Predator by Patricia Cornwell

I'm considering dropping Patricia Cornwell out of my "buy hardback" authors list. While Predator is a masterpiece compared to Blow Fly, she hasn't written a great book in years. I tend to read Amazon.com reviews before writing my own, to see just out of curiosity if other people generally pick out the things I like or dislike - for this book they have given two stars (based on 277 reviews) out of five. I wouldn't go quite that low myself - I still found the book ok, easy to read and at times even enjoyable.

But seriously, it's like Cornwell has done her best to make her characters as unlikeable as possible - and this includes Scarpetta, Lucy and Marino, the main characters in most of her books. Scarpetta is pissing people off again and is completely oblivious to it, Lucy is just being pissy and self-destructive (more than usual) and Marino, well, he's portrayed as an impotent ego-maniacal biker who has an obsession for Scarpetta and patience or courtesy for no-one. Personally I want to like the main characters in the book, or at least admire them in their evilness... this doesn't do either. And what pissed me most was that one of the central plots was based on the fact that Lucy, the wizz kid genius, doesn't change her admin passwords regularly. Jeez.

The plot is clever though. The reader know/guesses of course pretty early on that all the cases that seem unconnected really must be connected somehow, but how and by whom is very cleverly done and I had no clue. In fact the best thing about the book, easily, is the plot and especially the conclusion. And more Benton, please, I actually like him.

Depressed Dragon

It is widely accepted fact that depression is a Finnish national disease. However, now that the human genome has been exposed for scientist to rummage through those pesky men and women in white coats have gone and found the gene that causes depression.

Unsurprising news is that the gene seems to be quite common in Fennoscandia. Surprising news is that depression gene is not all bad according to the scientists.

Those of our ancestors that lived in world of harsh nature and extreme weather of the far north faced hardships that were unknown in the warmer parts of the world. Some of them carried the normal genes, while others were genetically prone to depression.

However, those poor, depressed individuals worried out of their skulls about the horrors that the future holds amassed enough food and other vital supplies to survive even the worst case scenario which included 8 months of -40 C cold, packs of wolves, bear attacks, enemy raids and ten feet of snow. In the extreme climate of Finland quite often the “worst” materialized. Those without the tendency to worry about the future died out. The grim and the depressed survived, thanks to their pessimistic view of the future that compelled them to hoard for the worst case scenario.

So next time you feel the anxiety and the need to plan for the future catastrophe, you might be into something.

Shadow Puppets by Orson Scott Card

Shadow Puppets is the third book in Orson Scott Card's Shadow-series. I've been surprised how different the Shadow-series is compared to the Ender-series - in the Ender books the plots are very much story-driven, whereas in Shadow books need to work through the characters who - although in the middle of the important events - are B-plots. You could almost say book is not sci-fi - the events take place on Earth and there are no aliens and really no futuristic technology... there is a space station, but one space station doesn't make a genre book. Character -driven storytelling is however Card's definite niche, and it is quite typical of him to write sci-fi without actually writing sci-fi (I hope that makes sense - it makes sense to me).

So the story continues from the previous book: China is a major ruler over India and Far East and Hegemony has power in main only with it's 200 man army. Peter has decided to rescue Bean's arch nemesis Achilles from the hands of the Chinese and hire him despite all the warnings, and so Bean and Petra have to go underground. My main problem with the book is the change in Bean's character as there's virtually nothing in common with the character in Ender's Shadow. Yes, he's still intelligent and intuitive, but very little of the paranoia and desperate need for survival is left which is a huge shame as I loved the immensely intense character he used to be. It's also a shame the love story doesn't really work for me, so much is just words and I can't get the feeling that Bean and Petra really love each other. Peter's character is also something completely different from the tormentor he is in Ender's Game and he's way over his head in things that he doesn't fully understand - like he doesn't have any of the brilliance other Wiggin kids posses.

It's a good book. It's just not brilliant, or even great, like other books the in the series. One more to go, I hope it picks up from this.

Not my day

Yeah, we woke up at 5 am to watch Finland lose to Sweden in the Olympics. There is something inherently touching about grown men crying, but they took the loss very graciously. Speaks for itself, really, that the team captain Saku Koivu was selected as an athlete member to the International Olympic Committee by his peers... and I'm really happy too that the team got to go to Finland and receive a hero's welcome despite the loss. (But it was a loss... gold would have been nice.)

