It was in me to give, so they took it out of me.

Blood, that is. Today was the first time I've given blood. I tried once back in high school, but I started bruising and they had to pull the needle out before they even got half of a bag (which they cannot use). After that, I've always been a little apprehensive about the process.

Nonetheless, I've been meaning to do it for a while. When our company had a health fair a few weeks ago, I stopped by the Canadian Blood Services table to find out my blood type (its 'O' but still not sure if its +/-).

Type O negative blood is considered the "universal donor" type; anyone who needs blood can be given type O neg (listen for them to call for a bag of it in shows like ER, etc). Why? Because it won't coagulate when mixed with other blood types.

So, knowing that I had a chance of being able to provide really useful blood (it's all good, and they won't refuse any of it), I thought it was time to try again.

All told, it took about an hour, of which less than 10 minutes was the sucking extraction of the blood (and the needle wasn't bad at all). Then you get all the juice and cookies you want.

Want to know more? Go here to find out more about giving blood in Canada.

Update: It's confirmed that I'm part of the 7% of the population that is Type O, Rh Negative. My second donation is tomorrow, and I'll be giving every 56 days after this.

Doh!

Oh, No es bueno!

New Hip

"World Container," the new album from the Tragically Hip is here. I've pre-ordered my copy on iTunes; this marks the first time I've purchased a new release album in this manner. I've already been listening to a preview single from the album: "In View" - an upbeat tune, almost 'pop' by Hip standards, and a great showcase of the hybrid style that they've settled into over time.

More on the album after I've downloaded my copy tonight and given it a listen.

Uh oh?

Just when I thought the prospect of the US attacking Iran was a definite non-starter, I read this.

Why?

Because. Because it would stand as a testament to both the subtle and overt, the high and the low. It would serve as an example of both genius, and simplicity. Once conceived, it had to be done. It was an idea who's time had come, and who's utterance could be suppressed no longer, neither avoided , nor ignored. An idea that cried out to the heavens, hells and purgatories of our infinite imaginations.

And thus we are given Bob Loblaw's Law Blog

From today's email...

Subject: International Disadvantaged People's Day

International Disadvantaged People's Day

Today is International Disadvantaged People's Day.
Please send an encouraging message to a retarded friend, just as I've done.

I don't care if you lick windows, interfere with farm animals, vote bloc québecois or occasionally shit yourself.......You hang in there sunshine, You're fucking special...

October 3rd

October 3rd in History
1929: Yugoslavia formed, uniting three separate kingdoms
1952: Britain tests its first atomic bomb, on an island off the coast of Australia
1966: Basutoland becomes the independent Lesotho
1990: Germany officially reunified, with Berlin the capital city

October 3rd birthdays
1897: Louis Aragon, French poet
1916: James Herriot, Scottish vet and author
1925: Gore Vidal, American author
1941: Chubby Checker, American rock singer

Events
2333 BC - Establishment of the Kingdom of Korea (in the name of Joseon).
42 BC - First Battle of Philippi: Triumvirs Mark Antony and Octavian fight an indecisive battle with Caesar's assassins Brutus and Cassius.
1283 - Dafydd ap Gruffydd, prince of Gwynedd in Wales, becomes the first person executed by drawing and quartering.
1574 - The Siege of Leiden is lifted by the Watergeuzen.
1712 - The Duke of Montrose issues a warrant for the arrest of Rob Roy MacGregor
1739 - The Treaty of Nissa is signed by the Ottoman Empire and Russia at the end of the Russian-Turkish War, 1736-1739.
1778 - British Captain James Cook anchors in Alaska.
1789 - George Washington proclaims the first Thanksgiving Day.
1795 - General Napoleon Bonaparte first rises to national prominence being named to defend the French National Convention against armed counter-revolutionary rioters threatening the three year old revolutionary government.
1863 - Thanksgiving Day declared as the fourth Thursday in November by President Abraham Lincoln.
1873 - Captain Jack and companions are hanged for their part in the Modoc War
1918 - King Boris III of Bulgaria takes the throne
1929 - The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes is renamed to Kingdom of Yugoslavia, "Land of the South Slavs".
1932 - Iraq gains independence from Britain.
1935 - Italy invades Ethiopia under General de Bono (replaced November 11 by Pietro Badoglio).
1942 - First successful launch of A4-rocket from Test Stand VII at Peenemünde, Germany: the first man-made object to reach space.
1951 - New York Giants beat the Brooklyn Dodgers 5-4, winning the National League pennant, with Bobby Thomson's "The Shot Heard 'Round the World".
1952 - United Kingdom successfully tests a nuclear weapon.
1960 - Niger gains independence from France.
1962 - At Cape Canaveral the Mercury 8 blasts off with Astronaut Wally Schirra aboard for a nine-hour flight.
1981 - The Hunger Strike by Irish Republican Army prisoners at the Maze jail in Belfast ends after seven months and 10 deaths.
1981 - The Communist Party of Namibia is founded at a conference in Angola.
1985 - Space Shuttle Atlantis flys its maiden voyage. (STS-51-J)
1990 - Re-unification of Germany. The German Democratic Republic ceases to exist, and East German citizens become part of the European Community, which later became the European Union. Now celebrated as German Unity Day.
1993 - Battle of Mogadishu: In an attempt to capture officials of warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid's organization in Mogadishu, Somalia, 18 US Army Rangers and about 1000 Somalis are killed in heavy fighting.
1995 - O. J. Simpson is found not guilty of murder.
[edit]

