Blog:

• July 26: This month's lesson is in crowd management:
  • Lance Armstrong's Stage 16 victory up the mountain to L'Alpe d'Huez in front of an estimated one million spectators, failed to distract him on the way to winning a record sixth Tour de France.
  • Carlos Delgado's quiet refusal to stand for "God Bless America" to protest the war in Iraq received some harsh reactions from Yankee faithful, but continued making his stand count.
  • Sandra and Jason fight through the crowd at this year's Beaches International Jazz Festival for varied styles of music and entertainment. Though our friends left soon, we soldiered on into the cool late night scene. This event has become a victim of its success as the neighbourhood struggles to keep up with the demand and influx of more tourists each year. It doesn't help when organizers and corporate sponsors insist on setting up displays and other obstacles to the free movement of pedestrians, resulting in bottlenecks and severe claustrophobia.
• July 14: Best overplayed songs on the radio:
  • Modest Mouse, "Float On"
  • Franz Ferdinand, "Take Me Out"
  • Beastie Boys, "Ch-Check It Out"
  • The worst:
  • Anything by Jet or Nickel[Crap]
  • Velvet Revolver, "Slither"

    Hey, parents! This 'metal' is Wal-Mart safe for your kids.

• July 11: How many Third World deaths from war and disease does it take for the bureaucratic and feeble United Nations to act? Reacting to events instead of preventing them, seemingly mired in diplomatic maneuvering and posturing, it is an organization needing reform and stronger leadership. Such was the case with Rwanda, and now in the Sudan. With the world's media fixed on Israel, is it possible for humanity to achieve any level of equality and enlightenment?
• July 8: Justice denied and justice abused, the absurdities of our legal systems continue to surprise and disappoint everyone.

Web Design:

• CSS Vault Mosaic
• piepmatzel.de
• Surveying identical web sites

Politics:

• Busting Berry's Music: RIAA raids local record store. With this latest action, the music industry's representative moves further down the ladder of ethical business practices toward an entity bereft of intelligence, creativity, passion, and forward-thinking.
• Ben Johnson, Drugs and the Quest for Gold
• A Flag for Canada

Of Interest:

• Toronto Public Space Committee
• Walkabout's fair play

Projects:

• The artist's site I've been working on is beginning to take shape and although not formally approved, has been a worthy exercise in transforming a flash-driven portfolio into a simpler promotional tool.