The Oscars have come and gone. As usual, I skipped watching them. I read about who won in the following Monday, nothing more. As usual, the Golden Raspberry, the Razzies, were awarded on the Saturday. In a Razzie first, a "winner" actually showed up and accepted the prize. I guess there are some people in Hollywood who need to be seen to survive (wait, ALL people in Hollywood are like that). At least the awards show season is now over, so we can return to our usual sane routine of oddity-searching.
Recently the City of London unveiled a slogan celebrating the city's diversity. It doesn't sound very exciting, does it? The slogan is only three words long, but it has sparked a long debate. The slogan is "All mixed up!" When one thinks about it, it DOES make some sense. It conveys that people of all types blend together well. Of course, the slogan can be interpreted in many ways. Some consider the slogan to be rather dumb and weird. Once again we have seen the best and worst of bureaucracy at work. One has to wonder that if this is the best the City of London has to offer, then how good (or bad) are the rejected slogans? I think the city would have found a better slogan if they had gone to the Western campus and ask a random passer-by (or better yet, here in the MC of UW).
People will do absolutely anything to protect the things they love. Many are willing to risk their safety to save something they cherish. One can understand that if that something is the person's love ones ... but a sweater? A Swedish man was stuck in the garbage chute in his apartment building, all because his wife threw out his favourite sweater down the chute. The wife claimed that the man never washed the sweater and its smell was unbearable. The man was able to retrieve the sweater and did not suffer any injury. Lucky for him, no one threw garbage while he was in the chute. If someone did, it would give new meaning to the term garbageman. I suppose he will get the sweater washed this time. Otherwise, next time his wife will throw the sweater off the balcony. We all have our own favourite clothing, but please, wash it occasionally. Comfy smell all over MC is the worst thing that can happen to the Math Faculty (and UW).
Many things are decided on a coin toss — order of dessert, who gets the ball in football games, and Stat 230 examples. Who would have thought that a coin toss can be used to decide the fate of two people? A library in Hamilton recently terminated some of its workers. You probably are saying, "Big deal, so what?" In ordinary circumstances, this wouldn't make the Hamilton papers, but this is no ordinary case. The future of two library workers hinges on a coin toss, instead of performance or experience. The winner of the toss keeps the job, and the loser loses more than the toss. Obviously, neither were happy with the method and filed complaints. Strangely enough, there is a clause in their union contract that stipulates that such a move is legal. So before you sign up to join a club or for a job, check the contract carefully before signing it. Who knows what clauses are hidden inside?
For those of you who play for a sports team, whether it's competitive or not, additional bodies are always a good thing. One time a hockey team in Winnipeg was a goalie short and had to forfeit the game if the position was not filled. So the team asked a sports broadcaster from a local TV station to dress for the game. Problem solved, right? Wrong. The team's broadcaster happened to be a rival station of the station the walk-on goalie worked. The TV station that carried the broadcast was not happy that someone working for a rival station getting free exposure during the hockey game. Naturally, the team bowed to the TV station's pressure and played the game with only one goalie. Luckily for the team, the starter lasted the whole game. I guess the observers are right — hockey is run by television and politics dominate the game, even outside of the NHL.
Jason "the Screamer" Lau
Do I desparately need a life or what?