These are empty freight cars designed to carry logs. Why are they empty? 'Cause there ain't no trees left to convert to logs. Stupid people cut 'em down as fast as they could. Big money, you know.

And, speaking of stupid people (and, for once, the triumph of the smart), how's about this little story? I LOVE librarians. If you know one, go give 'em a great big hug. If you don't know one, find one and hug 'em anyhow!

Gotta love empty parking lots. Especially when they're lit by fluorescent lights. Ever so warm and inviting. Not to mention useful.

Ah, planning. It doesn't always work out, does it? This place has been empty for at least a couple of years now. A very expensive error. Or con job. The building, that is. What genius decided that a high-end retail mall would be a success in the heart of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside? Say "Oops", boys and girls.

What can I tell you? There's just something about abandoned parking garages, you know?

Yep, still diverted by that midnight parkade. They're very weird places when they're empty. Huge amounts of space devoted to nothing but storing empty cars.

Kinda spooky, huh?

Go rent "Pow Wow Highway". Darn fine film.

That the Republican Party is morally and intellectually bankrupt has been known for rather a long time now. That the party that says to the poor, "Yer on yer own," to the homeless, "Yer on yer own," and, to those unable to buy their health from the Friends of the Republicans, "Yer on yer own," is now saying to its own candidates, "Yer on yer own," is, um, surprising? Not surprising? Typical? Just? A great source of joy to those of us who hate these scum-sucking vipers with every fibre of our being?

Democracy - if you can't buy it, what's the point?

Phew! Managed to retrieve the original format.

As to the photo - well, the food supplies may have been sunny, but the day wasn't. From the looks of things, Sunny Food Supply Ltd. wasn't all that sunny in the end either.

But, moving on to politics....Our Fearsome Leader, Smirkin' Stevie Harper is doing us proud over in Bali. Yep, anything he can do to block any kind of change for the better, he's your man.

Yep, another empty room. Evidently, there are a lot of these in churches in the States. The answer? Bring in the young folks with games of slaughter and mayhem. Enough of that "Love thy neighbour, turn the other cheek" nonsense. Kill! Kill! Kill! That's where it's at. Gotta love pinhead christians, don't you?

Went to see "Michael Clayton" tonight. Darn good movie. Much, much better than "In the Valley of Elah", which was good but flawed. "M.C.", on the other hand, has no glaringly obvious hooks or symbolism. It's just a straightforward tale of greed, moral slippage, nemesis. Art has always got to be bigger than life. Partly this is so that our interest will be piqued. Face it, it's a tougher sell if the folks in the movie aren't facing bigger problems than yours. And, partly it's to make us all feel safer. We'd never sell out the way the protagonists in this movie do. Well, no, not on this sort of scale (murder doesn't play a role in most of our lives), but everyone - everyone - makes compromises with their better instincts. I suspect that it's a rare individual who couldn't be kept awake nights by thoughts of the accumulation of small betrayals of personal values that they've committed over their lives. The betrayals made by Clooney's character are a tad bigger, but - and this is the scary part - they're just a tad. Tilda Swinton's character, on the other hand, goes way, way over the line. And Swinton does a great job of portraying this character. So, go see the movie, O.K.?

Honest, when I picked this photo to post, I was not thinking about the following.

I know only a couple of Republicans, and I can't say as I count them among my close friends. Which is good, because it's always painful (I imagine) to have to sign the papers committing friends to a lengthy stay in a hospital for the mentally deranged. But, on the off chance that someone reading this might actually be a Republican, and might actually be considering voting for a Republican next fall, I'd ask them to pause and consider this. Bosh.....er, I mean, Bush, a Republican, took office in 2000. At that time, both the Senate and Congress were in Republican control. A clean sweep, as it were. Republicans - the party of fiscal responsibility - controlled everything. And George was taking over a country that was - what? billions? trillions? - of dollars in the black. The American dollar was worth, roughly, $1.40 Canadian. Wow! What an opportunity for the party of fiscal responsibility to really take off! Total control! A huge budget surplus! Zowee! Remember, that surplus was generated while a Democrat - the evil Bill "Blow Me" Clinton was President. Imagine what these folks could do now that they had COMPLETE CONTROL OVER THE AMERICAN ECONOMY. It had to be a dream come true for Republican voters all across America.

So? How'd they do? Well, they burned through that huge surplus and created a record-breaking deficit, for one. And before next week is over (heck - before this week is over!) the Canadian dollar will be equal to the American dollar, or maybe worth a little more. Yep, Americans owe the rest of the world (mainly China - the Commies, remember?) trillions of dollars and, on top of that, those dollars are now worth 40% less than when Bush took office. Nice going Party of Fiscal Responsibility!

I'd mention the war that's killed tens of thousands of Iraqis and a couple of thousand Americans, but that's not something that would actually concern the average Republican. Money, however (especially their own), tends to get their attention.

My college got a new library this year, so the old one had to be emptied. I managed to get myself let into the abandoned building over the weekend to wander around taking pictures. Evidently, I'm drawn to abandoned things. Go ahead, make of that what you will. Meanwhile, once I was done, I found myself locked in. Uh-oh. Luckily the phones in the building were still working (Own a cell phone?!? Me?!?), so I was able to call Security. They told me to go out the door marked, "Do Not Open. Alarm Will Sound!", so I did. As you might imagine, the alarm didn't. Sound, that is.