Holes

Holes hold a fascination for people. Coyotes understand this -- I like a nice snug one myself, smelling of dry earth, roots and many good books. Lately, though, my wanderings have taken me past this very large hole at Kent and Laurier Streets, where a noticeable crowd of men -- always men -- gathers to gape every week day at civil service quitting time. Which is anywhere between 1:30 and 5:00 on a given day... I digress.

This hole is a former Canadian Tire, and was the only hardware store left in Centretown. I do not address that loss directly here -- the Independent Observer is passionate on this, and tells hilarious, twisted stories around a series of crotchety correspondences with blandly clueless corporate flacks. He may write 'em up sometime.

Let's just say that the store's demise, and that of an adjacent pocket park, have left holes in the Centretown community. Now there are holes in the ground, soon to be replaced by um, erections, that we coyotes would argue are actually holes in the sky. Ones that punch holes in the ambient sunlight reaching pedestrians way down at ground level. In summer, there is permanent semidarkness. In winter, add cold, bitter winds shrieking between the walls of artificial canyons created by this and all the other holes in the sky in that part of the city. No one knows precisely how all of this will interact with the remains of the local micro climate until it's a fait accompli...

Among the definitions for 'hole' extant in the Oxford English Big Word Thingy for Literate Dogs are: "an empty space in a solid body; an aperture in or through something; an awkward situation". Less polite, more scatological dictionaries have other definitions of interest also. To describe the many levels of politicians, bureaucrats, city planners, investors, developers anon anon, who have taken part in imposing this dense skyscraper farm, one might refer to the latter...

*Note: The photo here is a composite, created with a demonstration version of a program called Autostitch. Five dozen separate pictures of the construction site and two hours of chugging on my wood fired computer -- et voila! The estimable David Scrimshaw told me about it and explained how the algae-rhythm works when the Irregulars went to his last party. He's gone to school for these kindsa things. What I took away from it was that this algae-rhythm thing has to do with pond scum -- either an R&B band formed by some of the more musically talented, or a method of asexual birth control sanctioned by their traditional church. I have no idea what this has to do with photo software... but I like the subtly off-kilter, weird, rickety, blurry thing, because it's pretty much how us coyotes see cities...

Behold, the most Canadian photo ever

Canadian Museum of Civilization, Gatineau, Que., July 2007

Hype

The Meta-Contest deadline is rapidly approaching (Nov. 8th - 7 p.m.) Although there have been a couple of solid entries, I am not feeling quite enough HYPE about this contest. Or, perhaps it is one of those contests that is just too good to be true. The Prize is THE PRIZE YOU SUGGEST, folks. How good is that? Don't deny yourself a good prize. Think about what you want, what you really want -- and ask for it!!! You have about a 1 in 10 chance of winning. And, you can submit multiple entries. No strings attached. What do you have to lose?

Weekly Coyote News Roundup

Coyote cleared in killing of man: Bears also cleared. Wolf guilty.

Shaving is effective disguise for Coyotes.

Squirrels are back on the menu in New Jersey.

Google Poem: 21 Things

1. The important thing is that you got it done.
2. The amusing thing is that I didn't really lose any weight.
3. The sad thing is that when Einstein was about, there were ample indicators that Newton had fallen on his face.
4. The interesting thing is that, if you're creative, there may be things at work that you're not even aware of.
5. The ironic thing is that this may be a very progressive thing.
   
6. No, the strange thing is that in almost every story people will sleep part of, or in many cases, the entire night, on top of the corpse before reporting it.
   
7. The odd thing is that I’m OK with this schizophrenia. I enjoy it even.
   
8. The unfortunate thing is that it’s always very late.
9. The sensation is unbelievable ... and the amazing thing is that it just never stops.
10. The scary thing is that you're on a starvation diet and your BMI is only 20.7.
11. The weird thing is that Adolf Hitler haircut that Tom Cruise is wearing these days.
    
12. Indeed, the remarkable thing is that in Spain there is a species of wild goat, the Spanish Ibex, Capra pyrenaica.
13. The surprising thing is that Mike had no idea I’ve been blogging about online video sites for months.
    
14. The neatest thing is that I can even watch naughty movies.
15. The coolest thing is that ALL of the sound effects are synthesized in realtime, on the fly!
    
16. The oddest thing is that 8 maids-a-milking only cost $41.20.
    
17. The funniest thing is that Russian soldiers have fewer rights than prisoners.
    
18. The worst thing is that we work non-profit, so we don't make very much.
    
19. The weirdest thing is that while it's the loudest tune on the set, it features Norman Blake on acoustic guitar with Burnett.
20. The cruellest thing is that their enormous size makes them all the more distended and more tempting to pop.
    
21. The saddest thing is that i have to go home after all the shangrilas by myself .
    

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