Look at the size of this thing! If you've seen it's profile on Apple's homepage, you know it's reportedly thin as a pencil. My biggest fear would be that it's as fragile as one, too. What are the chances of snapping the thing in half? I'm looking forward to seeing what types of peripheral devices the folks at Griffin Technology are going to come up with for the iPod nano. I'm sure there will be some negative feedback about iPod nano (I'm already disappointed at the max 4GB size--it's no bigger than my G1 mini) and anyone willing to engage in discussion here is more than welcome to do so (yes this is an overt attempt to generate hits to my website--so sue me). Can't wait to see what the Zen Nano device will look like.

When the world comes to an end, and humanity is wiped off the face of the Earth; in all that remains to be found by new civilizations from this world or beyond, it would be a shame if not one episode of Gilligan's Island remains intact. Why? Because while Gilligan rode the TV waves for the first time in 1964, the world we lived in was much more brutal, much more dangerous, and much less human then the world on the deserted island where the Minnow set shore. That's the kind of world I would like remembered. Say hi to the Skipper when you see him, Little Buddy.

It looks like this site is getting a bit of traffic, but I haven't heard from anyone yet! If you've been visiting this site, please feel free to drop me a line and let me know what you think. The old Contact page isn't supported on the .MAc server, so i've just put a link to my email address, but for those who don't want to go there, you can drop me a line at jadigioia@mac.com. Cheers!
First day back to work today, and all is well. Tired out, been to the gym, and had a few hours of work to do. I'll write more later.

It's Labour Day. and what better time to comment on the on-going lock-out at the CBC. First, let me say that I support the rights that CBC employees are trying to protect, and I am thoroughly disgusted with the way they have been locked out of work. The CBC is a public broadcaster, a CROWN CORPORATION, and I think it is only right that they return to the federal government most, if not all, of the publicly generated funds they receive to run a network, which is NOT functioning for the people right now. Second, while on lock-out mode, both CBC radio and television have been broadcasting repeats and previously aired programming, most of which is of a highly Canadian content. In doing so, they are repeatedly reminding us how VITAL these program options are to Canadians everywhere, how much raw talent and energy Canadian broadcasters and the subjects of their broadcasts have, and just how necessary the CBC is to Canada. Management is basically making the case for the employees with this lock-out scheduling (expect for the BBC news, of course).
While on the subject, my fellow loyal listeners to Metro Morning, LISTEN UP: Andy, Kevin, Jim, and Jill are back on the air as of today with TORONTO UNLOCKED, their morning show coming to us live from the studios of CIUT University of Toronto Radio, at 89.5 on the FM dial. I am sooooo glad to be going back to work tomorrow morning knowing that I will have Andy and the gang to keep me company as i eat my breakfast, and stew about the late delivery of my National Post. Welcome back, folks. It's nice to hear you again.
image source: National Post, August 18, 2005