just pete

Peter Jackson film adaptation of The Lord of the Rings opens thusly:

The world is changed.  I feel it in the water.  I feel it in the Earth.  I smell it in the air.  Much that once was is lost.  For none now hold the copyright to profit from it.

Okay, I paraphrased that last bit, but I think it speaks to the mindset of copyright litigators who see copyright, not as an protection of creative ownership, but as the spigot from which profit pours freely.  Over the past 50 years, copyright has changed from being a protection of commodities and instead become a commodity in and of itself.

Yet the ever-evolving world of technology and communications refuses to be bound by that vision of copyright, just as it refused such visions during the birth of the magnetic cassette tape, the VCR, the writable CD and the now-ubiquitous digital media device (eg: iPod).  There are two ways of addressing such conflict.  Either a) legislate the vision into law, or b) change the vision.  Canada is now in the process of joining the US by opting for option a, introducing it’s own Canuckian version of the US’s Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and opinion is much divided.  While I support the concept of protecting one’s copyright, these laws designed to permit vigilante justice on the part of copyright holders just don’t address the REAL issue which is simply this: the world has changed.  You either change with it, or cease to exist.  Criminalizing emergent ever-evolving technology has never worked and it will never work.

Thoughts?

Tags: Whatever // 2 Comments »

When the fifth human foot washed up on BC shores, it was the first I’d ever heard of it.  Then a sixth, this one with evidence of actually being severed, washed up yesterday:

The black running shoe, wrapped in seaweed, didn’t stand out on the pebbled beach near Campbell River yesterday. It was the stomach-turning sight of human bones sticking up above the ankle line that left Sandra Malone shaken.

The long-time manager of the Thunderbird RV Park on Tyee Spit was at work yesterday morning when a distressed woman arrived, asking to phone police. She had just discovered what is now the sixth human foot to wash up on a B.C. shore in less than a year - and the second one this week.

While they waited for police to arrive, the woman, who had been collecting rocks, led Ms. Malone down to the beach. There she saw a man’s Adidas sneaker. It was the right foot, about a size 10. Of the six feet to wash up in a relatively small section of B.C.’s coast, five have been the right.

“There were two bones sticking out above the ankle, about three to four inches, clean cut across,” she said yesterday. “I assume it had been cut.”  (…read complete story here)

Theories abound: accidental misfortune, a new serial killer, etc; but regardless of the cause, it’s incredibly disturbing.  I pray that law enforcement are able to resolve it quickly.

Tags: In The News // Add Comment »

Despite the fact that my two year practicum (or “SFE” or “Supervised Field Education”) at Billtown Baptist Church is complete, I have the distinct pleasure of filling in on Sunday morning for pastor Randall Read on June 22nd and all of July the first three Sundays of July at both Woodville and Billtown Baptist churches. Service at Woodville Baptist is at 9:30am and service at Billtown Baptist is at 11am, and you’re most welcome to stop in! Maps to both churches can be found here.

Tags: Ministry // Add Comment »

Amazon.com is a company based in the United States, and despite the domain name, so is Amazon.ca.  It’s June, and Amazon marketing execs are sitting around thinking about what to feature on their front page.  On Amazon.com, the main featured ad is this:

Father’s Day is next week, so this seems like a perfectly appropriate ad.  Amazon marketing execs were thinking a little differently about their Canadian page, though, and over on Amazon.ca, you will search in vain for any mention of Father’s Day.  Right under a large ad for the newly released Micro$oft Zune (Haha.  Zune in June.  Yes, we all get it Steve, very clever.  Now go away.), you will instead find this June advertisement:

Now if that doesn’t speak to the perceived (note: not necessarily “actual”) ultra-liberalism of Canada, I know know what does.  American marketing execs think “June in USA, lets plug Father’s Day” and then “June in Canada?  Let’s go with Gay Pride Month.”

I won’t get into my personal views on modern human sexuality in this post - I’m just demonstrating a contrast here - but it certainly seems like a good jumping point for my next post.  Stay tuned.

Tags: Strange but True // 2 Comments »

Steven Spielberg rips a page from the George Lucas’ playbook and makes a new film based on a previously successful franchise. If you didn’t enjoy the Star Wars prequels, rest assured, you’ll enjoy Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull even less. I love the Indiana Jones movies, and I was all set for this new adventure, having already come to grips with the fact that it wasn’t going to be the same “good, old Indy” - it’s just “old Indy” now. Unfortunately, this film was just plain bad. Bad in the way Police Academy IV was bad.  The Fonz water-skiing over a shark kinda bad. I didn’t even realize that making a movie this bad was physically possible for Spielberg… I always thought he had some kind of immunity.

Seen the movie? Chime in. Maybe I’m being overly harsh.

Tags: Entertainment // 2 Comments »