Births
1690 - Robert Barclay, Scottish writer
1716 - Giovanni Battista Beccaria, Italian physicist (d. 1781)
1720 - Johann Peter Uz, German poet (d. 1796)
1790 - John Ross (Cherokee chief), Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation (d. 1866)
1797 - Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1870)
1804 - Townsend Harris, first U.S. Consul to Japan (d. 1878)
1804 - Allan Kardec, French founder of Spiritism (d. 1869)
1806 - Oliver Cowdery, American religious leader (d. 1850)
1828 - Woldemar Bargiel, German composer (d. 1897)
1858 - Eleonora Duse, Italian actress (d. 1924)
1862 - Johnny Briggs, English cricketer (d. 1902)
1863 - Pyotr Kuzmich Kozlov, Russian explorer (d. 1935)
1873 - Emily Post, American etiquette advisor (d. 1960)
1880 - Warner Oland, Swedish-born actor (d. 1938)
1882 - A. Y. Jackson, Canadian Painter (d. 1974)
1885 - Langley Collyer, of the Collyer brothers, hoarder (d. 1947)
1885 - Sophie Treadwell, American playwright and journalist (d. 1970)
1889 - Carl von Ossietzky, German pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1938)
1894 - Elmer Robinson, American politician (d. 1982)
1895 - Giovanni Comisso, Italian writer (d. 1969)
1896 - Gerardo Diego, Spanish poet (d. 1987)
1897 - Louis Aragon, French writer (d. 1982)
1898 - Leo McCarey, American film director (d. 1969)
1899 - Gertrude Berg, American actress (d. 1966)
1900 - Thomas Wolfe, American author (d. 1938)
1901 - Jean Grémillon, French film director (d. 1959)
1904 - Charles J. Pedersen, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1989)
1916 - Shelby Storck, American television producer (d. 1969)
1916 - James Herriot, English veterinarian and author (d. 1995)
1919 - James M. Buchanan, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate
1922 - Jean Lefebvre, French actor (d. 2004)
1923 - Edward Oliver LeBlanc, Dominican politician (d. 2004)
1924 - Arkady Vorobyov, Russian weightlifter
1925 - Gore Vidal, American author
1928 - Erik Bruhn, Danish dancer and choreographer (d. 1986)
1931 - Glenn Hall, National Hockey League goaltender
1933 - Neale Fraser, Australian tennis player
1935 - Charles Duke, American astronaut
1936 - Steve Reich, American composer
1938 - Eddie Cochran, American singer (d. 1960)
1938 - Tereza Kesovija, Croatian singer
1940 - Jean Ratelle, Canadian ice hockey player
1940 - Alan O'Day, American singer and songwriter
1941 - Chubby Checker, American musician
1944 - Pierre Deligne, Belgian mathematician
1945 - Kay Baxter, American bodybuilder (d. 1988)
1946 - Biff Henderson, American television personality
1947 - John Perry Barlow, American musician
1948 - Michael Medved, American film critic
1949 - Lindsey Buckingham, American musician
1950 - Pamela Hensley, American actress
1951 - Keb' Mo', American singer
1951 - Dave Winfield, American baseball player
1954 - Dennis Eckersley, American baseball player
1954 - Al Sharpton, American minister and activist
1954 - Stevie Ray Vaughan, American musician (d. 1990)
1957 - Tim Westwood, Pimp My Ride UK presenter and DJ
1959 - Fred Couples, American golfer
1959 - Jack Wagner, American actor
1959 - Greg Proops, American actor and comedian
1962 - Tommy Lee, American musician (Mötley Crüe)
1964 - Clive Owen, British actor
1965 - Jan-Ove Waldner, Swedish table tennis player
1966 - Darrin Fletcher, Major League Baseball player
1967 - Rob Liefeld, American comic book writer and artist
1968 - Paul Crichton, English footballer
1969 - Gwen Stefani, American singer (No Doubt)
1969 - Tetsu, Japanese bassist (L'Arc~en~Ciel)
1971 - Kevin Richardson, American singer (Backstreet Boys)
1971 - Wil Cordero, Baseball player
1972 - Garrett Dutton, American Musician (G. Love and Special Sauce)
1972 - Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter, American Rapper(The Roots)
1973 - Neve Campbell, Canadian actress
1973 - Keiko Agena, Japanese-American actress
1974 - Marianne Timmer, Dutch speed skater
1975 - India Arie, American singer
1975 - Talib Kweli, American Rapper
1976 - Seann William Scott, American actor
1977 - Jake Shears, singer (Scissor Sisters)
1978 - Claudio Pizarro, Peruvian footballer
1978 - Gerald Asamoah, German footballer
1979 - Shannyn Sossamon, American actress and musician (Law & Order: SVU)
1979 - Johnny Nitro, American professional wrestler
1979 - Danny Basham, American professional wrestler
1981 - Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Swedish footballer
1981 - Andreas Isaksson, Swedish footballer
1981 - Matt Murton, American baseball player
1983 - Fred, Brazilian footballer
1984 - Ashlee Simpson, American singer
[edit]

