So if it's not obvious, I was in Toronto yesterday for Saira's wedding, and yes, I was the only guy in the bridal party. Now, to you horny dudes that might seem awesome but I assure you it's not so pornographically exciting… mostly wedding staff coming up to you and saying “excuse me, the groom's party is supposed to be over here.” Anyway, first some pictures from the wedding (which obviously was a mix of Scottish and Indian traditions):
The view out of my hotel window, showing the concrete graveyard marring an otherwise beautiful waterfront. Me and Michael before the wedding (he's not allowed to see the bride before the wedding, thus the mask). Bagpipes; I think the one on the left is Michael's younger sister's husband. In the bridal party area before the weeding; Leila (middle) looks like she's thinking “Got married before me? Enjoy the poison in your tea, bi-otch!” The wedding ceremony; the ceremony itself was probably two to three hours long and even involved pyrotechnics. Right after the deed was done (the lighting was really bad, sorry). Saira and Michael in “casual clothes” for the reception. The flash blew out the details, but I still liked this photo of Michael. Saira with the bridesmaids. I'm the woman on the right that got hit with the ugly stick.
People in the know might also recognize Emma of Immaculate Conception jewelry in the party, and you might know Leila as being the first double rook on BME (and yes, I realize that photo would never be approved under current standards for posting)… pointless trivia…
 |
On the train home there were some truly obnoxiously loud Polish women who got on about half way. Even though they were sitting across from a sleeping baby they yelled their heads off in Polish cackling madly. They were dressed head to toe in cheap knock-off fashions and costume jewelry, and just screaming stories at each other (the photo doesn't do justice to just how annoying they were).
Here's a hint to people who speak foreign languages extremely boisterously: If you plan on talking about about the people sitting across from you, they're going to clue in when you suddenly shift to a hushed tone and keep making furtive glances. Here's a second hint: The cheap sunglasses don't disguise what you're doing.
On a less pleasant note I wanted to share this quote from the newspaper. It's from a woman who was travelling through South-East Asia, and when the war broke out ended up in Iraq to see what she could do to help stop the carnage — when she returned to America, she (a pentioner) was told that she'd have to either pay a minimum $10,000 fine or face ten years in prison (she's told them to send her to prison since she won't support the war machine).
Anyway, the story recounts,
"On a quiet day I went to a hospital that didn't have room for all the casualties of a US missile blast; we were far from any military installation. The hospital was filled [with the maimed and dismembered].""I sat with a dying wife whose six kids had died in the blast. I met her husband ... I stayed for 24 hours at the hospital and there was blood everywhere, little staff, but lots of blood."
"They were trying to treat people but children were dying." She wept as she described comforting a "beautiful, pregnant woman" whose arms were ripped off in the attack, then gave birth prematurely. "She kept saying to me, 'I can't hold my baby. I can't hold my baby.' "
That's about the most fucked up thing I can imagine. The US response shouldn't be sending her to prison for ten years — it should be to say “Please, if you have photos and video, share them with us”. I think it should be mandatory for every world leader, every soldier, every weapons manufacturer, and every citizen heartlessly supporting war to know exactly what the cost is.
Maybe then they'd take mass-murder a little more seriously and consider other means to the world's problems…
Post a Comment