After the anticlimax we went back to bed, woke up to a phone call. Whole day has been really gray and I've been really under the weather, feeling weak and lifeless. We watched the closing ceremonies which was mostly very weird with too many clowns (and talk about false finishes), and we saw how the Olympic flag was passed onto Vancouver's mayor Sam Sullivan - Vancouver had prepared a little number too, but it was mostly just confusing. You really need to be in the spirit to watch this stuff I think, but then again I have a think against clowns.

We also decided that it would be cool to still be here when the Olympics get here 2010.

That's actually really big.

Normal

So I had the stitches removed yesterday. I have to say I didn't believe Chu when she said the dramatic change for better would start then - I mean, how could those stitches make that much of a difference? But it really has made a huge difference. My lovely dentist praised me on how brave I have been and how well the wound has healed, and just quickly snapped the stitches off, taking maybe ten minutes. After that it was bleeding a bit, but in couple of hours I had pretty much forgotten it, and this morning it feels... well, it feels normal! Oh how we don't appreciate normal until it's gone.

Norwegian Dragon

Since US is now flexing its muscles to intimidate Norway, and since Norway is a major oil producer, a logical conclusion of the current US policy is a military act against Norway. An excellent write-up how the build-up to the war will go is reproduced below, thanks to Julian for permission to use it.

*A transcript of a Top Secret meeting in the White House "

SCENE: George W. Bush is in the Oval Office, looking out of the window and rearranging his crayons. Bob Woodward is in the background scribbling furiously words like “decisive” “clear-sighted” “vision”, etc.

CHENEY AND RUMSFELD ENTER.

BOTH: Hi there your Commander-in-Chiefyness! CHENEY whispers to RUMSFELD: Don’t mention the Norwegian Oil Bourse, it’ll only confuse him.

CHENEY: Troubling news, Sire, Norway has got fjords, which are a Clear and Present Danger to American Shipping, and they refuse to share them with the rest of the world. They say we can inspect them anytime, but there’s lots of them, we’ll never find them all.

GWB: Norway? What’s that?

RUMSFELD: a small oil-rich country with not much of an army.

GWB: Where is it – let me guess, it’s one of those little Middle Eastern or African countries right?

CHENEY: More or less….They hate our freedoms. Right now you are less popular there than cat-poo. They don’t speak English. Like ski-ing instead of driving, so they’re obviously maniacs.

GWB: That’s it! Warm up the bombers Rummy.

RUMSFELD: We can attack from our bases in England.

GWB: Whoa! I’ll phone Tony: he’ll love another war: it’ll bring his total to Six, more than any other Pry Minster.

CHENEY: We need our allies in on this. I’ll call Silvio, at his plastic surgeon's.

GWB: I’ll get our new buddy Up North to send some soldiers.

CHENEY (FIRMLY): Your highness, please call him Prime Minister Harper, not Stoogey Boy, or Forrest Gump this time.

RUMSFELD: I’ll get Scott to go on Fox and say what a bunch of nasty little shits the Norwegians are. Known for harbouring Bob-sleigh-ers. They like salt fish, so there must be something wrong with them.

GWB: Make sure he doesn’t mention Oil. It's about bringing Feedom and Democracy to the Norms. Kicking out their tinpot dictator, whoever he is. Will the Eurpeons kick up a fuss?

RUMSFELD: Norway’s not in the EU, so we can stick it to them and it’ll be a cakewalk, I promise you.

CHENEY: Just sign here Your Omnipotence, and Kellogg and Halliburton will concrete over those pesky Fjords.

GWB: This is a blank check. Won’t Congress whinge?

CHENEY: Don’t worry about it, we’ll print more money to cover it.

GWB goes over to crayons: “I’ll just write me an Execcy Order thing…”

RUMSFELD: (PRODUCES SHEET OF PAPER): I’ve already done it. You just need to put your John Hancock here….no, don’t use crayon, here’s a fountain pen, it’ll look better in the Imperial Presidential Library.

GWB: What?

CHENEY (SMOOTHLY) The one you will build as your memorial to your Life Presidency, oh Great One.

GWB: When are we going to invade Norm-Land?

