This weekend we rented What the bleep do we know? after I’d heard a few people in the Learning & Development field discussing the movie. I should mention that we didn’t rent the original 2002 theatrical version of the film, rather the repackaged 2006 “director’s cut” titled What the bleep: Down the Rabbit Hole.

I really didn’t know what I’d be getting myself into but I was certain it couldn’t be any worse than some of the other movies we’ve rented over the past decade.

So two hours, a mini bag of popcorn, and a few beers later one thought cemented in my mind. I need to learn more about the premise behind the documentary. I also was pretty certain I’d need to watch it at least a few more times (after some time had elapsed) before I could make a judgment either way regarding how I felt about the information presented.

Strangely, while I don’t agree with the premise, I also don’t have the overwhelming urge to bemoan my loss of time spent watching it. Usually when the hubby and I watch something terrible we tend to joke about demanding the 2 hours of our lives that we spent watching a movie back from the powers that be*.

Sure, I know most of it has been debunked as pseudoscience and it’s a thinly veiled promotional piece for Ramtha’s School of Enlightenment. I also don’t see how the premise fits into my current understanding of the world and my own reality. I am, however, confused.

I’ve learned to equate my moments of confusion with the learning process. Most times when I’m confused I find I’m trying to work things out but haven’t really got a good grasp of what my final interpretation of the data is yet. Due to my current confused state, I’m having a hard time completely dismissing the film. If nothing else it’s forcing me to ask questions and seek out answers so I can build my own reality. At least that’s one thing I do feel confident about knowing. I’m firmly entrenched in the belief that anyone suggesting that we don’t built our own reality hasn’t really examined their own mental models!

For more info on the controversy surrounding this movie, read the Salon article Bleep of Faith or Annie Wagner‘s blog post David Albert: ‘What the BLEEP’ Is Wildly and Irresponsibly Wrong. Alternately, you can google the movie title to find lots of opinions (pro and con).

*We used to have a rule that we followed wherein we wouldn’t stop a movie once we’d started watching it. If we rented it, we were stuck until the end. It resulted in our seeing a large number of absolutely horrific movies over the years. We frequently wanted our 2 hours back! More recently we’ve decided that life is too short to spend watching crap. If neither of us is into a movie in the first 15-30 minutes it’s pulled out of the DVD player and we move onto something else.

Technorati Tags: what the bleep, ramtha, pseudoscience, mental models, reality

Over at Yahoo! News, there’s an article titled Americans’ obesity add to extra gasoline consuption: study. I can’t believe that someone wasted the time, money and energy to complete a study on this. Ask anyone who drives a pick-up truck and places sand bags or other hefty items in the box for traction in winter what happens to their gas mileage. *hint* It doesn’t get any better… It only makes sense that if the bodies in the cars are heavier they will also make an impact in the mileage of vehicles. Cars and trucks don’t care if the extra weight is coming from a piece of furniture, sand bags, or extra bodies, the mileage is affected by the overall weight.

Technorati Tags: obesity, gas mileage, weight

Despite getting out of bed at 7 am and getting to the garage at 7:30 we didn’t get the truck in for the winter tire installation. They’d already had 85 vehicles dropped off between midnight the night before at 7am. If we were willing to leave the truck at the garage until Monday we could have had the tires installed but that just wasn’t a viable option. Guess it’ll be a trip up to the base hobby shop (or whatever it’s called) for the hubby to swap out the tires by his lonesome tomorrow.

There’s a tonne of snow on my back deck and the dogs are having way too much fun playing in it. From early this morning it hasn’t really stopped snowing all day…

Support Our Troops: If you’re in Edmonton on Friday, November 3rd, drop by Sir Winston Churchill Square to show your support for our troops in Afghanistan and all over the world. The rally is at 11:30 am. Along with your red cheeks, noses and toes, you can wear red clothing to show your support.

Technorati Tags: snow, winter, tires, support our troops

Bah! It’s that time of year again and snow is just starting to fall. A few times last week I woke to snow and once again it’s made an appearance.

Tomorrow we get up at O dark 30 to drive to garage and get my winter tires installed on my truck. They don’t take appointments and if we don’t want to be sitting in the waiting room for the bulk of the day, I need to crawl out of bed while it’s still dark. So much for getting some much needed sleep after the end of a grueling (mentally and emotionally) week.

Once that’s done we’ll be taking the RV up to the storage compound to wave it goodbye for another season. We didn’t get out in it at all this year so we’ve already started making plans for trips out to the mountain in spring.

Happy red Friday everyone!

Technorati Tags: snow, winter, tires, red friday

When I was a child, time seemed to drag. I was desperate to be older and birthdays were a thrill. The lazy days of summer were a time to explore the neighbourhood and my own abilities. Swimming and tennis lessons, cycling, dance classes, road hockey, playing tag from morning until night. By the time school started, I was sick of the time off and desperate to get back into the classroom.

I remember university much in the same manner. Time passed slowly, as if I were running through puddles of glue.

Somewhere along the way – early to mid 20’s I expect – time seemed to start whizzing by. I’m sure it coincides with leaving academics to work full-time. Blink and your next birthday was around the corner. Sneeze and you missed an important moment in a loved one’s life. Before I knew it I was celebrating my 5 year anniversary. Next time I looked up from the grindstone it was anniversary number 9. We slid into our 30’s barely remembering where the time went. It seems like only days ago that I boarded a plane to Manila but months have passed.

Dad died a month ago today. Bits and pieces of my life are starting to slot back into place. I’m back at work and starting to socialize with friends again. The hubby and I are starting to slide into old and familiar routines. Soon it will be Christmas. The pain is as fresh as it was in the beginning. Time continues to rush past but I’m learning that you can’t rush grieving and healing.

I miss my dad.

Technorati Tags: ime, death, grief, childhood, healing