Eating flies

There were two frogs sitting on a lily pad, when all of a sudden, a fly came along.

One frog put out his tongue, ate the fly, and started laughing hysterically. Soon the other frog joined in the laughter.

Later in the day, the other frog ate a fly and the two frogs burst out in laughter.

As time went on, the frogs enjoyed the flies so much that even the sight of a fly would cause them to double up with pleasure. But of course, the most pleasure came when the fly was actually eaten.

A third frog hopped up to the first two and asked what was so funny.

The first frog answered: "Time."

"Huh?" asked the third frog.

The second frog explained: "Time's fun when you're having flies!"

Detox: the follow-up

There's an old saying about a boiled frog that goes like this: if you drop a frog in a pot of boiling water he'll jump out, but if you put him in a pot of warm water and slowly bring it to boil he won't notice how hot he is getting, and soon you'll have dinner.

During the the 12 day detox I didn't feel these incredible claims that my friends had made - I didn't feel 'amazing' or 'like I never have' - I shat more often and hungered for muffins.

But now, two weeks afterwards, my body is back in its normal state, and the proverbial frog has been dropped back into the boiling water.

Yowzers. While I might not be as in tune with the body's internal processes as I'd like to be, I can definitely see changes that have happened as I've returned to my normal state.

The lesson: boiling water is bad.

PS: 4 weeks, no cigarettes, no problem.

The Sonograph EP

If you're looking for a piece of music to help usher in the fall weather, allow me to suggest The Sonograph EP by the Early Day Miners. After it's all been said and done, I think I've gotten more mileage out of these 26 minutes over the past few weeks than all other music combined.

Both careful and spontaneous, the EP starts out with the brief waltz Albatross, and leads into the subdued Perish Room. Daniel Burton's vocals are present but far from the centre of the music - in fact I usually can't understand a thing he's saying, and I prefer it that way.

On Bedroom, Houston all of the percussion elements are dropped, leaving a minimal piece consisting of vocals, steel guitar, and small spaces of silence just long enough to give it a ghostly, gospel-like feel.

By the time you reach the end of The Sonograph EP you've navigated more than a few suprises, and really feel like you've travelled somewhere.

In comparision to other efforts by the Early Day Miners things seem to be a little less produced, a bit more direct and back to the basics.

The signature meandering, extended instrumentals are still here however, and this EP serves as an excellent introduction to the rest of their worthy catalouge.

Detox: the conclusion

Sorry, I've been meaning to write this for a while: detox finished on Friday. I'm eating muffins again.

Incidentally the 12 days came to a close as a mountain of shrimp and baked terriyaki salmon were placed before me on a buffet table at a conference in Richmond.

It was actually scary eating bread again after such a long time. Delicious, but a bit unpredictable. The next morning I ate a muffin, a croisant, and a danish for breakfast.

Judging by a few things, and my new found love for early mornings, I'd say the detox is worth the $30 and energy I put into it. I'm sure I'll continue to do similar things.