Michael Robert Dyet's Blog, page 85

The Cabinet Shuffle: Politics for Dummies

Hmmm, do our political leaders really believe we're hoodwinked by their periodic song and dance routine aka "the cabinet shuffle"?

It seems we're supposed to believe that shuffling the cards in the cabinet deck breathes new life into a government. Out with the old, in with the new. We can all sit back and relax knowing that our government is getting rid of the dead wood. It if weren't so transparent, it would be insulting.

It mystifies me that our political leaders actually think this ploy...

Blue Smoke, Black Ice and a Bucket List

Hmmm, did the couple riding in that taxi doing 100 clicks an hour northbound on Highway 427 know it was spewing a streamer of blue smoke out the tailpipe?

On a typical, bone-chilling January day, when car exhaust crystallizes in the air, I wouldn't have given that taxi a second thought. But, on this unusually balmy day, I did a double take when I saw that smoke tail. It was clear that the engine hadn't been serviced in some time. I couldn't help but wonder if the brakes had been ignored as...

Love, Marriage and the Madding Crowd

Hmmm, what advice for a successful marriage would you offer a soon-to-be wed couple? Would you even dare to go down that road?

That very question was posed by a bride and groom to the guests at a wedding I attended recently. It was a touching gesture that made us all feel a part of the new life they were beginning.

But I must admit that the question stumped me – and not just because I have a divorce on my relationship resume. I honestly didn't know what I could offer beyond trite truisms which ...

Passport Photo: No Smiles, No Frowns, No Upside Down Crowns

Hmmm, have we really arrived at a day when it is no longer permissible to smile?

I downloaded the instructions for applying for a Canadian passport. I'm not sure but I think I have to give them my first born son, a pound of flesh (they get to choose what part of my anatomy it comes from) and two first round draft picks. Even then they can slam the door in my face if in my nervous state I pass wind at an inopportune moment.

But the thing that really has me shaking my head is the rigid...

AVATAR the Movie: A Wake-up Call

Warning: You may wish to see AVATAR before you read this post as it contains "spoilers".

Hmmm, how many people, among the throngs who will see Avatar, will penetrate the movie's layers of symbolism to arrive at its true message?

On the surface, Avatar is a cinematic breakthrough – a live action film with a new generation of special effects. It echoes and pays homage to other science fiction classics from Lord of the Rings to Jurassic Park all the way back to Star Trek with a nod as well to...

I AM CANADIAN: New Years Day Rant

Hmmm, what exactly does it mean to be "Canadian"? What unique qualities define us as a nation, a people and a culture? The birth of a new year of possibility and opportunity seems an appropriate day to stir up some patriotic pride and to shed some light on the Canadian personality for my readers outside our borders.

Google "Canadian identity" and one of the first hits you get is "The Great Canadian Identity Crisis". Much has been written about our so called lack of identity. If you believe...

Dead Sea Scrolls: Long Forgotten, Never Lost

Hmmm, did the authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls imagine even in their most extravagant dreams that their precious documents would lie undiscovered in 11 remote caves for 2,000 years? Would they have hid them there if they had known?

Did they perhaps plan to return and retrieve them at a more opportune time that never materialized?

Did they pass on the secret of their existence to their children as a sacred trust only to have it lost in the dust of relentless time and the vagaries of memory?

And...

A Christmas Wish

Hmmm, is it just a blip in the cosmic ebb and flow or is there a tsunami of anger building out there? Forget about H1N1. It could be that the real pandemic is running rampant in the hearts of the dispossessed.

I saw a manifestation of it yesterday. I was walking out of a shopping mall parking lot. There is a major mall expansion in progress so the sidewalks are missing in places. Two men where walking on the side of the mall ring road. An impatient driver honked his horn and gestured at them f...

Random Act of Metaphor: Cloud Storm

Hmmm, soot grey clouds are edging ever so slowly across a nondescript sky. It's vaguely ominous but on the whole noncommittal on this brittle-cold December day.

It would seem that Mother Nature is in a gray mood today. She is disinclined to release the sun to warm our bodies and cheer our spirits. She is not, as best I can tell, cooking up a butt-kicking storm to knock us on our heels. Nor is she nudging the snow sprites to dispatch a friendly flurry to soften the frozen, lunar landscape that ...

MALWARE, BLACK HOLES AND KARMA

Hmmm, do we have more in common with computers than we realize? It might just be that we're looking in the mirror without realizing it.

I've been plagued by computer black holes lately. A couple of months back someone had the audacity to hack one of my websites. (See my "Hacked" posting) I suppose I should be flattered that someone thought my humble site worth their technical wizardry. But I can think of many much more pleasant forms of flattery.

More recently some nefarious stranger flattered ...