"Hurry up and shred the evidence!"

Edmonton - Learning from the recent admission by our health advisories of the terrifyingly blundering state of nursing procedures in the town of High Prairie, Alberta, it might leave one wondering if our health practitioners even care about our health anymore. Could our system be so overburdened that such an obviously simple precaution as not sharing needles is being overlooked to save time?

"While I cannot comment on the specific details of the situation in HighPrairie, in general all registered nurses are expected to follow the Nursing Practice Standards which includes following relevant legislation, standards and policies such as the provincial infection control standards," said Margaret Hadley, the president of The College and Association of Registered Nurses of Alberta.

What a relief that we have standards and policies to go with our common sense. Of course many health professionals decidedly care about your health, but imagine what would you be thinking if the recent bad news was regarding your own health?

“Surprise!”, says the health official. “I know that your previous treatments here seemed to be going well for you, but it is my regrettable duty to inform you that since our institution's realization that you may have come into contact with equipment that was in fact not sterile at some point during your treatment here, that it is now in your best interests, to get checked for, ummm, HIV and Hepatitis. The old HEP, HIV duo, O.K.?”

It would not be surprising in the least if mobile paper shredding trucks are hard at work this very moment, turning the last five years of patient specific records, carbon prints, little plastic bracelets and what not, into little diagonal strips - as this article is being written; desperately purging whatever potentially damnable evidence they can muster; employing the likes of shred-tech equipped vehicles to come out and do their dirty work.

My heart goes out to anyone directly, and indirectly (as we all share that designation), or anyone with a family member affected by this astoundingly terrifying revelation about our state of so called 'health practice'.

B.R. Mathews

Film Photography

LEECH BLEACH, BURSTEN BUBBLE - Toil and trouble. Says Agent, "Beware Ye, prospective buyer, for the delusional Real Estate Eschewers do loom!"

At about nine o'clock this evening, as I stood before my kitchen stove, slathering torn off layers of iceberg lettuce with mayonnaise and eating them while awaiting the melting of two slices of Mozzarella cheese atop my sausage fat-fried eggs, it occurred to me that there are probably far more suitable candidates than myself to face combat scenarios overseas. Unless I get to fly something, I would want nothing to do with fighting war beyond the strategizing of it.

Before the eggs were even ready, my mind was most thoroughly preoccupied by how satisfying a nice after dinner coffee and cigarette would be.

Deep golden brown on the underside, the two egg's yolks, unturned, were rendered just to the point of solidification - and the cheese had just finished melting evenly by the time the pot-cover I had placed over the cast iron frying pan was lifted.

“Marvellous,” I thought with each twist of the mill - and watched the cheesy surface of my perfectly fried eggs become sufficiently dense with black pepper grinds. I then ate them, without toast, and prepared my evening coffee.

Unsure if speaking in your own mind about oneself in the third person, I am alone again. A stubborn and seemingly unemployable man-child. I shaved my head today. Why you wonder? Well I had tried to cut it somewhat short myself, but it was catastrophic. For two straight days I did not leave my apartment and decided that something had to be done to circumvent my own vanity. I knew it would become a somewhat lengthy endeavour; (to shave my entire head with a Mach II safety razor) so it's a good thing I had enough shaving lotion for the job.

For two straight days I have done little else but sift through opinions regarding the financial meltdown, mainly the Alberta (real estate) Bubble Blog. And I listened to talk radio.

I stared at the screen for a good five minutes as my browser rested on the the last entry in the ongoing speculative debate:

whos that nut bar that said the markets were going to totally crash last year ?

well it seems that the pessimistic bad news machine wasnt so far off after all

whats next..well if you think things are bad now wait a few months and you will wish for today
there will be no recovery and the world is changing right before your eyes

scared yet !!

October 10, 2008 2:42 PM

The Dudes

The Dudes rock the Dudes, man. If you haven't heard Calgary's quartet's flagship song, "Dropkick Queen of the Weekend", check it out, Dude. They've always been one of my favorite bands of all time as they're so far out, man.

I love their romantic themes - and their sonic mastery... see them live to know for yourself of what I speak. Brilliant players, the Dude's repetoire is what I would call, 'progressive contemporary', as I once I dubbed them, "a cross between Sonic Youth and Sloan." as they really do seem to take great effort in honing their live sound, and their recordings are top notch.

Dan really does have a uniquely cool voice, and radical lyrics. I am in fact listening to their music, compliments of their web site- http://www.thedudes.ca/

True rock inventiveness and prowess, and a mastery of riffery coupled with an outstanding ability to arrange intriguingly unique musical arrangements in the key of rock. I've witnessed the Dudes live; pulling off wickedly complex, refreshingly melodic and articulately contrived two-part electric guitar solos played through really loud and craftily amplified, boner intensifying, nerve wracking distortion.