Reason #101 Why I Love Toronto: Trampoline Hall

A friend recently posted this image on Facebook.

The attribution is to one "Michael Higginson, Trampoline Hall, Feb 9/09, Toronto, Canada".

I thought this was brilliant and hilarious and true, so I worked the Google on the Internet machine and discovered that the image was taken from a lecture given as part of a series called Trampoline Hall, which is held at Sneaky Dee's (in my neighborhood) on College Street in downtown Toronto.

Youtube also has a great clip of a previous Trampoline Hall event. Sadly, nothing is yet posted from Michael Higginson's lecture, "Being In The Way", but I'll be looking for it.

This is exactly the kind of thing that makes me love Toronto so hard and miss it every single day that I'm not living there.

Inauguration 2009

I can hardly believe it... A friend and I have just secured two tickets to Obama's Inauguration in Washington, D.C. on January 20th, 2009.

We really didn't think we had a chance at this point.

Don't get me wrong... we had decided back in October to be in D.C. for the event no matter what. We booked our flights and hotel a couple of weeks before the election, assuming we could always make changes or cancellations, for a small fee, if necessary. But we knew it wouldn't be necessary. We were both checking fivethirtyeight.com obsessively by mid-October, and it was already pretty clear that it was going to be an Obama landslide. Simultaneous with the the inspiration to book early, had arrived a crystal-clear vision in my mind's eye of us standing there, on the lawn, the podium roughly at eye level. That vision never left my mind's eye. I didn't know how we were going to get there; it was just never a concern, as strange as that sounds. I don't know if we manifested this, or if it was just one of my premonitions... I'm starting to wonder if maybe the difference between the two is sometimes negligible...

Anyway. After the election, we immediately began e-mailing, calling, and writing to our Senators and Representatives... along with the rest of the Progressive population of the United States. What we received in response were form letters and form e-mails, explaining to us that there was an unprecedented demand for Inauguration tickets this year, and that our request would unfortunately not be met.

We were undaunted, because we knew that just being in D.C. for the week of the Inauguration is going to be an incredibly good time. We just wanted to be part of the experience in any way possible. To see D.C. for the first time during that week is going to be so much fun.

And then yesterday, my friend mentioned that she had recently met two people who got tickets to the Inauguration. They suggested that we check again with our representatives to see if anyone had not picked up their tickets. They were convinced it was worth a try. My friend said she'd be happy to check into it, but wouldn't knock herself out over it. Neither of us was too attached to the outcome.

Well, a rep from one our our Congresspeople's offices just called her back this morning to let her know that there are two tickets available for us. We had to give our names so that the tickets could be reserved especially for us.

I am still in shock, and yet not exactly surprised. :)

Roger Ebert Reviews Ben Stein's eXpelled

Roger Ebert completely eviscerates Ben Stein's documentary, eXpelled. Satisfying.

By Roger Ebert on December 3, 2008 12:25 AM

I've been accused of refusing to review Ben Stein's documentary "Expelled," a defense of Creationism, because of my belief in the theory of evolution. Here is my response.

Ben Stein, you hosted a TV show on which you gave away money. Imagine that I have created a special edition of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" just for you. Ben, you've answered all the earlier questions correctly, and now you're up for the $1 million prize. It involves an explanation for the evolution of life on this planet. You have already exercised your option to throw away two of the wrong answers. Now you are faced with two choices: (A) Darwin's Theory of Evolution, or (B) Intelligent Design.

Because this is a special edition of the program, you can use a Hotline to telephone every scientist on Earth who has an opinion on this question. You discover that 99.975 of them agree on the answer (A). A million bucks hangs in the balance. The clock is ticking. You could use the money. Which do you choose? You, a firm believer in the Constitution, are not intimidated and exercise your freedom of speech. You choose (B).

Squaaawk!!! The klaxon horn sounds. You have lost. Outraged, you file suit against the program, charging it is biased and has denied a hearing for your belief. Your suit argues that the "correct" answer was chosen because of a prejudice against the theory of Intelligent Design, despite the fact that .025 of one percent of all scientists support it. You call for (B) to be discussed in schools as an alternative theory to (A).

Your rights have been violated. You're at wit's end. You think perhaps the field of Indie Documentaries offers you hope. You accept a position at the Institute of Undocumented Documentaries in Dallas, Texas. This Institute teaches that the rules of the "$64,000 Question" are the only valid game show rules. All later game shows must follow them literally. The "$64,000 Question" came into existence in 1955. False evidence for earlier game shows has been refuted by scientists at the Institute.

Read more at The Chicago Sun-Times