Kozo's Thoughts

I've been meaning to write something ever since I got my internet back, but I've just been too busy watching Arrested Development and doing work. It's surprising what one can accomplish with their internet/TV cut off. I was able to read all 22 volumes of the Patlabor manga (comic), which I bought in Japan. I have now seen/read all incarnations of Patlabor. The manga is definitely the edgiest of all the works and definitely something I want to read through again. I also watched the Goodbye Lenin DVD I bought in Montreal. Unfortunately a key part of the disc was scratched, so I missed 2-3 important scenes. But it was definitely worth all the hype. I also powered through all the West Wings I owned (a.k.a all the episodes except this season's). Good mindless fun. Of course, I attended MacDebate meetings and hung out with people afterwards. Lastly, I got a tad bit ahead on my readings.

I also began discharging my duties as Regional Coordinator yeasterday when I held the first coaches meeting. Can I just say I love the idea of having a school on a street named 'Rifle Range Road.' Looks like another bumpy year ahead in Hamilton High School debate.

Going home to Montreal for the long weekend, it'll be nice to speak Japanese at home, and French about town. Leading a unilingual life (speaking anyway) is just plain boring. Hope some more exciting stuff worth writing happens...

For the last week I've been watching episodes of Sports Night and I finally finished watching today. Sports Night is by far the smartest half-hour series I've seen on network television. The cinematography is great, I love the characters, and the situations are pretty original. The dialogue gets a bit predictable, but to me that kind of bantering style is my dream world. So go check it out!

Watching Sports Night got me to think about all the other moving picture shows that I like. I realized that many of my choices aren't really mainstream, and might be worth a shout out for. So I'll go list off some of my favorite movies, and television shows of all time.

( Kozo's Moving Picture List )

I saw I Skoni tonight, unfortunately it didn't live up to the expectations I had for it. I was expecting a film with lots of introspective moments, but instead I Skoni was a little too loose for my taste. I like tight stories where things make sense, rather than have things happen for no reason or not make sense within the context of the scene. Usually I'm able to ignore small inconsistencies, but when gratuitous sex is involved, I have a hard time looking the other way (in both meanings of that phrase). I Skoni's a decent film, just don't expect too much.

As promised a review of Control Room:
<review>
Go see it, it's good. It makes you think about the role of news broadcasters, and the standards in which we hold them. It also sheds light on the US/Iraq situation.
</review>

I also accepted the OSDU job today.

Well... It seems I spoke too soon, when I woke up this morning the NDP had 19 seats (as opposed to 22 last night). This means the NDP doesn't necessarily hold the balance of power since their 19 seats combined with the Liberal's 135 seats, equals exactly half the seats in the new Parliament. Obviously not all MPs are present all the time, and the BQ still plays a role in social issues, so I'm not too worried. Which brings me to the meat of this discussion, how would the NDP do in a PARTIAL proportional representation scheme. I'm not totally behind a complete proportional representation which does away with ridings. I think regional candidates who are elected as individuals should still play a role in Canadian government. I think regional independents (like Chuck Cadman) would get lost in a full PR system. I decided to put this election's results through my VERY CRUDE partial representation system to see what happens.

( Kozo' Partial Proportional Representation Parliament )

I also went out and saw Fahrenheit 9/11 today. Although the facts presented are nothing new to well informed lefties, the film highlights emotional aspects that are often absent when you read alternative (non-CNN) news sources. Fahrenheit isn't the light hearted view that Bowling for Columbine presented, and even Michael Moore haters (people who think he's abrasive) should go see this film.