RUMSFELD (WORRIED): Can’t we just bomb away like usual? Use our ZN46B Ultra-smart MENSA spelling-bee-winner-Missiles at only a billion a pop…..We’re a bit short of troops. You remember that pesky General Shinseki, the one that we fired? Turns out he might have known a bit about military stuff. We haven’t got the men.

GWB: You’re all fools: haven’t you seen The Dirty Dozen? We’ve got loads of people in prison.

CHENEY: More than anybody else.

GWB: I love this country – we’re top in everything! Get those cons out, give them guns and send them off to bring Democracy to NorwegianLand.

CHENEY: are you sure this is a good idea, Your Worship?

GWB: Get out! The audience is over! Send in my tailor: I need a new Commander-in-Chief uniform for my Mission Accomplished speech for Iraq 3: Battle for Norway.

(In the corner Bob Woodward writes supine drivel, dreaming of his royalty checks from Harper Collins).

Go Canada... oh

While Finland is under some kind of curling spell, we here in Canada are more traditionally following hockey. I took my little Finnish flag to work on Monday after Finland's glorious 2-0 over Canada on Sunday and waived it every time someone got talking smack... my Canadian friends kept smiling and saying they weren't worried. I actually listened on the Finnish Olympic radio on the net the very exciting Finland - US game on Wednesday, and because CBC didn't bother to broadcasting the early games on radio, I was the only one at work also following live commentary of the Canada - Russia game.

And after Canada's pathetic 2-0 loss and therefore Canada's drop out of the medal game people were gutted. Speculation and blame game immediately started - was is Bertuzzi's fault and did his penalty ruin everything, was the whole team just a bunch of primadonnas, or was the referee one-eyed half-wit... we heard it all. At the same time all our Russians - and we have quite a few - started gathering and smiling broadly. Canadians took down their flags, muttered and shrugged - Olympics were over as far as they were concerned and they wouldn't care less about who won after this.

And they don't care about curling. So ok, Finland and Canada are playing for gold tomorrow morning, but after hockey is gone it's just not the same anymore. But the Russians kept coming to me today and we kept smiling and nodding... oh, we have an understanding.

Yeah, yeah

So I bet you've all been wondering how my tooth (or absence thereof) is! Well, recovery is going good. Each day is a bit better - today I was on full solid food diet, although opening my mouth really wide to eat my sandwich was still a bit difficult. Chu pointed out one thing that really bothers me too - washing my teeth. Obviously I couldn't do that the first night at all, but the second night I tried doing it very very carefully... especially in the first days as I wasn't able to open my mouth much so, well, it started feeling (and tasting) like an unwashed hamster cage. I'm still not able to wash my teeth properly as I'm terrified of hurting myself by accident, but also because the toothpaste is actually so stern stuff it really hurts in the sensitive parts of my mouth.

But all in all, it's going well. I don't know though, if I knew what I know now I don't know if I'd go though with it in the first place. True enough, once the pain starts to go away the memory fades almost as fast and it doesn't seem that bad, but I'm writing this so I don't forget how highly unpleasant this has been. So far, of course, I've yet to see any benefits... and maybe the benefit is just that I'll never have problems... which would be nice but not, well, tangible. But then again I work in QA so I know all about non-tangible benefits so I know I shouldn't overlook it...

And I've been thinking about middle ages when tooth extraction was a normal way of taking care of oral health, and how terrible it must have been. Suddenly I have tons of more sympathy towards people with teeth trouble - like poor Teemu Selänne who broke couple of teeth after a stick in the mouth in today's game in the olympics.

Shadow of the Hegemon by Orson Scott Card

After the buzz I got from Ender's Shadow I couldn't wait to get started with Shadow of the Hegemon. This is, however, a very different book. Orson Scott Card said that as a child he was a huge fan of Risk, and always wanted to write a book that would allow him to rewrite the map of Earth, and this is the book. It's very political - situation on Earth is deteriorating as after Formic War is over people are not united anymore and battle for supremacy is beginning. The political story about who wants to rule who, and detailed plans about military campaigns - is really what the book is about.

So the familiar characters and their antics are really just the B-plot. Ender is off to a new colony and can never return to Earth, but the Powers That Be in their respective nations are very interested in all Battle School Graduates and want to make sure that their military talents are going to be fully utilized once the new world order comes knocking. Then the most valued of the children, the whole of Ender's Jeesh (the former Dragon Army) is kidnapped - except Bean who manages to escape, and takes it upon himself to get his friends free.

