Growing up one of the staples of my childhood identity was always the  Karate Kid movies. The karate kid movies introduced me to the world of  "martial arts cinema" (which it really isn't), it taught me lessons about bullying, about character, about respect. It remains to this day one of my favourite movies of all time... not because of it's quality, but rather because of it's sentimental value.

I very much live in nostalgia.

So today I am on a chatroom, one of my old ones that I rarely visit anymore... and what is the topic? Noriyuki 'Pat' Morita has died. I was crushed.

Now, I don't know if you know who Pat Morita was. He was probably most famous for his role as Miyagi-Sensei in The Karate Kid movie series. He was Daniel-San's teacher, mentor, and friend.

One of my life's goals was always to shake his hand, or give him a hug or something... but I guess that's not going to happen now. Not that it should be a surprise seeing as how old he was (he was old in the 80s), but it still kind of shook me. He's one of the few actors I wanted to meet... and now he's dead.

So, this is for you, Pat.

Goodbye Mr. Miyagi. You taught us well.

I come to think tonight of a little nation named Rwanda that nobody wanted to help in the hour of it's greatest need. Why? Because we were afraid? I ask you, why were we afraid of a little nation with less than 10 million people.

We let it happen.

I'm posting this again to remind you what happened 11 years ago. It's important to me to educate, but it's more important to never forget.

Today I log on to AIM only to find that on the main page lies a picture of Daniel Ratcliffe (I believe that's his name), the infamous Harry Potter.

"Oh, that's nice," I thought to myself as my eyes began to read the accompanying text.

What is it that I found in this little "news" blurb?

"We're Counting The Days Untill Harry Potter is Legal: what?! He's hot. And in theatres -- nice."

Firstly, Mr. or Mrs. AIM, your grammar is shit. Get a God damned grammar book or something. I won't claim my grammar is perfect, but DAYUM yours is bad.

Secondly, what the fuck is wrong with you, AOL? You seriously have some heavy issues that can probably only be reversed with heavy drugging. Notably, I normally don't condone such 'treatment', but in your case I think we should make an exception.

It's not just because it's Harry Potter (a male) either. If you had of done this with the Olsen twins I would have had a very similar response.

What? Are you planning on buying Harry Potter pornography? Are you planning on monging it? Having yourself a gigantic Harry Potter porno-palooza? What exactly about Harry Potter being legal are you looking forward to? Are you hoping to have a Harry Potter gangbang where you and your friends can take turns giving it to the boy wizard? Do tell. Concerned parties are dying to know.

This is the kind of shameless society we live in. One in which the stupid masses sit around, pick at their asses, and say to themselves, "Oh my God. This celebrity... is so... HOT!" Well, no shit, sherlock? Most celebrities are 'hot'. That's usually the reason they are celebrities in the first place.

Is it just me, or is it the female half of our species almost single-handedly responsible for lowering our civilizations collective IQ.

Everywhere I go, every time I try to have a relatively intelligent conversation about pop culture, there's always that one girl. You know the girl I'm talking about. The girl who has to chip in with her own two cents, and it's never about how talented they are, it's never about how brilliant they are. You know what their comment always is?

"Oh my God, he's SO hot!"

Now, this isn't really a BAD thing to say, necessarily. It's just really annoying when the first thing I hear about Johnny Depp from some chick is how good he looks in eyeliner. Of course he looks good in eyeliner. Half is job is looking good in eyeliner, the other half is acting.

Now, I'm glad you appreciate his "perfect" looks. I'm sure he appreciates your support too. It's just that I think that perhaps when I am talking about his acting talent, and the sort of roles he plays, that I would rather not at that time hear about how he looks. I know how he looks. I've seen it with my own two eyes. I don't need your dumb ass explaining to me how he looks. Especially when all you have to say about the man is that he's, "hot."

The kicker is: I'm often the one dubbed 'immature'.

That's right, my freinds. It's snowing in Canada again, and it's only November. I have missed it. Maybe it's the Canadian in me longing for one of the staples of my particular culture. Perhaps it is quite simply that winter to me symbolizes desolateness, and the wait for the rebirth of spring. 
That's really just a bunch  of  Hooey though. I just love snow and winter because it reminds me of the past. It reminds me of the days of my youth in which there was no problem I could not solve with relative ease. A reminder of times when I was care free, and was just being a kid: running around, scraping my knees, getting in fights.
Better times than now, when most of my ignorance has long since left me.
There is an observation I have made about snow. It has a very distinct scent. It's like nothing I have ever smelt. It has this incredibly fresh aroma that fills the nostrils, takes hold of the nose hairs, and yanks your face into the powdery white abyss. This could also be a result of me being an idiot and jumping on slippering elevated surfaces with one foot.  It still has a  smell, though. 
There's something very humbling about snow, something that warms your soul whilst your skin freezes. I wish I could find the words to properly describe it, but I'm not very good at such things, as you can probably tell by now.
Winter is here, embrace it. It isn't going away for quite some time.
Enter five months of warm nothing.

I pose a question. What does it mean to be ethical? I'm no longer sure.