Deaths
42 BC - Gaius Cassius Longinus
1226 - Saint Francis of Assisi (b. 1181)
1283 - David ap Gruffydd, Welsh prince of Gwynedd (executed)
1369 - Margarete Maultasch, Countess of Tyrol (b. 1318)
1568 - Elizabeth of Valois, wife of Philip II of Spain (b. 1545)
1596 - Florent Chrestien, French writer (b. 1541)
1611 - Charles of Lorraine, Duke of Mayenne, French military leader (b. 1554)
1629 - Giorgi Saakadze, Georgian military leader (b. 1570)
1649 - Giovanni Diodati, Swiss protestant clergyman (b. 1576)
1653 - Marcus Zuerius van Boxhorn, Dutch scholar (b. 1612)
1656 - Myles Standish, English-born soldier
1701 - Joseph Williamson, English politician (b. 1633)
1801 - Philippe Henri, marquis de Ségur, Marshal of France (b. 1724)
1833 - François, marquis de Chasseloup-Laubat, French general (b. 1754)
1867 - Elias Howe, American sewing machine pioneer (b. 1819)
1873 - Captain Jack, Modoc tribal leader
1881 - Orson Pratt, American religious leader (b. 1811)
1890 - Joseph Hergenröther, German historian (b. 1824)
1891 - Edouard Lucas, French mathematician (b. 1842)
1929 - Jeanne Eagels, American actress (b. 1929)
1929 - Gustav Stresemann, Chancellor of Germany, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1878)
1931 - Carl Nielsen, Danish composer (b. 1865)
1936 - John Heisman, American football coach (b. 1869)
1953 - Arnold Bax, English composer (b. 1883)
1965 - Zachary Scott, American actor (b. 1914)
1967 - Woody Guthrie, American musician (b. 1912)
1967 - Malcolm Sargent, English conductor (b. 1895)
1987 - Jean Anouilh, French writer (b. 1910)
1987 - Kalervo Palsa, Finnish artist (b. 1947)
1988 - Franz Josef Strauß, Bavarian politician (b. 1915)
1990 - Stefano Casiraghi, husband of Princess Caroline of Monaco (b. 1960)
1994 - Dub Taylor, American actor (b. 1907)
1998 - Roddy McDowall, English actor (b. 1928)
1999 - Akio Morita, Japanese businessman (b. 1921)
2000 - Benjamin Orr, American bassist and singer (The Cars) (b. 1947)
2002 - Bruce Paltrow, American television and film producer (b. 1943)
2002 - Robert Krausz, Stock market advisor and investor (b. 1936)
2003 - Florence Stanley, American actress (b. 1924)
2003 - William Steig, American cartoonist and children's author (b. 1907)
2004 - John Cerutti, baseball player and announcer (b. 1960)
2004 - Janet Leigh, American actress (b. 1927)
2005 - Ronnie Barker, English comic actor (b. 1929)
[edit]

Holidays and observances
Germany - Day of German Unity
South Korea - National Foundation Day (Gaecheonjeol 개천절)
French Republican Calendar - Immortelle (Strawflower) Day, twelfth day in the Month of Vendémiaire