Now I'm not a huge fan of war literature (or movies) and strategy games are not my forte - and still I found this book quite interesting. It's quite captivating "what if" of (fairly) current politics and I have to say I've become quite a big fan of Card's writing style. Bean as a character is not nearly as sharp as he was in Ender's Shadow - which makes sense: in the previous book he's a kid that survived on the streets because of his intuition and wits, now he's spent years in a fairly protected environment so he's had time to mellow (well, a little bit). I think Card describes this slightly autistic boy really well - highly intelligent, but having many difficulties with relating to people and only slowly starting to understand his own emotions.

If I have one gripe about the book, I have to say I think it's a shame that the whole relationship between Bean and Petra is lacking a bit in foundation. It would have been nice to get a little bit more flashbacks on their time together and some more reason on their mutual understanding... in some cases there's even wrong information like Petra thinking about how Bean always believed in her in the final battle, which is so clearly wrong as it was clearly stated in several occasions that Bean was suspicious of Petra until the very end.

But all in all, a well written must-read book in the Ender series.

Smarts

Due to my weeping eye (which is getting slowly better) I've been wearing glasses for three days now. I hate wearing glasses - I can't see as well as with contacts, and they just get in the way. But getting people's reaction at work is funny. First comment is pretty much the self evident "you're wearing glasses" - well duh, yes I am, well spotted Sherlock. Usually added by the hasty complement "they suit you", "they make you look younger" and the age old "they make you look smarter". I've sometimes thought of this, if I should wear glasses for example for interviews - and would it really make a difference?

Photos

Firstly, some photos Henri and Jaana-Mari took of me over the Christmas holiday. I wanted some portfolio photos of myself I could use when I hopefully can start marketing myself as a yoga teacher, and fortunately I have some very talented friends who could help me with that. What I wanted was some serene but approachable portraits that would say "trust me". In this gallery you see some other photos too, as Henri likes to take silly photos of me too - you make the judgement which one of those teachers you'd trust... As always, comments are welcome.

I took some photos I quite like too, today. I love cooking, and I've found that I can and love to express my modest creativity with food photography. I think when I was younger I really liked writing and I imagined that I'd become a writer some day - the thing is, I'm not really creative in a way that I would need to be to write fiction. I'm much better at writing factual text - and the same thing applies with art: I used to paint quite a lot when I was younger, but that too was always realistic more than artistic. With food photography I can kind of combine best of both worlds: I can record the world as I see it, and the little creative talent I do have, I can use to spice the photos up. I think it works very well for me... check out my Creamy Mushroom Soup.

Yes, it's another update on my health

Please skip if you're not interested... it's another painful whine.

Feeling better today - we even went out for a bit. After two days of moving very little, it felt nice to be out and about again - but I also noticed I'm not quite there yet, as I could feel every step in my jaw. Laughing feels very strange too... I was holding my jaw and Dragon kept asking if it hurt - no it didn't, but I was afraid all the time that it would start hurting. We were recollecting the half-time entertainment we saw last time we went to the Canucks game - it was five minutes of 6 year olds playing hockey which was absolutely hilarious and endearing and just thinking about it makes me giggle.

And I also seemed to have picked up a slight eye infection - my other eye has been weeping for two days now, although it's not painful nor does it look red or swollen (I'll give it one more day before I need to see a doctor).

Although I've started craving for solid foods, I don't quite feel comfortable in eating them yet. I ate some crab cakes and soft veggie pakoras for lunch, but still best food I could imagine was soup, so I made a nice cream of mushrooms soup for dinner. The annoying thing about eating is that after a nice meal the first thing I have to do is wash my mouth with salt water to make sure I don't have any bits stuck anywhere near the wound. Good news is that it's not bleeding anymore so I think I'm on track.

And thanks for reading and sorry about it all. Soon I'll write about something else again.

Eww

I decided to sleep on the sofa as if I was in a horizontal position the wound was starting to bleed again - on the sofa I could prop myself so I was almost vertical. Actually I slept really well, we've got a very comfortable sofa... Today I've stayed home and have been working a bit, rinsing my mouth regularly with salt water. I feel like a granny - not only is my current only topic my poor health, but I also prefer to eat liquid foods and soft bread in small pieces. I'm just totally pathetic when ill.

