the outfield

concerns about the world getting warmer

people thought that they were just being rewarded
for treating others as they'd like to be treated
obeying stop signs and curing diseases
for mailing letters with the address of the sender
now we can swim any day in november
-Postal Service, Sleeping In (Give Up)

I had thought that I might get a chance to blog while I was home for the week but it never really happened. My parents described my vacation as "hectic" in the airport before I left, but it would more aptly be described as "full". I spent the majority of my time out at the lake, which was fortunate as the heat was pretty intense. My dad and I drove out on friday night, expecting the typical cool breeze off the mountain only to find air that was just as charged and hot as it was in town. There was some much needed nightswimming under the stars and a cold beer on the deck at midnight. The majority the weekend was spent installing some new kitchen cabinets and sink for my mom. My cabin, like many, is an interesting dichotomy of relaxation and make-work projects.

Katelyn came out on tuesday and we had some nice lazy days. Slept outside every night under the milky way because it was actually too hot in the cabin. Unprecedented in my experience at the lake. I enjoyed the blue skies and sunshine, but couldn't help feeling like it was unnaturally hot. I know that isolated heat waves, or even hot summers are not really evidence of global warming unto themselves, but I couldn't help but wonder about what is really going on with the old climate these days. I have been trying to figure out lately if global warming is really happening. I mean, you probably have an opinion on whether or not global warming is really going on, or how big of a deal it is, but what is that opinion based on? People like to say things like "there is a consensus in the scientific community" or whatever, but have you actually ever seen any evidence to support the theory of global warming? Erin sent me a link to this website called the Competitive Enterprise Institute , some group that is trying to combat "global warming alarmism" and have a slogan "They call it Pollution, We call it Life". It seems so ridiculous as to be comical, but they mention scientific studies in Science and Nature about how some glaciers are getting larger and anarctic ice sheets are getting thicker. In the Skeptical Enivronmentalist, environmental alarmism is discussed and an example of how "global cooling" was a major concern in the 1950's, which obviously turned out to be nothing. Anyhow, who really knows, but when we are talking about the future viability of the planet for human life, it might not be such a bad idea to be a little on the safe side. Maybe dramatic and embellished headlines are required to whip people into environmental action.

Ok. Back to the narrative. I returned into Castlegar on thurs night to meet up with the rest of the people in town for Aaron's wedding. Went out to a new bar that has been built, the Element Night Club. Before this place, the most popular bars in town were "Dexter's" and "Banjo's". The Element is a two storey club with flat screen televisions, a sunken dance floor and enough room for the whole population of Castlegar between 19 and 30. It looks out of place from the outside and you feel out of place on the inside. Anyhow, everyone was excited about it and it was a fun place to party. But weird.

The wedding itself was awesome. Aaron is one of my best friends from highschool and he was getting married to Jieppe, a Thai girl he met while on a Canada World Youth exchange program. The ceremony was outside, short and personal. The reception was at the complex and was shaping up to be pretty standard until Aaron narrated a slidewhow about how his relationship with Jieppe came to be. He tends to a be a private guy and nobody in the audience, including his parents and close friends, knew all the details of what happened. I won't go into the whole story, but it was more or less a romance novel involving exotic locations, forbidden love and making dreams come true against the odds (and the rational advice of everyone you know). The reception afterwards was filled with 80's classics, girls pouring bottles of wine over themselves and concluded with a not-so-clandestine Super 8 slide.

Now it's back to a week of work (I need the rest), before we head back to the interior this weekend for a Spearhead concert.

Here's Kurt in a contraption he made.