Back in Canada, going through my Guatemala research, and wondering why I must wait an entire week between the resolution of the Stanley Cup’s Conference Finals and its celebrated final round (featuring my predicted match-up, Ottawa v. Anaheim). Meaning there’s no game this Saturday.

One wonders at the connection between this desperate eagerness to watch playoff hockey on its most favourable evening of the week and the utter hopelessness of my attempt to dance merengue, when prompted, in Guatemala.

Finally, some Guate stuff will be posted here over the next couple days. The above picture is of a boot shop in Zona 1, Guatemala City–a ‘hood bizarrely chock-a-block with shoe stores, their dominance challenged only by equally conspicuous fast-food emporiums and appliance/electronics marts. Elsewhere:

Collision Detector Clive Thompson draws our attention to the subject of Soldier-Robot Love and a piece in the Washington Post. Philip K. Dick hallucinated this article thirty years ago.

I’ve mentioned Istanbul-based, ARKMedia magnate Adnan Khan previously. He writes frequently on Afghanistan and Iraq for Macleans and The Walrus, but his blog contains some of the most original and insightful commentary on the region’s strife you’ll find. In a recent posting he dissected the dramatic rise of opium production in Afghanistan, beginning with a trio of facts to arrest your distracted mind:

1. In 2006, opium production in Afghanistan rose 61% over 2005
2. Profits from drug trafficking is now equivalent to one-third of the nation’s GDP
3. Over 90% of the world’s heroin comes from Afghanistan

Adnan is also an excellent photographer, as demonstrated in his bells-and-whistles slide show Child Mechanics (Techical Dept.: allow it a few moments to load). He also plays the ney (an end-blown flute that, dating back 5,000 years, is among the oldest musical instruments still in use) in the accompanying soundtrack. Must be the Turkish coffee.

From the slide show I love the comment from one 12-year-old mechanic: “You want a (Toyota) Corolla, I can get you one in a week.”