Minas Morgul

Did you know that John Howe in Return of the King movie designed the Minas Morgul partly based on an experience of having his wisdom teeth pulled. Oh yes, he did. And that's kind of what my mouth has been feeling like, there's blood and pain and you don't wanna go there as band of orcs has been pillaging there. The freeze wore off after about four hours, and then I was in serious pain with still lot of bleeding. Another four hours on and the pain has dulled down and as far as I don't talk or eat it's not bleeding too much. I think I'll be ok.

Are they drilling on the roof or in my head?

Heh, the wisdom tooth removal is over. I went to see my dentist and I said to her that I was terrified - and she immediately sat down and said that she could refer me to a surgeon who could put me under some sedatives if I preferred. No pressure, but the assistant explained that it wasn't going to hurt, it was just going to feel uncomfortable... so I decided to be a big girl and go ahead with it.

My lovely dentist stuck my mouth full of needles and after couple of minutes I couldn't indeed feel a thing. Since the tooth was under the gum she had cut it open which sounded really gross but didn't feel painful. Then the drilling began, and the pushing and the pulling and it was indeed very unpleasant, but... well, did I mention I couldn't feel anything? She put in about four stitches - yep, discomforting and weird, but no pain. The whole operation lasted maybe half an hour and my dentist praised me on how brave I was, and then it was over.

So I sat up, and she explained the deal to me about what I need to do, what to eat, bleeding, pain, and so on - and that's when I started feeling dizzy. I almost blacked out and they went to call Dragon, but he was in a meeting and couldn't answer. I sat there for a while, but I started to feel better so managed to get up, get an appointment for removing the stitches and go home.

I took a good amount of preventative painkillers and parked my ass on the sofa. I think the drilling sound comes from the roof and not from my head. I feel fine, but the freeze (half of my face) is only going to last for about 9 hours...

A romantic comedy. With corpses.

After a romantic dinner last night we wanted to watch a romantic movie. The choice was Tim Burton's Corpse Bride that we had missed when it was in theaters because it had received such mixed reviews. The obvious comparison is Burton's other doll animation Nightmare Before Christmas which is one of our all time favourites - but I think the comparison is a bit unfair. On the surface they do look much the same with the similar appearance and music numbers, but they are two completely different movies.

The story is about a young man Victor Van Dort who's about to get married to Victoria Everglot who he's never met until the wedding rehearsal day - but due to an unfortunate misunderstanding he ends up marrying a corpse (bride) instead. There are actually only few musical numbers in the story, and they are the perfect little Danny Elfman numbers we've come to expect and love (and I'm going to pop by HMV to get the soundtrack tonight). Music-wise there are only few echoes from Nightmare - I love that music, but I'm so glad this one has a tone of it's own. The animation, of course, is perfect and flowing and the dolls are original and expressive coupled with some fantastic actors. Story is funny and touching... Still, if put side by side, Corpse Bride suffers a defeat against Nightmare, and I can't quite put my finger on why.

So my suggestion is not to compare them at all if you can - watch it with a totally open mind and take it as it is. You'll enjoy it.

...Valentine

I have the bestest husband ever.

Be mine...

We had a huge Valentines Day conversation at work today. It started when Don proclaimed that he wasn't into the commercialism of Valentines, and me and Michelle countered with the "you don't need to spend the money as long as you show you care" argument. The discussion didn't really go much further than those arguments, but it was very passionate. We had to break it off when the boys when to play some foosball, and we went back to work - but then our giggling receptionist came to bring a delivery to Pris: she had received a huge bouquet of red roses and a fruit basket from her boyfriend in Winnipeg. This was a perfect opportunity of course to bring home the point about a thoughtful gift (although not necessarily a cheap one) - Pris absolutely loves fruit, and for her the gift was so much better than any box of chocolates and her boyfriend obviously knows it.

Most people seem to be in two camps about the whole thing. First one says that it's a stupid commercial celebration and that you shouldn't need an excuse to treat your partner to a lovely surprise. The second one thinks that it's nice that there's one specific day to remember your loved one. Personally, I don't really care either way - if some people need the special incentive that's fine with me, but if not it's none of my business either. I like chocolates and flowers as much as the next girl, but there are even better things my man can give me... and he's promised to cook me dinner. As I plan and cook about 150 meals a year for him, that's one pretty damn nice thought.

