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Hi,

Stuff I found yesterday, but forgot to share. Enjoy today, hooray!

1- Socialism you say? Spain? No..

2- Yes! Bring back my Polaroid film.

3- Great. Love the technology and the ease of access that mobile phones now provide. Oh, those crazy Koreans. (Miss you Sehuan and Boo-yung!)

I wonder, however, if people will just stop talking to each other all together. Here's a few examples of people that are, and have been replaced by simple technology. I like talking to these people, I'm not sure why. A- Folks that sell the tickets in the underground, or the driver on the bus. Sometimes pleasant, just try to have the correct change. B- Cashiers at the supermarket. Rapidly being replaced by self-checkouts, which of course need a member of staff to help you through all the computer flaws anyways. Plus you feel like and arse when you take too long to bag up your groceries. Well, at least the folks behind you in the queue think you're an arse. C- People on the street. Literally, their personalities are taken over by their gadgets, or they are just so not used to people talking to them in public anymore.

I attempt every day to blether with folk about stories we're working on, and am greeted with one of several responses: i- individual is hooked to an iPod/phone and thus completely unavailable. ii- individual is shocked someone would approach them on the street and actually attempt to speak to them. 'How dare you young man, forcing me to have a conversation and all.' iii- individual begins to move more swiftly, offering the first excuse they can muster. Some people are actually late of course, and that I understand. iv- individual stops to chat, and in an incredibly pleasant manner, offers you up everything you want to know, including their home addresses for some strange reason.

What if waiters and bartenders were replaced by automated ordering systems like in Back to the Future II? Wow, Calgary would love that one. And think, you would never have to talk to all those interesting university kids trying to put themselves through school and all. Shame.

Oh, no more waiting at the airport, however. Oh, no check in people now too. Thanks Ryanair, for eliminating the check-in guy or gal, thus charging folks who checked in online to print their boarding pass upon arrival at the airport. Oh, and thanks for allowing folks to use their mobile phones during the flight as well. Glad that technology came out. Now I can hear about you life from across the aisle at 40,000 ft too. Dynamite! Long live the iPhone. (Just don't let it roam in the UK, oops). I never have to stop and ask for directions now, ha!

I'm starting to think I was meant to be born around the time of the Renaissance. Machiavelli and I would have got on great. Or maybe around the French Revolution. I imagine I would have a few questions for Locke or Hume. I was infuriated one day prior to a lecture, and during an exercise for an English course this past semester, was driven to write an interesting commentary on the perils of modern technology. (Such a hypocrite I am, yeah?) I could see a good friend smiling behind me in the class, knowing it was my words the professor was reading (off paper!) to the class that day. Rant.

Anyways. Enough computer blogging. Going for a walk to talk to some people, face to face.

- Daniel C.