The speed of our heartbeats...

Size matters is an interesting NPR feature about the relationship within living creatures between their size and the speed of their heartbeat - the truth that living creatures have a fairly uniform number of heartbeats, but the little creatures go through them quickly, the big creatures take their time.

I've come across this with yoga theory: that out lives are measured by heartbeats, so exercises to slow down the heart are healthy and prolong the life. I'd thought of this as an individual thing, but apparently it's universal.

Ashley MacIsaac: Dancing on Bank Street...

I was just listening to a concert by Ashley MacIsaac, in the street a couple of blocks from my place.

This was part of a day-long celebration called Dancing in the Street, sponsored by the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation. Bank Street - the main street running north/south through Ottawa - has been blocked off in the Glebe all day, for concerts and musicians. The pubs and restaurants in the area extended their patios into the street and are doing a great business. People are milling about and dancing - not as many as you'd think, but Ashley MacIsaac drew a sizeable crowd. There was a large, well-equipped stage in the middle of Bank St. near First Avenue.

It was fun watching the crowd - a woman dancing with a toddler in her arms, a little girl in a bouncy pink jacket; people walking with their dogs, and the dogs obviously enjoying the music. Strange, too, to see Bank Street on a summer night with no traffic. The only wheeled vehicles I saw were a baby stroller and a rickshaw.

I like his music; I was really enjoying it, and yes, I was dancing in the street. He introduced his base guitarist, Wolverine - and Wolverine held up his hands as if extending claws. The next song he performed was called Captain American.



The man is gay and he's into comic books. It seems inevitable that I'd like his music. He mentioned Canadian Idol several times - is he connected with the show, or is he just a fan?

Funny how he looks different in every picture I've seen of him, and looked different again in person. I'd wished he was wearing a kilt. But then, I always wish men would wear kilts.

He mentioned on stage that he's been married exactly six months now - it's his half-year anniversary today. Congratulations to him! ...And looking up the news item of his wedding, I found this amusing CBC article in which he planned a huge gay wedding in Alberta in order to thumb his nose at the anti-gay-marriage contingent of Alberta. Yes, I like this man.