Small and big things

I've had a lovely restful Sunday. Had a nice chat with Chu (although the amount of mothers that kept calling us while we were trying to have a conversation was quite bewildering), a late breakfast and a nap. Oh dear, I don't even remember the last time I had a nap, I've missed them so, they are the stuff lazy Sundays are made of. That's small stuff.

Unfortunately, no matter what the joke says, there is big stuff too. We've been discussing big issues lately - Dragon has been pondering on investing our meager savings and, well, there are adult decisions we need to make about the future. For the past nine years or so, we've been very much living in the moment - most advanced plans have been about holidays few months away. Changing jobs, houses, cities when needed - the biggest commitment we've made so far was when we moved to Canada and knew we were staying for a year. Well, the year has gone past, and we're back to the "we'll see what happens next" and I do not like it anymore. Hence the discussion. Lot of things to consider, and we've only just started.

Fun and games

Great day. It's still very sunny, so I did some shopping in the sales today which was very satisfying. Met lot of friends, Michelle popped by in the morning so I could show her off my DVR player as she was thinking about getting one, and Laura, Clay and Chris came by in the evening for some dinner (meatballs and spaghetti) and games. We tried out a new game Clay got for Dragon as a Christmas present, called Beowulf - the game may not be the best ever, or even have a huge re-play value, but our group got into the atmosphere so fully that we had tons of fun with it (and I won). It had some really nice ideas so we'll definitely play it for a bit more, especially now that our gaming group has five people which excludes playing Saint Petersburg.

And I found out that Smaug is a he, not a she, like I had always thought for some reason. And I wasn't alone, as Laura had the same misconception.

Mighty

Out of the blue, Dragon got tickets today for tonight's Canucks vs. Mighty Ducks hockey game. As we had such a good time last time we didn't have to think twice, but made it a date. And I have to say that with all the wrestling shows we've seen live, I've really grown to love the atmosphere in sporting events - I like the enthusiastic fans, music and the cheering. Game wasn't very good this time, Canucks were lackluster and even the Ducks as mighty they were, were a bit sloppy - not too sloppy though as they won 3 - 1, with all the goals done in the first period. I mean the fans even booed at their own team at times when they were just too pathetic. But fun was had - especially if someone else pays for the tickets like tonight, I could see myself doing this now and again.

When we were leaving and the masses outside were slowly moving towards the city, I pointed out to Dragon that someone was smoking pot close-by which was making me feel slightly ill (any kind of smoke does, cigarettes too). Guy doing it turned out to be a middle aged man right next to us, and after Dragon glanced at him, the man politely turned to us and offered the joint to Dragon... there's something endearing about Vancouverites that you can't be mad at them for long.

Out

Just came home from a company celebration, we've had a very successful football season and the company wanted to thank us for it. Which does not mean bonuses, it means night out drinking and eating. I've been going out sober with people who are rat-arsed for years now, and I'm quite confident that I can be just as stupid and have as much fun as the next man. Which was once again proved tonight - most people went home almost immediately after the CTO had finished the thank-you speech, but about ten hard core drinkers stayed. And me. I don't quite know why, but I just felt like it - I don't really know most of these people and this seemed as good time as any to get to know them. And I had a nice time - people were loud and laughed at stupid things, but they were happy and had fun. I even managed to have a good talk with one of the newer QA guys who sits quite isolated from rest of the team so no-one ever talks to him. Nice evening, and no hangover tomorrow.

Shoulds and shouldn'ts

I've been following this whole cartoon row in Europe and Middle East with growing agitation.

What I find really perplexing is the insistence of Europeans to continue re-publishing the cartoons, while knowing the anger it causes. Because I think there are two issues here: firstly the right to publish the material - and I fully agree the papers are within their rights to do that, and I fully agree with the words of Rowan Atkinson who has claimed it should be everyone's right to: "cause trouble, or create discomfort, or offense, as long as your words or behavior are not threatening". But there is another issue here too - what to do with that right and just generally what are good manners.

Some people probably found those original cartoons funny, personally I didn't (not that it proves anything of course). It's just that in the current world situation I don't understand the need to publish such images - they knew they were doing something that would offend Muslims and their religion that forbids images of the subject. They must have known - or they should have - that there are elements in the Middle East that would jump to the opportunity to use this as an example of Western attitudes and use it to incite hatred toward them. And still they did it, knowing the consequences - that's what I don't get. It may have been a surprise that the row has gotten this big, but if so they really hadn't done their research. Surely if you want to make a point about freedom of speech there are better and non-offensive ways of doing it.

I think it's actually very clever in a morbid way for the Iranian newspaper to hold the contest for cartoons about the holocaust. I would then like to see all the European papers that published the Prophet Muhammad cartoons to publish them as well, just to prove that they're not hypocritical about what is allowed within the freedom of speech and what isn't. I would be willing to bet money that they won't do it, which really will prove the point some Muslims are making. And whatever happens, I can't see this ending well.

Recovering

I've now had time to recover and think Sarah's workshop over. I say recover, because my back is still very sore from the backbends we did on Saturday.

The basis of yin yoga is to do all poses for extended periods - this allows the muscle tension to subside and starts to work on the fascia and connective tissues. The way Paul Grilley teaches yin is to put great emphasis on safety: to make sure that you're not hurting yourself and learning to understand your body, it's limitations and capabilities. The way Sarah Powers teaches yin is to put all the emphasis on mind over matter: she does say that you shouldn't do anything to hurt yourself, but she talked a long while about how meditating on pain will make it go away.

I'm kind of on the fence about it. While I'm willing to believe that certain individuals are indeed able to control their mind such that physical pain is no longer an issue, I do think this is extremely rare. And I'm not sure if I'll be able to ever do, and I'm certain it won't happen anytime soon. So it makes sense (intellectually and physically) for me to listen to Paul for now and keep Sarah's teachings in the back of my mind.

The truth is I overdid the backbends on Saturday, and I know how my body works and what it is capable of. But my other teachers have always been very careful and taken care of me - we normally do Seal pose (which is yin's version of cobra, Bhujangasana) for minute, two minutes top because my teachers are aware of how many people have lower back issues. With Sarah we did this for 15 minutes and while I though it was intensive I didn't experience any pain - in retrospect I know it was too much for me. For few coming days, I'll be taking it very easy.

Dragon bows his head

Saturday night at Ultimate Fighting Championship 57, after being defeated by Chuck "the Iceman" Liddell, one of the all-time great martial artists, Randy Couture, announced his retirement from professional fighting.

There is only one guy I know who can use "the Star-spangled banner" by Jimmy Hendrix as their theme tune as well as get nick-named "Captain America" and get away with it. Randy Couture is that man.

First time in all the years I've watched his career, I could see a tear on his face, and I'll be honest, it moved me. Not because he lost, but because his is dying in a sense. It is said that athletes die twice: their first death is the death of their sports careers.

Randy Couture, world-class Olympic wrestler, started fighting in Mixed Martial Arts at the age of 34, when most men are past their prime or already in retirement. He swiftly rose through the ranks and became both the World Heavy-weight Champion and Light-Heavyweight champion, defeating the very best boxers, wrestlers, jiu-jitsu fighters, Muay Thai boxers and Kickboxers in his path. But more amazing than his victories were Randy's demeanour: in a sport dominated by big-mouths and egos, brutal streetfighters and thugs, Randy was known for his kindness, politeness, simplicity of ways and his accessibility to the fans. He won millions of fans in the "Ultimate Fighter" TV-show, where he acted as one of the head coaches. His compassion and humility endeared him to the people who before would have never dreamed of taking interest in professional fighting.

But no man can defy time. At 42, as a professional fighter, Randy is older than the mountains. He made the right decision to hang up his gloves for good. Like a warrior he is, Randy went out on his shield, fighting against the very best competition in his final fight. Of course I would have wished that he'd won, but I try to look at the positives: he is healthy, in incredible shape, and he has found a new love after the break-up of his marriage.

Fans are already speculating on Randy's possible move to Japanese fighting organisation PRIDE, but I hope Randy sticks to his decision and becomes a coach for future champions. If I ever had to fight professionally, Randy would be the man I'd pick to train me.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Randy "the Natural" Couture. Thank you for all the memories Randy!

Precious Impermanence

I've just done a yin yoga workshop called Precious Impermanence held by American yoga guru Sarah Powers. Sarah is a practicing Mahayana Buddhist and it reflects greatly in her practice. Her style of teaching compared to my other yin guru Paul Grilley's is like night to day. Where Paul takes a very pragmatical approach to yoga - he talks a lot about anatomy, compression and tension and physical benefits of the poses. With Sarah asanas are almost like an afterthought: she talks about the mind and meditation and buddhism. Because of this, this workshop was not for beginners - Sarah talked a lot about the mental side of yoga and very briefly about asanas, so previous experience was indeed useful.

On Saturday morning I woke up at eight because the wind was banging on the windows. Not rain, wind. BC was experiencing one of the strongest storms of recent years and the wind was just incredible. The weather and the past week's events reflected in my practice on that day - I wasn't really open to Sarah's teachings, neither the asanas (which were pretty much all very difficult poses for me and my least favorites like Gomukhaasana) or the meditation. My mind was restless and my body tight and afterwards I was wondering if I had done the right thing taking the workshop.

This morning I slept till nine (which I very rarely do) and woke up because sun was shining to my face. Sun! I haven't seen the sun in weeks! The pleasant wake-up was followed by a long breakfast with my best friend, talking about everything under the sun... I've missed that so. So by the time I got to Granville Island I was full of positive energy and happiness and most of all I was prepared and open for something different. And I loved today's practice. Meditation and asanas were peaceful and I was open enough to take whatever was coming. I came out rested and tranquil, just what I was hoping for.

So altogether: not like anything I was expecting, but proved to be a very quiet and thought-provoking practice. Sarah is a wonderful, deeply emotional and spiritual teacher.

Hard week

Last night was another night at the Irish pub with friends. This time with much more purpose - unfortunately the week has been very bad for our friends as The Company Dragon works for has laid off quite a few people. Dragon's good and is in no danger, but one of our friend was let go (hell, that's such a nice way of saying it - she was fired) and another one has been given two weeks to find something inside the company or get fired as well.

In one way it makes it more easy that many people have been laid off - it's not something you did, it's just a knee jerk reaction to whatever the latest trend in the markets. Still, it's very difficult to not to take personally, it is after all one of the most significant things in the world - for you. In situations like this friends just need friends there: none of us have their families here so being able to just let it all out with friends and try to forget everything else - it's so important.

To relax, fortunately I've got a Sarah Powers' yoga workshop booked for the weekend. I so need it.

Knots and Crosses by Ian Rankin

While waiting for a new Inspector Rebus book, I've started from the beginning and read the very first in the series: Knots and Crosses. I was actually quite surprised how much Rebus has changed in the twenty years Ian Rankin has been writing about him - there is almost nothing familiar about the prototype-Rebus. Rankin writes very well and I love the description of Scotland and Edinburgh he does in this books. Rebus is anxious and sensitive, cries easily and described as "a good cop - but not a very good one". He's assigned to a kidnap and murder case, but at the same time he's receiving anonymous letters and while they seemingly have nothing in common it's fairly clear to the reader they have to be connected. It's not an old-style murder mystery in that it's not possible for the reader to figure out who-dunnit, but it's still a good story (but not a very good one).

Wisdom

Went to the dentist today. My toothache had of course gone by now, so all she could do was to take some x-rays and poke at the tooth - but couldn't see anything so we let it be. I did get a good check-up and cleaning too - all very uncomfortable so I concentrated on wiggling my toes and unclenching my buttocks.

Also my dentist wants to remove one of my wisdom teeth. In addition to scaring the hell out of me (I've got the appointment booked for 16th), I'm still debating if I want to do it at all. Someone once told me that it's not necessary to remove wisdom teeth "just to be safe" if they're not giving you any trouble - but some dentists disagree. I've been told for the past ten years that it might be a good idea - this is the first dentist who really wants to do it. I've heard so many horror stories that I don't know anymore what to believe.

Silver Dragon

Today, I listened to the State of the Union speech by the Leader of the Free World:

And we are on the offensive in Iraq, with a clear plan for victory.

I drew my conclusions, and tomorrow I am buying couple of hundred ounces of silver.

And I will hasten my preparations to get some shares in energy companies.